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Morgan Hill residents and City Councilmembers Jan. 17 strongly rebuked a proposal by a fellow citizen to fly a “Traditional Family” flag over City Hall as homophobic, divisive and a contradiction of the community’s values.Morgan Hill resident Olympia Peralta submitted the proposed flag last year, in accordance with the city’s “flag raising” policy, which was approved by the council in September 2017. She was hoping the flag would fly at city facilities during the month of February 2018.At the Jan. 17 meeting, the council unanimously rejected the flag on a 5-0 vote, also in accordance with their policy. That policy states that any commemorative flag to be considered for display on city flagpoles must “(identify) with a specific date, historical event, cause, nation or group of people,” and must be “consistent with the city’s vision, mission, and ongoing and strategic priorities, incorporating themes of diversity, equity, social justice and inclusion.”The “Traditional Family” flag design proposed by Peralta—which depicts a silhouette of a man, woman and two children holding hands with a red heart above their heads—seeks only to divide the community and promote hate, according to councilmembers and members of the public. The flag does not support a recognized cause, and is not consistent with the city values identified in the city’s policy, according to city officials.The policy applies to city flagpoles at City Hall, the Community and Cultural Center and the Centennial Recreation Center. These flagpoles daily fly the flags of the State of California and the U.S., but any proposed commemorative flag is subject to the council’s approval. One example of a commemorative flag is the Rainbow Flag that the city flew for LGBTQ Pride month in June 2017.“As a member of the LGBTQ community, I was deeply troubled when I saw this,” said Councilmember Rene Spring. “It is extremely hurtful.”Spring, who met his husband 20 years ago, went on to describe his experience as a gay man. He and his husband only got married “after years of being afraid” of legal and social repercussions against their orientation—a typical experience for LGBTQ people all over the world.He added that the flag proposed by Peralta is similar to flags used by “right-wing homophobic groups” in France, Russia and other countries.“I do not think flags like that reflect what we are in Morgan Hill,” Spring said. “We are proud to be living in an inclusive community. This flag is offensive to all the LGBTQ members, but also to all our friends. Raising this kind of offensive flag would send the wrong signals across the board.”Other councilmembers objected to the label “traditional family,” noting that there is not a consensus on what the phrase defines. Councilmember Rich Constantine noted that Webster’s dictionary defines a “family” as “traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children,” without specifying the gender of the parents.As a black American, Constantine noted his family has experienced discrimination sponsored by the government, as many members of the country’s LGBTQ community have.“Let’s remember the rights we have, have been trampled on for quite some time. This is not ancient history,” Constantine said. “And we still have a long ways to go.”Councilmembers and members of the public also pointed out that the families defined by Peralta’s flag as “traditional” are not oppressed or targeted for discrimination as minorities and the LGBTQ community have been throughout the country’s history.“People (in the LGBTQ community) are targeted, abused and murdered for who they are,” Councilmember Caitlin Jachimowicz said. “Traditional families are celebrated every day.”The agenda item was on the council’s consent calendar for the Jan. 17 meeting, with a recommendation by city staff to reject the flag. While items on the consent calendar are typically approved without discussion, four members of the public asked that the item be pulled for further comment. These residents addressed the proposal before the council made their remarks.Joy Joyner said, “A lot of people were unaware this item was on the agenda,” but she and others wanted the public to be aware of the undertones of hatred that she thinks inspired the “Traditional Family” flag request.“This flag proposal was designed specifically to alienate members of this community. ‘Traditional families’ have never had laws (enacted) against them. They have never faced the fear of having their head bashed against the curb for loving the person they love,” said Joyner, who went on to describe that she has been the target of such violence because she is a member of the LGBTQ community.Only one Morgan Hill resident, Brian Faircloth, spoke in favor of the family flag proposal. He said it is “simply not true” that “traditional values” are not under attack, but he didn’t offer any specific data. “What you’re saying is ‘traditional values’ are not supported in Morgan Hill,” Faircloth told the council.Peralta did not speak at the Jan. 17 council meeting, and did not return a phone call requesting comment. Her proposal for the flag noted, “We want to highlight the mothers and fathers who are doing their best day (in) and day out to provide a loving and caring environment for their children and ultimately society.”On April 19, 2017, the council declared the month of June “LGBTQ Pride Month” in Morgan Hill, which led to the rainbow flag raising in June. The resolution declaring LGBTQ month notes, in part, “The City of Morgan Hill encourages the celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month to recognize all people in the community deserve to be treated respectfully, fairly and equally regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Janet and Tom Pocus are nearing the twilight of their 30-year agreement with the City of Morgan Hill that has established their home in the Sunrise Meadows neighborhood as part of the Below Market Rate home ownership program.They’re looking forward to the expiration of that contract when, anticipating retirement, they will finally own their home without any further financial obligations or restrictions on what they can do with the property.But the Pocuses and some of their neighbors are worried that recent correspondence from the city’s affordable housing administrator—as well as many changes to the BMR program since they moved in—might delay, or even eliminate their quest for the American dream.The Sunrise Meadows community—located off Calle Mazatan north of East Main Avenue—consists of about 60 homes. Janet Pocus said all of the homes were built in the early 1990s as part of the city’s vast affordable housing program.On a tip from her sister, Janet said she and Tom—who had three small children at the time—put their name in the city’s BMR lottery when Sunrise Meadows, which was developed by now-defunct South County Housing, was in the planning stages.“They drew our name, and we got to choose the (home) we wanted,” Janet said in the family living room one evening in December. “We got to walk through the walls” during construction. The couple in 1994 paid about $156,000 for the home, which was 75 percent of the fair market value. Under the city’s BMR program, home sales prices are marked down to varying levels that correspond to the new household’s percentage of the Area Median Income. In Sunrise Meadows, the homes sold to families at 80 percent of the AMI at the time, according to city staff.About half the homes in Sunrise Meadows—but not the Pocuses’—were built under a “sweat equity” agreement, in which the lottery-winning new homeowners agree to do some of the construction work on the home themselves. In exchange, they received financial down-payment assistance from the city’s BMR program, which was heavily financed by the Redevelopment Agency at the time.“Everybody moved in six to nine months of each other,” Tom Pocus said.Since the Pocus family moved in, Sunrise Meadows has become what the couple and their neighbors say is the perfect example of what the city’s BMR program was designed to create: a tight-knit community of hard-working families who have supported each other on their quest toward home ownership.The Pocuses’ five children, who are now adults, grew up in the Sunrise Meadows home and graduated from Live Oak High School.“Our church is here, our friends are here, our family is here,” said Tom, a former gymnast and gym owner who now works as a field equipment engineer. “We’re involved in sports programs,” he added. The couple has now lived in Morgan Hill more than 30 years.Thus, the Sunrise Meadows community banded together to seek clarification from city staff when they received a letter in late 2017 from Housekeys, the company that manages the local BMR program on behalf of City Hall. The letter consisted of a number of probing questions about the household finances, some of which the homeowners thought were too “personal” and not relevant to their existing BMR ownership contract.At the Nov. 15 Morgan Hill City Council meeting, some of these residents said they are refusing to sign and return the questionnaires to Housekeys. They fear it is a backhanded effort to rewrite their current contracts under the current terms of the ever-changing BMR program (new agreements with BMR homeowners are now for 45 years, not 30, for example), thus indefinitely extending the date at which they can finally call their homes their own.“We understood after 30 years we would be free to sell the home on the open market,” Michele Harvey, also a BMR homeowner in Sunrise Meadows, told the city council Nov. 15. “That meant it was an investment for us. More so than that, it was a place to build community. That is what we have in this neighborhood…We have seen children born (and) graduate, people pass away, and we have all been there for each other.”City aims to ensure complianceTom Pocus and other residents said in the last 20-plus years they have lived in their BMR homes, they have never received such a correspondence from the city or its affordable housing administrator.City Manager Christina Turner and city housing staff, however, said the Sunrise Meadows residents have nothing to fear. BMR owners are not required to re-qualify under the income requirements for their home, and there is no effort underway to force them to comply with the current affordable home ownership rules such as the updated 45-year contract requirement, Turner said.Municipal affordable housing programs typically include periodic monitoring of BMR homes to ensure the owners are honoring their deed restrictions, and the letter from Housekeys is an effort to do that, Turner said. This certification is ideally completed annually, but that has not been the case in Morgan Hill.