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Friday, June 22, 2018
gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 151, No. 25 • $1
Health, youth top priorities in new county budget plan HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AMONG TOP PRIORITIES FOR 2018-19 Staff report
SANTA CLARA COUNTY
Bryce Stoepfel
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a $7 billion budget and spending plan at a June 15 meeting. The county’s 2018-19 budget, recommended by County Executive Jeffery Smith, is designed to increase the county’s capacity to offer new services, according a June 15 press release from the county Office of Public Affairs. “The budget reflects the county’s commitment to expand healthcare services with increased clinic access and hours, and enhanced patient services and hospital system access,” the release reads in part. “It improves social services, as well as employment and benefits assistance; it also funds jail custody, and enhances capital projects and the county park system to improve visitor services.” It includes a general fund budget of approximately $3.5 billion, and ➝ County, 8
GOING ONCE, TWICE, SOLD Rich Chavarria takes bids for a pair of faded posters for then-candidate for US President Dwight Eisenhower.
Farm yields treasures GILROY AUCTION OFFERS VIEW OF ANOTHER ERA Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
If you happen to be going through your granddad or grandma’s house, garage, attic or barn, it might be wise to think twice before throwing away all that “junk.” There could be gold in them thar heaps if you know what you’re doing. At a farm auction last weekend on Holsclaw Road, Rich
Chavarria, owner of Garlic City Auction, and a crowd of antique hunters proved that what’s old can still be sold, even if it’s a bit rusty. Or a lot rusty. Chavarria brought an old rusty gas pump back to relevance on Saturday. Far after it fell into disuse and tossed in a shed, presumably never to be thought of again, the pump caught the eye of Robert and Katelyn Campos, who ultimately came out victorious in a bidding war, and paid $525 for the relic. “Why not?” said Robert
Campos, who works in the automobile industry, when asked why they’d pay $525 for something others would consider junk. Katelyn, who enjoyed the bidding war, was more straightforward with her answer. “It's not my money,” she said, laughing. Chavarria and Garlic City Auction have combed through the city’s barns and attics for the past 10 years. Chavarria is a self-taught auctioneer, and his training started 31 days before his first auction was hosted in a 10,000-square-foot building
owned by Gary Walton. Since then, 500 sales later, Chavarria still revels in uncovering pieces of Gilroy’s history. Chavarria has broken through what had been a “good ol’ boys” network of auctioneers, partially with the help of some innovative ideas and technology. Eschewing other auction styles, where various items from an estate would be sold together in one lot, he uses box lots, where customers have an opportunity to scout out what they want and organize ➝ Auction, 2
Lime drops plans to rent bikes in Gilroy Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
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Gilroy’s plan to introduce Lime, a bike-share service, has popped a tire. On a conference call Monday with the city, the San Mateobased company announced it has reconsidered its launch of sharable bicycles, and will instead focus on electric scooters and bikes in larger cities.
In January the Gilroy Bicycle and Pedestrian Commision approved a plan for Lime to unveil 200 to 300 dockless, sharable bikes. The city council approved the plan in March, and it appeared that Lime had the green light. The lime-green bikes were expected to hit the streets within a month. Things changed this week. Lime will not be riding into Gilroy. Citing a rapidly evolving market, Lime representative Sam Dreiman told Bicycle
and Pedestrian Commissioner Zach Hilton and City Engineer Gary Heap that the company is phasing out its pedal bikes and will instead focus on its electric products. Dreiman said Lime did not have the supply to meet the expected demand in Gilroy. Lime will instead focus on markets like Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and San Diego, among other larger cities. “Even if we did have electric scooters, and that would be a stronger case for me to make, it is
difficult because we need to have a certain population density to grow,” Dreiman said. While the door for Lime has not closed indefinitely, the city council did not factor in electric scooters when they approved the contract with Lime. The city will also need to decide if it wants electronic bikes. “Even though I am disappointed, our commision will still continue to advocate and pursue all means of alternative ➝ Lime Bike, 8
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BIKE-SHARE FIRM SHIFTS ITS FOCUS TO BIGGER CITIES