THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
JULY 12, 2019
A supplement to the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
WALDO HUNT
Waldo hiding in South Valley businesses
SOUTH VALLEY MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Pin-striped adventurer hiding in Morgan Hill P6
CALENDAR OF EVENTS P8 | MAKERS MARKET P13 | REAL ESTATE P19
EARTHQUAKE KIT P2 | FIREWORKS ARRESTS P2 | RISING PROPERTY VALUES P8
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
JULY 12, 2019
Calendar of Events P8 Credo Studio P12 Real Estate P19
ESTABLISHED 1868
Nostalgic musical arrives in Hollister
A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance
A New SV Media publication SILLY INVENTIONS
Friday, July 12, 2019
SAN BENITO MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 152, No. 28 • $1
Classic musical is part of stage company’s 20th anniversary P6
High-speed Rail favors downtown station site LACK OF MONEY DOESN’T STOP RR PLANNING Jaqueline McCool Reporter
Michael Moore
The California HighSpeed Rail Authority staff has picked its preferred route for the bullet train, with a stop just south of Gilroy’s downtown that could act as a catalyst for business growth and a hub for commuters. The staff will recommend to the authority board that the train use the existing Caltrain corridor from Morgan Hill through Gilroy. This alternative would electrify the tracks currently used by Caltrain and run the High-Speed Rail through the existing Union Pacific Railroad corridor, which would create a High-Speed Rail stop in Gilroy, with a potential economic boom. The plans call for no stop in Morgan Hill, but Boris Lipkin, Northern California regional director for the authority, said the newly electrified Caltrain tracks will benefit Morgan Hill. Electrifying the tracks will allow for more lower-speed
COMMUNITY RAPPORT Gilroy Police Officer Hugo Delmoral stops to chat with Predator Archery owner Mike Pierce the night of June 28.
Delmoral was passing by during his weekend overtime assignment, with Sgt. Juan Rocha, on the city’s downtown foot detail.
Officers patrol city CONVERSATIONS, ARRESTS ARE ALL PART OF A DAY ON THE BEAT
➝ High-Speed Rail, 4 Michael Moore Reporter
As the summer continues and downtown Gilroy becomes livelier on Friday and Saturday nights, the sight of uniformed police officers walking the neighborhood will become increasingly familiar.
On Friday night, June 28, Gilroy Police Sgt. Juan Rocha and Officer Hugo Delmoral were on the city’s downtown foot detail. When a Gilroy Dispatch reporter caught up to them about 7:15pm, they were having a friendly conversation with an employee they knew from a restaurant on Monterey Street near Sixth Street. The pair of Gilroy police veterans continued walking north on Monterey Street as the city’s downtown continued to buzz
with families and groups of friends out for dinner or just starting to enjoy the weekend. Delmoral and Rocha didn’t get far before greeting another familiar face, a co-worker who was off duty for the night, enjoying dinner downtown with family and friends. After sharing a quick chat and some laughs, Rocha and Delmoral continued walking slowly. Just a few more steps northward, the officers again ran into some familiar locals, this time a
family with two young children. The family was just leaving dinner at a local restaurant. After another brief chat, the officers gave the children some Gilroy police “Junior Officer” stickers and resumed the beat. Most of Rocha and Delmoral’s interactions with visitors to downtown Gilroy on June 28 were friendly and positive like these. The officers said that’s how it goes most Friday and Saturday ➝ Patrols , 10
City looks at speeding repairs GILROY CONSIDERS REDUCING PENALTIES FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY REPAIRS Jaqueline McCool Reporter
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The Gilroy City Council, stepping back from tough talk during the 2018 election, on July 1 asked city staff to find ways to reduce late-payment penalties for owners of unreinforced masonry
buildings identified as unsafe in an earthquake. Just three days later, the first of two of the biggest earthquakes in California in 20 years hit Ridgecrest in the Mojave Desert, renewing calls across the state for more aggressive steps by cities to reduce earthquake damage and save lives. Since the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, a number of storefronts in Gilroy’s downtown have
remained vacant. Many of them were designated as unsafe, unreinforced masonry buildings. The buildings were red-tagged, and tenants were forced to leave until repairs were completed. During the 2018 election campaign, council candidates said they would be tough on property owners who had not updated their buildings to code or left the facades in dilapidated condition. Some candidates, including
council members Carol Marques, Dion Bracco and Peter LeroeMuñoz said they would consider using eminent domain to get the buildings under city ownership so repairs could be completed. Since the election, the council has approved a series of policies that are intended to make the city more conducive to downtown business development. In its consent agenda, in ➝ Downtown, 11