But it's not as big a deal as putting police officers and emergency dispatch personnel on furlough. Honestly, this City Council has not only missed the boat, they're close to sinking the ship. Establish priorities, then make the necessary cuts based on those priorities. The idea that all city programs and personnel are equally valuable is hogwash. And when the Council starts with a flawed premise, which it did in addressing the budget crisis, it inevitably ends up with a mess - which is what we're embarking on now. Of course, it's easier to say cut equally across the board because neither do you have to establish and agree upon priorities nor do you have to truly consider substantial or creative new ways of doing business. It's easy, but it's not right. I'd venture to say that law enforcement would be at the top of nearly every resident's priority list, and that reality will sink in and become very clear in the next election.

Electing Ben Gale, who is the Director of the County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health would be a good move. He's taken it upon himself to look into the hazardous debris mess Caltrans has left for months beside Highway 152 just west of the Elks Lodge. His email was most appreciated and surprising and, hopefully, Mr. Gale can be a force of nature (pun intended) and move the Caltrans pile, literally, on this one. Before the Garlic Festival would be nice ... but it's Caltrans so they'll probably start full-scale, road-blocking construction on July 24 ...

Ah, July, that means the good stuff is about to be served up and I can't wait to dip into the G-Fest calamari with a crusty piece of moist garlic bread ... honestly, it's the only time all year I eat squid for breakfast ... and lunch ... God bless the pyro chefs ...

Focusing on the festival food will be numerous video cameras from the local access media TV organization, aka CMAP. That's the word from Kathy Bisbee, who's in charge of our local TV operation, and is indeed a BusyB. All the food stage events will be covered and, besides that, the footage from '09 will be laying the groundwork for a full-length documentary film on our beloved fest. Can't you just see Gerry Foisy dressed as Mr. Garlic accepting an Oscar for Best Documentary Film ...

A film on how not to build ingress and egress into a high school could certainly be made in South County. As parents and GPD Traffic Safety Officer Nestor Quinones know, it's a huge mess dropping off your child at Gilroy High School. And now, since our daughter is going to Live Oak in Morgan Hill for summer school, I know this is not just a Gilroy problem. The parking lot is a mess there, too. So, when I wondered aloud on a recent morning if Christopher High's parking lot situation would be better, my GHS daughter responded with a low-throated bristle known now as the anti-Cougar growl that apparently many Mustangs are familiar with ... don't think there's going to be a problem establishing the crosstown rivalry ...

What you never see gliding across town is somebody on roller blades, daughter Mariah observed upon spotting a rare blader one bright afternoon after school. At that moment I shocked her and told her I signed up on Twitter as Mark Derryman and had Tweeted ... "Dad, why did you do that?," she asked incredulously ...

Not sure, but I did get an e-mail from the Leadership Gilroy folks who want to shift gears this season for Media Day education and incorporate social media ... yep, that's the place called Facebook where I look up young reporters who apply for jobs to get news about their lives so I really know who I'm hiring. As for news of our community, Social Media 101 can be found at www.gilroydispatch.com where all the news we can't fit into print is. And, thank you, business is slowly improving ...

As for the floral industry you simply can't improve on the stunningly creative arrangements or on the customer service Diana Rasta delivers. Wednesday night in my sweetie's room at the hospital in San Jose where she's recovering, the door opened slowly at 9:50 p.m. and, though I didn't recognize her immediately, the owner of Stems Floral Boutique in Morgan Hill came in with gorgeous flowers for Jenny from Renee, wife of her longtime friend and mentor, the late Kip Brundage.

Those flowers have plenty of company in Jenny's room which is brimming with heartfelt cards and bouquets. I'd be most remiss not to end with a thank you to everyone who has visited her, expressed concern, offered prayers and/or sent a note. Each makes a difference as Jenny climbs the recovery ladder. More than ever, I appreciate the wonderful people who make up this community.

Mark Derry is the editor of the Dispatch. Reach him at editor@garlic.com

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