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“You will never amount to anything.”

In a national movement for stricter gun control measures, Morgan Hill is set to join a growing number of cities that are passing their own set of gun safety ordinances.

A data breach earlier this year at City Hall resulted in the unauthorized release of personal information of hundreds of Morgan Hill employees, according to City Manager Christina Turner.The city hired a private cybersecurity firm to investigate the breach, which city staff learned about in July. Authorities from the Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted city officials to notify them the breach had occurred, Turner said.The unknown suspect or suspects gained access to the personal information of about 480 former and current full-time and part-time city employees, including the elected city councilmembers, Turner said. Everyone who was employed by the City of Morgan Hill in 2017 was affected by the security incident.Specifically, each of the impacted employees’ “W-2 Summary” report was accessed. Personal information on such reports typically includes the employee’s wages and salary details, as well as Social Security Number, address and other personal information.All the impacted current and former city employees have been notified that their information was accessed, Turner added. Each of the victims has been sent a letter notifying them of the breach, as well as offering recommendations on what they can do to protect their identities from being used for fraudulent purposes.“We’re just making sure we are doing what we can for our teammates,” Turner said. “We have established a toll-free line they can call with any questions, so they can understand how credit monitoring works.”She encouraged the affected city staff people to reach out to her or City Attorney Don Larkin—who also serves as the city’s risk manager—with any questions.Turner said city officials do not yet know who is responsible for the breach. The city hired the business law firm McDonald Hopkins, which includes cybersecurity counseling as an area of expertise, to investigate the breach and advise City Hall how to improve data security in the future.“We take privacy and security of personal information very seriously, so as soon as we found out we engaged (McDonald Hopkins) on what needed to be done, making sure we have the proper security controls in place to avoid these things,” Turner said.City staff added in a statement: “We remain committed to maintaining the privacy of information entrusted to us and, moving forward, are taking steps to strengthen our security protocols and practices to help prevent similar issues in the future.”

Lifelong Santa Clara County resident Tony Bowden was appointed by the board of supervisors as the county fire department’s new fire chief.Bowden, who is currently working as the Santa Clara County Fire Department’s Assistant Chief, will begin his new assignment Aug. 13, according to county staff.“Chief Bowden is a trusted, dedicated leader who knows our county and cares about our residents. I have no doubt that he will maintain the level of excellence that the Santa Clara County Fire Department is known for,” said Supervisor Mike Wasserman.Bowden began his firefighting career with the Los Altos Fire Department in 1996. He joined the county fire department later the same year when the City of Los Altos and town of Los Altos Hills contracted with the county for services.Bowden has worked his way up the ranks since then, holding every rank in the organization.“I look forward to this new opportunity,” Bowden said. “I was born and raised in this community and have worked for the fire department nearly all of my adult life. I am honored the board of supervisors has entrusted me with leading County Fire as we serve the community.”The Santa Clara County Fire Department provides emergency response and preparedness services to unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County, and the communities of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga.“County Fire is a unique organization,” Bowden said. “We provide emergency services throughout Santa Clara County, including our recent partnership to assume management of the county’s 911 Communications Center. Upgrading the center’s critical infrastructure, as well as other department facilities, will be my near-term focus to ensure we can continue to meet the changing needs of the communities we serve.”As County Fire Chief, Bowden also serves as the Santa Clara County Fire Marshal.Bowden, a San Jose resident, holds a bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration from Waldorf University, and is completing a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. He is a state certified Fire Officer, Chief Officer and Fire Instructor.Bowden will replace County Fire Chief Kenneth R. Kehmna, who will be retired as of Aug. 12 after more than 30 years of service.County staff did not immediately provide Bowden’s salary details. Kehmna received a salary of $259,213 in 2016, according to the website transparentcalifornia.com. Kehmna also received benefits worth about $125,429 in 2016.For more information about the Santa Clara County Fire Department, visit www.sccfd.org.

Flocks of smiling kids gathered with the community for the 2018 Santa Clara County Fair Aug. 2-5. Each August, 4-H clubs and Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapters from throughout the county head to the fairgrounds in the culminating event of the year—bringing their projects and livestock to market.The four-day event, which included a variety of fair food, live entertainment, carnival rides, livestock and exhibits at the county fairgrounds on Tully Road in San Jose, also held its first “Out at the Fair” event Friday, Aug. 3 in solidarity with the LGBT community.The county fair, in its 74th year, had such a large turnout that by Saturday afternoon on Aug. 4, fair organizers were asking the public to take Uber and Lyft to the fairgrounds “due to high attendance,” according to its website.

What does $1 million get you these days in Morgan Hill? If you're a prospective home buyer, not much. Case in point: a two-bedroom, one-bathroom, 832-square-foot home on 1.5 acres at 185 Sanchez Drive. The modest home has an $899,950 price tag, according to Trulia.com. Described as a “great development opportunity” the knocker-downer on the city’s west side serves as a prime example of skyrocketing home prices.

