Every so often someone who deserves a great honor actually gets
a great honor. This is the case, finally, with Sylvia Hamilton.
State Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, named Hamilton this
week as
“27th District Woman of the Year.” Along with the announcement,
Laird noted that Hamilton is often called “the mayor of San Martin”
and called her inspiring.
Every so often someone who deserves a great honor actually gets a great honor. This is the case, finally, with Sylvia Hamilton.
State Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, named Hamilton this week as “27th District Woman of the Year.” Along with the announcement, Laird noted that Hamilton is often called “the mayor of San Martin” and called her inspiring.
Inspiring she is.
“Sylvia Hamilton’s inspiring combination of hope and tenacity has earned her more than the Woman of the Year award, it’s earned her the admiration and respect of community members and leaders from San Martin to the state capital,” said Laird. “With her special perspective as an inspired school teacher, loving parent and survivor of profound tragedy, Sylvia has provided needed leadership on key issues such as perchlorate contamination in private wells.”
Hamilton said she was, indeed, surprised when Laird called to break the news.
“To say the least, I was very, very surprised, honored and humbled, even more so because I do have a tremendous amount of respect for John Laird,” Hamilton said. “Being selected by him means a great deal to me.”
The San Martin resident – to use her favorite expression – ‘stepped up to the plate’ when the unincorporated area needed a leader to fight Santa Clara County’s plans on how San Martin should change.
The county offered to expand the local airport, allow huge church gatherings, install an RV storage lot, a hazardous waste storage facility, expanded waste transfer stations, junkyards and considered a fish cleaning and packing plant.
Hamilton, an almost 30-year resident, is on the San Martin Planning Advisory Committee that coordinates with the county; she is a representative of the Gilroy Foundation and a director of the Live Oak Foundation.
Hamilton helped, in 2000, to form and serves as president of the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance, the grassroots group that took on the county and, in many cases, won. SMNA now has 450 members.
And then, in January 2003, Hamilton found out that perchlorate from an Olin Corp. plant that manufactured safety flares had contaminated the groundwater in parts of Morgan Hill and the entire east side of San Martin. Knowing she had to jump right in to hold down panic in residents who were faced with unknown health problems and threats to their property values, Hamilton jumped.
Within a few weeks she was chair of the Perchlorate Citizens Advisory Group, set up to keep the community aware of and involved in the efforts to get a handle on the chemical’s spread and a budding clean up effort. And she was named to the Perchlorate Medical Advisory Group, that brings together the medical community to share what is known and discovered about the health effects related to perchlorate exposure.
In effect, besides being called the mayor of San Martin, Hamilton could be called Ms. Perchlorate, though she says that would be a dubious honor.
“I feel very humble and honored at the same time,” Hamilton said. “We have a tiny community that has had some real issues over the years. A lot of people have worked very hard to protect our community and the voice of residents.
“It is very rewarding to know that others respect our efforts and support the democratic process. I look at this as a pat on the back for “all” who have given so much of their precious time, energy and money to protect the future of our community.”
As county supervisor for the San Martin area – and Gilroy and Morgan Hill as well – Don Gage has known and done battle with Hamilton on some issues for about two years. Still, he had kind words about her.
“This is a great honor for her,” Gage said Thursday. “She is working very hard for the people of San Martin.”
Bob Cerruti, another San Martin activist, knows Hamilton well.
“Sylvia is very active in community affairs – she has a full plate every day. San Martin is lucky to have people like Sylvia and Barry Shiller, who is also working for San Martin.
“San Martin is a little fish in a big pond and we have had a lot of issues facing our little community,” Hamilton said. “To know that somebody outside of that realm notices is very rewarding not only for me but for the entire community.”
Laird said his appreciation of Hamilton deepened when he learned of sadness in her past.
“She raised her two children in San Martin and taught junior high math at nearby Martin Murphy Middle School in Morgan Hill.” Hamilton said. “After first losing her only daughter in a car accident in 1984, in 1998 Sylvia lost her only son to another car accident.
“Following a devastating period of mourning, and at the urging of concerned friends, Sylvia found unknown inner strength and became involved in land use issues for San Martin.”
The Assembly honor is not the first time Hamilton was called “Woman of the Year.” She received that honor in 2003 – from her friends and neighbors in the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance.
Laird will recognize Hamilton on the floor of the Assembly in a ceremony Monday morning, followed by a reception. She said Laird is taking her and friends, who will accompany her, to lunch, followed by special tours of the capitol.
“It will be a full day,” she said.
www.smneighbor.org
