Published in the March 21 – April 3, 2018 issue of Gilroy Life

Image result for Gilroy History MuseumGilroy’s got history! And the Gilroy Historical Society wants your help in putting a spotlight on some of the best ways the residents of Garlic City have been involved in helping to preserve the past. Connie Rogers, president of the society, asked us to let our readers know that it’s time to nominate homes and business sites for the 2018 Architectural Awards.

“Have you noticed an historic building that is ‘looking good’ this year?” she said in an email. “We want to honor people who have invested in the preservation and beautification of their home or building, a significant effort that makes Gilroy a better place.”

The Architectural Awards Categories are:

  • Historic Design Award — for a new building in the downtown area that complements the original historic buildings or enhances the downtown historic district area
  • Historic Commercial Building Award — for a building at least 50 years old in the downtown historic district or on an historic site that restores, retains or preserves the building’s historical, cultural or architectural values.
  • Historic House Award — for a home that is at least 50 years old that is an outstanding example of restoration and renovation. Exterior only.
  • Certificate of Commendation — for residential, commercial or “other.”  This could be for new construction, restoration, renovation, additions, landscaping, painting or significant improvement.

Send your nomination by March 31 to [email protected] or by mail to Gilroy Museum, 195 Fifth St., Gilroy, CA 95020. Please include your name, the street address of the nominee, and a brief explanation of why you think the building or residence deserves an award in one of these categories.

And thank you to all the residents and businesses in Gilroy who have put time and money into saving our community’s history.

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Roland Velasco

Gilroy Mayor Roland Velasco used his Coffee with the Mayor time March 3 at the Gilroy Council Chamber to share with about 30 citizens and staff his thoughts on his first full year and his vision for the future of Garlic City. Some of the topics he addressed in his second annual “State of the City” address will be published in the April 4 issue of Gilroy Life.

Gilroy Life Publisher Marty Cheek attended and observed the mayor early in his talk randomly ask the audience “Does anyone have a dime?”

There was a confused look among many people in the audience. One smart aleck made the comment, “Is the city of Gilroy that poor now?” producing laughter.

The mayor explained that he needed the coin for a prop and a generous citizen loaned the city a dime.

Later in his speech, he got into the issue of property taxes and city services.

“The property taxes generated by housing doesn’t pay for all the services residents demand,” he said. “Let me illustrate an example for you. If you have a house in Gilroy that has an assessed value of $700,000, then you would write a check to Santa Clara County for your property taxes. The total property tax rate in Gilroy is 1.2686 percent — 1 percent Proposition 13 limit plus voter approved bond debt. That’s the various other bonds that have been passed like water district and school bonds. But, let’s keep the math simple. Let’s use 1 percent of the $700,000. That would be $7,000. But, not all the $7,000 comes to the city of Gilroy.”

He showed the dollar and the dime. “If this dollar represents the 1 percent that you sent to the county, according to the Controller-Treasure Department at the county, the city of Gilroy would receive 9.7 percent. Less than this dime! You send in this (the dollar). The city of Gilroy receives this (the dime).”

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Randall Ramirez wants Gilroy Life readers to know he is looking for die-hard cyclists to join a mountain bike club he plans to form in the South Valley. He’s looking for all levels of mountain bikers.

“I would like to get together and find some nice trails to ride on the weekends,” he told us. “The intent of the club is to have fun, meet some good people and make some awesome connections.”

If you are interested in joining the new club, please give Ramirez a call at (408) 886-8989.

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Sitting in the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse, patrons of South Valley Civic Theatre shows and other performances will no longer be sore. The intimate 172-seat theater had a reputation for stiff and uncomfortable chairs. But, at the recent South Valley Civic Theater annual board meeting, out-going president Peter Mandel pointed out the new chairs that had recently been installed. The announcement received much applause.

Mandel also invites the public to join him on a trip to his hometown, a little place called New York City, on a special trip to see shows and explore historic sites. SVCT has organized the five-day, four-night trip starting July 16 to kick-off its 50th anniversary.

“We’re going to Broadway. It’ll be a great time,” Mandel said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We tried to price it and size it so that it’s acceptable and not too long . . . It’s all for roughly $2,000.”

The cost includes tickets to see Broadway shows “My Fair Lady,” “Come From Away,” and “The Band’s Visit.” It also includes a Broadway workshop and a guided tour of Radio City Music Hall. The New York City highlights include visits to Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Times Square, Top of the Rock, Wall Street, the 9/11 Memorial, Chinatown and Little Italy, a Soho art gallery walk, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, and a ferry trip to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

The price also includes airfare and hotel, breakfast and dinners. For details and to reserve a space, visit www.svct.org/50th_broadway.

Sounds like a great time!

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Thank you to the Julian McPhee family for donating to the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority a 112-acre property adjacent to Uvas Canyon County Park in the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains west of South Valley. This is the OSA’s first acquisition that permanently protects part of a majestic redwood forest.

Here’s the wonky stuff … The Santa Clara Valley Greenprint, the OSA’s 30-year conservation vision, indicates that this property has very high conservation values in terms of biodiversity and water resources. It is located in an area that receives the highest amount of rainfall in the county. A tributary to Uvas Creek and a main stem of Croy Creek run through the property, which contain habitat for native fish such as rainbow trout and riffle sculpin, and potential habitat for the threatened California red-legged frog and the foothill yellow-legged frog. The property is also located within a critical landscape linkage that connects habitat in the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Gabilan Range. In the long term, its strategic location next to Uvas Canyon County Park provides an important opportunity to implement Santa Clara County Parks’ county-wide Trails Master Plan.

“This property has been in our family for many years and was used as a weekend getaway,” said Rick Lavelle, grandson of Julian McPhee. “We are so pleased the land will be protected in perpetuity and provide wildlife habitat, scenic views and future hiking and recreation for the public.”

We love seeing our local environment preserved for the future.

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And speaking of preserving land, Santa Clara County Parks Department recently closed escrow on 153-acres at the northeast boundary of Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear Ranch County Park in Gilroy. It will be continually grazed to manage the diverse natural resources and plant communities associated with the property by current cattle rancher, Brent Kirk, who also grazes cattle at Harvey Bear Ranch.

Marty Cheek