Former Sobrato High School teacher Gary Harmon, who is accused of bilking investors to the tune of half a million dollars, was ordered by a judge in civil court last month to pay one of his alleged victims $248,000—even though Harmon was the one demanding damages for defamation and other offenses.The alleged victim, Morgan Hill resident Mike DiRubio, who previously reported Harmon to police for embezzling money from him, said he feels vindicated by the civil judgment.The civil lawsuit is separate from and has no bearing on the criminal complaint charging Harmon with five felonies in relation to the alleged theft of about $500,000 from four victims in Morgan Hill. Harmon, 42, will next appear in court on those charges 1:30pm Aug. 30 at South County Courthouse.But Harmon also faces monetary damages in the civil defamation lawsuit that he and business partner Mark Masoni filed against DiRubio. The $248,000 judgment applies to both Harmon and Masoni. Harmon and Masoni, both former teachers at Sobrato, filed the lawsuit in July 2015. The complaint claims that DiRubio defamed their character by posting social media comments and sending emails to third parties stating that Harmon and Masoni stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from him after they convinced DiRubio to invest in their production company, ISE Entertainment. DiRubio has maintained that after investing about $250,000 for ownership shares of ISE Entertainment in 2013, Harmon simply kept the money; and both Harmon and Masoni reneged on their promise to repay him with recurring income.Harmon and Masoni’s lawsuit also claims DiRubio damaged their reputation and revenue opportunities by telling ISE’s vendors and potential investors to avoid doing business with Harmon and Masoni because the company is being run by “thieves,” reads Superior Court Judge Carrie Zepeda’s summary contained in her July 27 judgment.The judge ruled that “the gist” of DiRubio’s unflattering comments about Harmon and Masoni were true, and thus not defamatory. The written ruling notes that, based on testimony and evidence presented at a bench trial in November 2017, the Morgan Hill Police investigation and district attorney’s charges against Harmon show that DiRubio had a strong case for his accusations of theft.Zepeda’s ruling also includes a list of unsavory or careless actions on the part of ISE Entertainment, Harmon and Masoni that cripple the plaintiffs’ credibility, including the fact that both testified that nobody had been tasked with keeping financial records of the company’s transactions.“(The) facts show Mr. Harmon and Mr. Masoni to be less than credible and that they have a history of fabricating evidence in and outside of court proceedings in an attempt to gain an advantage,” reads part of Zepeda’s ruling. “In addition, it is highly unusual and suspicious that a business keeps no financial records of its transactions and losses. To add to the cloud of suspicion, ISE Entertainment was not registered with the Secretary of State to conduct business in California, despite producing several concerts in the state. Furthermore, it appears that ISE did not complete tax returns for the business it conducted in the state.”Zepeda also ruled that Harmon and Masoni have no cause to claim DiRubio breached his fiduciary duty to ISE Entertainment because there was no record that he had such a duty, and DiRubio was “duped into believing” he had a stake in the company.Harmon and Masoni sought $2.5 million in damages from DiRubio. Instead, the judge ruled that the plaintiffs will “take nothing by way of their complaint” and they owe DiRubio $248,000. DiRubio must return his shared in ISE Entertainment to the company—shares that DiRubio said “are not worth the paper they’re printed on.”Harmon and Masoni filed objections to the judge’s tentative ruling in June. However, those were rejected by Zepeda, who issued the final ruling in late July.DiRubio’s attorney, Carlos Martinez, said he was pleased that “justice prevailed” in the civil case, but now he faces the difficult task of collecting $248,000 from Harmon and Masoni.“I’m happy Mike prevailed—he said what he said (about Harmon and Masoni), but he was justified in saying it,” Martinez said.Harmon and Masoni plan to appeal Zepeda’s ruling, according to their attorney.“Mr. Harmon and the other plaintiffs respectfully disagree with the trial court’s statement of decision and judgment,” said attorney Dhaivat H. Shah. “Plaintiffs were the victims of acts of defamation for which they have not yet been provided a remedy.  Plaintiffs intend to address their concerns with the California Court of Appeal.”Harmon, DiRubio and Masoni also worked together for the production company ARTTEC, which was highly active in 2013 and 2014 producing concerts and bringing celebrities to Morgan Hill. The company—which had a stated goal of helping young people get started on careers in entertainment production—brought such acts as Kiefer Sutherland, Queensryche, Survivor, Greg Kihn and Bret Michaels to local venues.In recent years, Harmon has filed a number of civil lawsuits against others who have accused him of fraud.In the criminal case, Harmon is charged with two counts of grand theft and three counts of communications containing untrue statements and omissions of fact, in relation to the embezzlement of more than $500,000 from four local victims. If convicted, he faces up to 16 years in prison.He was arrested March 23, 2017 in Las Vegas on a warrant from Morgan Hill Police. Harmon allegedly convinced his victims to invest in his production companies or projects, with promises of repayment that never materialized. Police reports claim Harmon exaggerated or fabricated relationships with  beloved celebrities—including country music legend Willie Nelson, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and former Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil—to fraudulently sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of investments to the marks, according to police.DiRubio is named as one of the victims in the criminal case. He has said Harmon not only stole his money—he also robbed his daughter of her college fund.