“It came as a surprise to many homeowners,” Turner said. “The overarching purpose of the letter is to confirm that the owners are occupying the homes consistent with the original BMR agreements with the city.”The Housekeys letter last year went out to all 509 BMR homeowners in Morgan Hill.BMR property deeds are highly restrictive to the homeowner compared with market-rate home ownership. Aside from the usual required monthly mortgage payments, for example, BMR homes must be occupied by the original owner throughout the term of the contract; owners cannot rent out rooms at market rates; any effort to refinance can be sought only through the program’s preferred loan officers; and if they choose to sell the home before the end of the contract, the city gets first dibs. Any sale of a home in the BMR program before the end of the contract must be restricted to the affordable price.Julius Nyanda of Houskeys added that some of the questions on the letter were optional “survey” inquiries, while others were required for household BMR certification. He agreed the questionnaire could have more clearly stated the difference between these categories.City staff “works closely” with Housekeys in overseeing the city’s affordable housing program, Turner added. Housekeys has run this program since 2015, and is currently under a $500,000 contract with the city for that work. Housekeys also manages affordable housing programs for the cities of Gilroy, Campbell, San Francisco and Burlingame.If Housekeys or the city finds that a BMR homeowner is not in compliance with the deed restrictions, they can take legal action to regain possession of the home. The city has done this on limited occasions in the past, “all in the spirit of preserving the affordability of the unit,” Turner said.‘Byzantine’ contracts difficult to understandSunrise Meadows resident Alberto Juarez is currently in litigation with Housekeys, which filed a lawsuit claiming he was in violation of the BMR deed. Juarez’ mother, the original owner of the home, labored on the home construction herself under a sweat equity agreement.However, his mother died recently. Housekeys subsequently claimed that the family was in violation of the BMR agreement because the owner is no longer occupying the home, and she had placed the home in a family trust, according to Juarez’ attorney Eugene Flemate.Juarez and Flemate argue they are not in violation, and the home’s deed states Juarez’ mother could pass the home to her heirs when she died. After months of out-of-court negotiating and mediation, Flemate thinks Juarez—who wants to retain ownership of the family home—will reach a favorable outcome.However, Flemate said the vague, confusing wording of the “byzantine” BMR contracts makes them difficult to interpret for both Housekeys and the homeowner.“A contract is supposed to think of all the possibilities, like ‘What if you die?’” Flemate said. “It looks like nobody thought of that.”Morgan Hill Housing Manager Rebecca Garcia said a total of three BMR homes in the city limits are in litigation, where the owners are accused of violating their affordable housing deeds.City staff expects to bring an agenda item on Morgan Hill’s BMR program to the Feb. 7 city council meeting. This item will discuss the new state Housing Accountability Act and how it will affect the local program, as well as updates on affordable rental projects, “a forecast of upcoming BMR units for sale in the pipeline, BMR ownership certification process update” and other points, Garcia said.In the meantime, Tom Pocus said he will continue to work with and advocate for his neighbors who worry about losing their homes under an arbitrary enforcement of the rules.“The neighbors need a voice to stand up to these people,” Pocus said. “We’re making sure justice is served. I don’t trust the city council, or Housekeys at all. Many people are afraid to say anything because they’re afraid to be singled out.”

Police arrested a Hollister man Jan. 12 who is accused of robbing a Morgan Hill eyeglasses store and lounge at gunpoint on Christmas Eve, according to a press release. The same suspect is allegedly responsible for similar crimes in neighboring communities.Morgan Hill Police, assisted by agents from the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team, conducted surveillance and follow-up investigation on the suspect, Matthew Aaron De La Rosa, in Hollister. De La Rosa was located with his girlfriend, Christy Aguirre, 44 of Hollister, on Jan. 12. Aguirre was arrested by the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office on suspicion of multiple unrelated offenses.Detectives executed a search warrant at De La Rosa’s home, which he shared with Aguirre, police said. During the search, police found evidence that tied him to the Christmas Eve robbery in Morgan Hill, as well as another robbery in Monterey.Police questioned De La Rosa after his arrest, and he confessed to a total of six armed robberies—in Morgan Hill, Sunnyvale, Monterey, Seaside, San Jose and Capitola, according to MHPD. He was booked at Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of multiple armed robbery charges.On Dec. 24, 2017, De La Rosa entered EYEfiniTEA Optique & Lounge, 15700 Monterey Road. Wearing a surgical mask, the suspect looked around for a few minutes, selected two sets of eyewear and approached the counter as if he was going to pay for the merchandise, police said.Once the clerk appeared behind the counter, De La Rosa lifted his shirt to display a handgun in his waistband, according to authorities. He then demanded money from the cash register and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and the eyewear.The Morgan Hill Police investigation led officers to identify the suspect. MHPD released photos of De La Rosa to other nearby law enforcement agencies, some of which determined the same suspect had committed similar crimes in their jurisdictions, according to Morgan Hill police.

