Looking Ahead

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We’ve identified a site! The City of Gilroy already owns nearly 100% of the 3 blocks between Church St. and Dowdy St. in between 6th and 7th Streets. Of that entire space, only the Gilroy Library and the Gilroy Police Department are newer facilities, while the rest is far too many decades old to ever see today’s standards and functionality. With approval from the voters, a measure that could be ready as soon as 2026, this site could house so much of what our community needs in terms of a civic center in a central location, including outdoor gathering space/amphitheater, a gym and community center complete with kitchen, meeting space, and current technology, easy and user-friendly access to City Hall and all city departments, and recreation program headquarters and community hub, just to name a few ideas. Evaluating the many possibilities to include at this site would involve community participation and interaction. Once we have a plan that meets the needs of our community, we can then determine the cost to build and the amount of the bond for which to seek voter approval, much like how the Gilroy Unified School District secured funding to rebuild Brownell Middle School and South Valley Middle School. With a vision to revamp this 3-block space already owned by the City, the potential for recreation programs and community events can soar. Let’s go, Gilroy!

And by the way, if the San Jose Sharks organization, after beginning operations of the 2-ice rink facility about to be constructed at the Gilroy Sports Park, decides they’d like to add an additional 2 rinks, we’ll have the opportunity to also consider the addition of a 50-meter regulation-size swimming pool in that location, perfect for swim meets and other large/overnight events. 

Police, fire and first responder city services are essential to our quality of life. Gilroy’s growing population from housing construction required to meet state housing goals presents growing challenges to pay for these and other city services. Our population today warrants additional personnel in order to meet the service levels we all deserve, including keeping our neighborhoods and businesses safe, enforcing our city ordinances, and responding to fire and medical emergencies. The financial burden of adding personnel, which for public safety already consumes 70% of our general fund annually, has been exacerbated since 2012 when state retirement benefit obligations were placed on cities and counties (CalPERS). These defined-benefit retirement obligations have been accumulating beyond what any of us can afford because benefit amounts are paid in the same amount even when investment earnings fall short of the obligation, resulting in mounting long-term debt that accrues interest (more commonly known as “unfunded liabilities” because we have no way to fund them). The required minimum annual payment on that debt also rises annually, threatening our financial security and limiting the number of personnel we can afford. To address our financial ability to meet future minimum payments, I championed the start of a Pension Trust to which the Council has funded to date $3.5 million to bridge the shortfall when we can no longer otherwise those minimum payments. The money earmarked in this Trust is miniscule next to the magnitude of the unfunded retirement obligations we face, but it is there to buy us time when we and other cities fall short of even the annual minimum payments (For perspective, the annual minimum payment for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 is $13.6 million and $14.7 million, respectively). 

As I felt about our streets going into my current mayoral term, public safety must also be bolstered. Unlike our streets that require capital outlays every so many years, personnel costs are ongoing and require a constant revenue stream. In addition, law enforcement workload is affected by state laws that limit what we can do, what we can prosecute, and how to keep from chasing the same problem and the same individuals for the same crime/offense over and over.  Without impending solutions at the state level, increasing our workforce and its efficiencies are paramount to maintaining service levels and our quality of life.

Enter Gilroy's 4th fire station, and Measure C! On October 7, 2024, the City Council approved an operating memorandum with Glen Loma Ranch which provides us immediately with the land on which to begin construction of that station, and 100% of the money due from Glen Loma Ranch by June 2, 2025. This fourth fire station will help us reduce fire and medical response times throughout Gilroy, and Measure C will help us get the necessary staffing to succeed. Response times are not only important for fire department services, but also in our Police department so that we can bring about safer neighborhoods that protect our residents and businesses. Measure C is a proposal to you, the voters of Gilroy, for a 1/4 of a cent addition to the overall sales tax rate (currently 9.125%, of which Gilroy receives 1%, increasing to 9.375% as proposed by Measure C, of which Gilroy will receive 1.25%) all of which would be fully dedicated to public safety services (police, fire and medical response). With this additional sales tax revenue, estimated at $4.5 million annually, Gilroy will have a dedicated revenue source from which to provide safer neighborhoods, protection for our residents and businesses, and faster response times.  Measure C includes an oversight committee that will report to the public each year on how much money was generated and where every dollar went. The oversight committee makes the use of Measure C money fully transparent and visible to the public every single year. While emergency medical response is part of the services provided by our fire department, the City of Gilroy contracts for ambulance services through the county with American Medical Response (AMR) paramedic ambulances who is required to respond to medical emergencies within Gilroy. Also In need of bolstering is AMR’s compliance with the terms of that contract, something the City of Gilroy has already initiated for this essential service to our community that we pay for to add coverage for emergency medical response alone. On it!

