It's a really good idea, the one JRB, a longtime Gilroyan floated in a fleeting conversation Tuesday afternoon: The city ought to buy the dilapidated building downtown - the old Washington Mutual Bank site - at Monterey and Fourth streets and turn it into a parking structure. She went on to say that some downtown residents are leaving the area because all the street parking has been taken up by new projects. It's a very well taken point. and if we want to avoid the current controversy going on in Morgan Hill regarding downtown, we'd find a way to make it work. As I drove by the unsightly site featuring an ugly chain-link fence, tall brown weeds and a skeleton structure looking for all the world like a bombed out building in Dresden after WWII, her point became even clearer. Now's the time for Gilroy to secure that perfectly located parcel for a future parking structure. And speaking of downtown, soon the one-man redevelopment crew named Gary Walton will add a cornerstone structure to his revitalization portfolio. Historic Old City Hall will be rescued from the gauche neon shackles of Chips 'n' Slopsa and become a classier joint befitting its world-class pedigree. The new name: Saffron Tapas Wine Bar & Restaurant. Pardon me, Meisseur Walton, don't waste a minute - as soon as the ink dries after signing the lease with the city - take the neon sign off the grand old dame and hide it. Yeah, hide it as well as they've hidden the statue of rodeo great Casey Tibbs which used to adorn the Hall's Building …
Mr. Tibbs' most famous statue, located at the Prorodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, has him riding a wonderfully named buckin' bronc called Necktie. Hopefully, someone will do the right thing and Casey's statue will end up where it rightfully should be - in a refurbished downtown Gilroy.
Refurbished and filled with delicious things to eat and marvelous robust coffee is the Garlic City Cafe owned and operated by Diego and Margarita Ramos. It's not on the menu yet, but if you enjoy a tasty breakfast burrito, Diego will whip you up a fantastic one. And the lunch business there is booming for good reason. How about a calamari sandwich with sauteed red onions and a cajun sauce? Had it, and I'll tell you Diego is a gifted chef. Just look for the umbrellas on the west Monterey Street sidewalk downtown near the Chamber of Commerce building.
Noteworthy factoid while heading toward Election Day: Even the Chamber folks voted down county Measure B, the latest in an exhaustive series of taxes for the never-ending, ever-ballooning boondoggle project that is BART-to-San Jose.
Given the economic climate, rapidly increasing government debt and the pervasive borrow-now, pay-more-over-time mentality, I'm going to be very choosy when it comes to bond and tax measures. Only one ballot measure has passed muster so far: Gilroy's growing schools need money for facilities. So, I'm a firm yes on Measure P, particularly since an old school district bond is expiring as this new $150 million bond comes on board, resulting in no tax increase. Plus, we really, really need to finish Christopher High School and finish it right.
Right on to the next item … Note to the next sheriff at Rotary Club meeting: member Jeff Martin recently joined a new club, notching a hole-in-one at Coyote Moon Golf Course on a 127-yard hole. Footnote to sheriff: It's a toss up, I hear, on whether you base his fine on the hole's yardage or his score for the 18-hole round … oh, and if he's already been fined, well, once more won't hurt …
Once more certainly won't hurt when it comes to voting online for a fellow Gilroyan to drive a little and save a whole lot. The Pauleys are in a dead heat to take home a new Saturn Astra. But they need your help. Click on https://saturnkissmyastra.com and vote for the picture with the donkey, that's Poppy, and the pretty girl, that's Dana Roberts.
From pretty to pretty funny we go … loved this item in Red Phone: "1. Red Phone got some bad information, but has found the right number. To report graffiti in unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County, call Waste Management at 282-3166." Waste Management is the perfect place to call for graffiti, don'tcha think?
Battling graffiti might not be the least of the Gilroy Police Department's worries, but my gut feeling is that crime in our fair city is going up substantially in most categories. Were I the mayor, or a member of the esteemed City Council, this would vault everything to become the top priority. There's no better use, when it comes to local tax dollars, than ensuring a safe community.
Perhaps if the city recovered some of the $14 million it spent to buy Bonfante/Gilroy Gardens by selling huge chunks of land to the numerous open space organizations which have cash, we could fix the city's crumbling sidewalks without reservation and have enough money in the General Fund budget to pay for some of the smart initiatives Police Chief Denise Turner has brought forward as well as hire a few more patrol officers to battle the bad guys.
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Mark Derry
Mark Derry is the executive editor of the Gilroy Dispatch. Reach him at (408)847-7010 or editor@garlic.com.
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Stories of Service: Jeramy Ailes