An intoxicated Santa Cruz man driving a Tesla sedan nearly jumped Coyote Creek in north Morgan Hill this past weekend, according to police.About 3:45am Jan. 13, police responded to a single-vehicle accident near the intersection of Cochrane Road and Malaguerra Drive, Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Troy Hoefling said.A 2017 Tesla Model 3 was traveling eastbound on Cochrane Road when the driver “failed to recognize” that the road took a sharp right turn at the intersection of Malaguerra Drive, just in front of Coyote Creek, Hoefling said.As a result, the Tesla continued straight off the east shoulder of Cochrane Road, into a street sign and a tree, Hoefling said. The vehicle came to rest about 40 feet off the roadway, partially submerged in Coyote Creek.The driver, Colin Flynn, 38 of Santa Cruz, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, police said. He was not injured in the accident.Flynn initially told officers at the scene that he had swerved to avoid a deer, according to a post on the MHPD Facebook page. Police transported him to the Morgan Hill Police station, where he refused to provide a blood sample to test his blood alcohol content. Officers later obtained a search warrant, with which Flynn eventually complied, according to police.The vehicle has been removed from the crash site.Hoefling noted that emergency personnel who responded to the accident had to be cautious of the fact that the Tesla is an electric vehicle, with batteries that could spill hazardous waste into the creek if damaged, or pose a risk of electrocution. However, such risks did not materialize in this incident.

Uncontrollable juvenile

A Morgan Hill motorcycle officer is recovering from minor injuries after he was involved in a traffic accident south of town Jan. 10, according to police.The accident occurred just after 4pm in the southbound lane of Monterey Road just after Watsonville Road, while MHPD was assisting other departments in closing the road in response to an unrelated gas leak farther south, according to authorities. PG&E asked police to close the road in the area of the gas leak, near California Avenue, to facilitate repairs.MHPD Sgt. Carlos Guerrero said employees from the city’s department of public works had just finished placing cones in the far right southbound lane on Monterey Road from Watsonville Road to Middle Avenue. The purpose of the lane closure was to divert Monterey Road vehicle traffic onto Middle Avenue, around the site of the gas leak.MHPD Traffic Officer John Kuhlen began driving his department motorcycle in the closed lane from Watsonville Road to John Wilson Way. At the 15300 block of Monterey Road, an SUV “made a quick right turn” from the open southbound lane, across the closed lane toward the driveway of a residence on the west side of Monterey Road, Guerrero said.As the SUV crossed the closed lane, in which Kuhlen was riding, the vehicle struck Kuhlen and his motorcycle, Guerrero said. The collision knocked Kuhlen onto the roadway.Kuhlen suffered a pain to his hip as a result of the collision, and he was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital, Guerrero said. He was later released from the hospital with minor injuries.Guerrero expects Kuhlen to be back on duty within a week.The California Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.

Gilroy’s Christopher Ranch, America’s biggest garlic producer, disputes accusations that it conspired to fix garlic prices and sells garlic peeled by Chinese prisoners, allegations raised by competitors in a new Netflix documentary series investigating food scandals called “Rotten.”