As long as I remain Gilroy’s representative to our transportation agencies, I will be present at the decision-making tables for public transportation services and infrastructure improvements to south county, including the addition of a 4th lane on 101 from Cochrane to Hwy 25, the 101/25 interchange improvements scheduled to begin in late 2024, and the Santa Teresa Blvd extension from Castro Valley Road to the 101/25 interchange. Within Gilroy, the process has begun for the widening of the existing bridge overcrossing at the 10th Street/101/152 interchange to add one additional lane in each direction from Camino Arroyo all the way to Chestnut/Automall Parkway. Also included in the current budget is design and environmental work for a bridge over Uvas Creek on the west end of 10th Street. The cost to actually construct the bridge sits at $27 million, funding for which we continue to seek from a federal transportation grant. 

Organized by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, each of the Mayors of cities in Santa Clara County are uniting in support of statewide legislation that will offer conservatorships for the mentally ill and a state-run virtual dashboard for behavioral health beds. The result of the latter would be to direct the State Department of Health Care Services to create a database of behavioral health facilities and share bed capacity as it is changing in real-time. A comprehensive repository of specialized services such as drug addiction recovery hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and mental health rehabilitation centers would provide breathing room for overwhelmed emergency departments and link individuals to condition-specific resources.

Conservatorships are a last-resort attempt to care for an individual who has become “gravely disabled,” which is currently defined as not being able to provide ones’ self with food, clothing and shelter. Efforts for conservatorship reform include enhancing the definition of “gravely disabled” to a focus on those who are unable to prevent serious physical or mental harm to themselves or others due to an inability to provide for their own basic needs. In addition to families, the Public Guardian can petition for conservatorship, allowing local governments to redirect individuals away from the criminal justice system and emergency departments and link them to effective care. Expanding the use of conservatorships is a practical and moral imperative. I support these efforts that address the very real and human issue of behavioral health throughout California, an issue that has been neglected and grown to unmanageable proportions on the streets of every city.

Topping the list of economic development in Gilroy is the expansion of the Gilroy Sports Park to include Sharks Ice Gilroy, a two-rink ice facility operated by San Jose Sharks Sports & Entertainment. Discussions took hold in my first year as mayor, and today we're ready to bid the project and get construction underway. Looking ahead, you can expect to see this great addition and recreation anchor to our Sports Park within 18 months of groundbreaking. 

Plaza Allium, a new commercial center on Chestnut & 10th Street, will include a 5-story Hyatt Hotel with 112 guestrooms, a Chick-fil-A restaurant, and other retail conveniences. Construction is underway.

Pulmuone Foods, a wholesome Korean food manufacturer, added $32 million last year to their investment in Gilroy at their facility on Rossi Lane. 

New businesses that opened in Gilroy in this last year alone include Nordstrom Rack, Pop's Public House, Macaco Spicy Chicken Sandwiches, AnNam Bistro & Cafe, Satellite Health Care Dialysis, Gilroy Bowl, Camino Coffee, Rosie's Protein Bar, Overflow Tap House, Vines and Pints, and Pour Me Taproom, with many more in various stages of plan review and/or construction. See a complete list of businesses recently opened and about to open in the April 2024 Spotlight: State of the City.

The Gourmet Alley construction project to be completed this year will bring to our downtown Gilroy's first pedestrian-only space for dining, shopping, strolling, and general seating. The existing unsightly and underutilized space with exposed trash bins and poor lighting will soon have clean and attractive walkways with landscaping and lighting from which to enjoy the adjacent downtown businesses. 

The Gilroy Premium Outlets are in need of some love to preserve what has historically been a large source of sales tax revenue for the City. The same applies to our car dealerships who are our number one source of sales tax. Going forward, a focus of our attention on these sales tax drivers is warranted, including attracting additional economic development to those nearby areas that brings jobs to Gilroy and more visibility to the Outlets and to our car dealers.

RECENT EVENTS

Regarding increases to councilmember stipends, each councilmember receives a monthly stipend that is adjusted annually by a cost-of-living factor. Today, and through the end of 2024, those stipends are $1,020 per month for councilmembers and $1,530 per month for the mayor (the mayor receives 50% more than councilmembers per Gilroy’s policy). Earlier this year, state law changed the minimum stipend for councilmembers of general law cities to $1600 per month. Gilroy is a charter city and therefore did not have to change from our existing councilmember pay, but being cognizant that an exceptionally low stipend might discourage people from running for office, the council majority voted to increase Councilmember stipends to $1600 per month beginning in 2025, and the mayor’s stipend remains at Gilroy’s existing policy of 50% more than councilmembers, raising the mayor’s monthly stipend to $2400 after the upcoming election. These stipend increases, though small, are meant to offer monthly pay that’s more consistent with similar cities and encourage a larger pool of candidates willing to run for office, and they take effect for the elected body following the next election.

Regarding political campaign mailers, social media ads and text messages being sent to Gilroy voters displaying "Ad paid for by Building Tomorrow, Sponsored by California Friends and Family, LP.", hiding behind this name and paying for these ads is a developer with a pending application before the City of Gilroy.  They have been promoting the 3 city council incumbents and my opponent while smearing me and spending six figures to do it. Take note of any political ads displaying California Friends and Family and who is hiding behind them.  Letter: Developer tries to buy a council majority | Gilroy Dispatch | Gilroy, California 

Regarding campaign violation accusations from this same developer, it's just more of the same. I have none.