The May 16 time trial stage of the Amgen Tour—set to take place in the city’s downtown and through the rolling hills west of town—will turn Morgan Hill into a cycling fanatic’s paradise for the day.City officials and tourism proponents hope the event and its worldwide broadcast will have a much longer lasting impact here.The Amgen Tour of California is one of the more prestigious races in the cycling world. About 120 elite professional cyclists will compete in the seven-day, seven-stage (three stages for women) race that goes from Long Beach to Sacramento, with stops at various communities in between.“It has national and international attention,” Morgan Hill Economic Development Director Edith Ramirez told the city council at the Dec. 20 meeting. “The race (was) broadcast in over 200 countries, with 60 million viewers” in 2017.Thus the question of whether the City of Morgan Hill should shoulder up to $55,000 for local costs associated with the May 16 time trial and related activities seemed like a no-brainer for the council, which voted 5-0 to approve the expense Dec. 20.The Amgen Tour, which is owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, has not officially announced its final list of 2018 host cities, but is expected to do so in the coming weeks.Specifically, the city will spend up to $40,000 from the general fund on costs associated with road closures and traffic control along the 22-mile time trial course that starts and ends in downtown Morgan Hill. Amgen Tour host cities are all responsible for such costs, according to a city staff report.The city’s expenses will also include up to $15,000 for “marketing and branding” for the City of Morgan Hill, including the production of a 30-second commercial to be during television coverage of the May 16 time trial stage, according to city staff.Ramirez said while city staff and event promoters can’t estimate an amount of sales and hotel tax revenues—and other residual income—that could result from the Amgen Tour, it is possible that this economic benefit will more than offset the city’s costs. A large portion of this benefit will result from hundreds of hotel room stays—for which the city collects a 10 percent per night per room tax—for the time trial racers, their teams and spectators.The inconvenience to local residents is not lost on city officials, as the Amgen Tour “Stage 4” men’s time trial will require the full closure of the race route, which is expected to loop from downtown Morgan Hill westward into the unincorporated hills along Oak Glen Avenue and north to Bailey Avenue before returning along Hale Avenue. The time trial will start on the west side of Monterey Road at East Dunne Avenue, with the finish line at Monterey Road and Fourth Street.Councilmember Rene Spring noted that May 16 is a Wednesday, which is a normal workday for local residents who commute. The event will likely pose some inconvenience to those residents, Spring said.Ramirez noted that some roads along the route outside downtown won’t be closed during the day’s heavy commute hours, as the time trial is scheduled for 11am to 4pm.Road closures downtown will begin May 15 as Amgen Tour organizers set up for a Lifestyle Festival that will take place during the May 16 time trial. This festival will be hosted by Amgen Tour of California, and will feature several tents for sponsor products, hospitality and other cycling industry promotions. The festival will take place on Monterey Road between Main Avenue and Third Street.Although Spring is “not as confident” as Ramirez and others about the possible economic windfall from the Amgen Tour in Morgan Hill, he joined his council colleagues in supporting the May 16 host city designation. He also agreed with a suggestion from an audience member to organize a less formal bicycle ride along the time trial route in the days before the Amgen Tour, which could serve as a fundraiser for local organizations and a promotion for the May 16 race.The Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Association offered their enthusiastic support for bringing the Amgen Tour to town, citing the revenues coming directly from the presence of hundreds of professional athletes and their road crews, as well as potentially thousands of spectators during the event. These organizations are also excited about the worldwide exposure that Morgan Hill will gain as the Amgen Tour is broadcast on live international television.The city is also hoping to implement a Tourism Based Improvement District among the local hotels as another effort to fund the Amgen Tour costs, Ramirez said. This program would levy an additional tax on guests at Morgan Hill hotels, all revenue from which would be directed toward to efforts for “promoting and branding the community” and attracting events that bring visitors from out of town.Past experienceProponents note that time trials are vastly more spectator-friendly than other stages of a race such as the Amgen Tour, as the event lasts all afternoon in one location rather than quickly passing through the area. During a time trial, individual cyclists start out one at a time, staggered throughout the late morning and afternoon about two minutes apart.  The City of Solvang, in Santa Barbara County, hosted an Amgen Tour time trial from 2008 to 2011. Solvang City Manager Brad Vidro said the overall impact on the community was positive, especially over the long term.Solvang gained repeated media exposure as well as the presence of teams training along the route in the weeks leading up to the Amgen Tour, Vidro said. He cited hotel taxes and food sales among the big money makers for Solvang.“In the longer term, you get that exposure,” Vidro said. “The spectators…want to come see the area. We think that went on for years later.”Solvang also organized a “ride the route” promotion before the official event each year, for which individual riders paid $800 or more to participate. These efforts went to directly offset the City of Solvang’s costs for being an Amgen Tour host city.Vidro said he couldn’t place a specific dollar value on the Amgen Tour’s impact on Solvang. The city, which has a population of about 5,400, stopped hosting the Amgen Tour in 2011 because the immediate costs for road closure and traffic control grew prohibitive.He also acknowledged, “A lot of the locals didn’t like it so much because we were blocking roads, impeding access. With a time trial, you’ve got to completely close the loop” to vehicle traffic.Cities in California along the Amgen Tour route typically compete to host a stage or time trial during the event, Ramirez said. In Morgan Hill, however, the City of San Jose and the San Jose Sports Authority offered to co-host the May 16 time trial with Morgan Hill.City staff said they have already notified the school district about potential traffic disruptions associated with the Amgen Tour, and will begin getting the word out to local residents and businesses.

School district and local law enforcement officials are calling for public assistance in identifying a suspect who allegedly spray painted over a security camera and tagged the back of a food service delivery truck at Live Oak High School over the weekend of Jan. 6-7.