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A SPECIAL EDITION OF SOUTH VALLEY & SAN BENITO MAGAZINES

HOME &GARDEN MARCH 15, 2019

Helping your garden grow into a living space

SPECIAL MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE

NATIVE PLANTS P19 | OUTDOOR KITCHENS P20 | GARDEN PERENNIALS P24

EVELIA ROSSO HONORED P2 | THE MAYOR’S VISION P4 | CHARTER SCHOOLS P11

ESTABLISHED 1868

A New SV Media publication

Friday, March 15, 2019

gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 152, No. 11 • $1

STRIKE! Nurses stage one-day walkout ST. LOUISE AND O’CONNOR ARE TARGETS OF COMPLAINTS OF UNFAIR ACTIONS BY THE COUNTY Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor

➝ Nurses strike, 8

Barry Holtzclaw

Tensions between Santa Clara County and a local nurses union hit a flash point this week, when the union led some nurses in a one-day strike at two county hospitals, in San Jose and Gilroy, beginning Tuesday morning, March 12. Picket lines were set up at 7am at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, and continued until 7pm. The nurses, who work around the clock, were to return to work at 7am on Wednesday, March 13, the California Nurses Association (CNA) said in a statement.

JOB INTERVIEW Ray Avila of Gilroy speaks with a Performance Food Group representative in Gilroy earlier this month.

Job seekers line up NEW PLANT IS HIRING WORKERS, AND MOVING SOME FROM SANTA CRUZ Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor

Performance Food Group’s new food processing plant and distribution center in Gilroy may not be in operation yet, but that hasn’t stopped the company from reaching out to Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Hollister and beyond to find new workers for its expanded Central Coast operation. Performance, one of the nation’s largest prepared food distribution companies, hosted a daylong hiring fair on March

7, 10am to 7pm at the Hilton Garden Inn on Monterey Road, just north of the new plant. Performance said it would be hiring managers, customer service representatives, warehouse staff and drivers. When the doors opened at the hiring event, nearly 50 prospects were already in line. The interviews would continue all day. “I said, I think I’ll give a whirl,” said Ray Avila, 67 of Gilroy. “I’ve been in the distribution business for 22 years. Hopefully, they can find me something within this company.” Michael Sanchez grew up in Gilroy, where he worked as a stock boy before moving to Morgan Hill as a young man. “I just retired four years ago, and

want to get back to work. ‘My wife worked in food distribution in both Morgan Hill and Gilroy,” he said. Laura Blacklock lives in Hollister and works in Gilroy. “It’s very exciting,” she said of Performance Food Group’s relocation to Gilroy. “I have been watching the building go up every day when I drive by.” She said she was hopeful there might part-time office positions available. Completion of the new plant could mean nearly 60 new jobs in Gilroy, as the company expects to retain 70 percent of the current 190-person workforce in Santa Cruz. Performance Food Group is closing down the Santa Cruz plant

to open the new operation in Gilroy. A company spokesman declined to say when the new facility would open for business. The new site sits on 30 acres of land at 5480 Monterey Road, south of the Garlic Farm Travel Center. The company has the option to add 151,000 square feet to the 195,000-square-foot facility. Richmond, Va.-based Performance Food Group specializes in supplying restaurants and distributes a broad array of food and foodrelated products such as baked goods, meats, poultry, condiments and even cleaning supplies. For employment inquiries, email resumes to Ledyard.resumes@ pfgc.com.

City moves to help Monterey Street NEW ORDINANCE AIMS TO BUILD BUSINESS AND RESIDENT RELATIONS Jaqueline McCool Reporter

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Revitalizing downtown Gilroy along Monterey Street was a plank in every council candidate’s platform in 2018.

While progress in attracting new businesses to vacant buildings that line Monterey Street has been slow, the council this month took another step it believes will make downtown a more business-friendly and vibrant economic center. Over the last few years new businesses have begun to pop up between Fourth and Eighth streets. Mayor Roland Velasco heralded the progress of the downtown during his State of the

City address. He said new businesses allowed to use groundfloor offices on Monterey Street, along with mixed-use apartment projects like the Cannery, are turning the downtown into the city’s epicenter. New businesses and new construction can bring potential problems. With mixed-use buildings in the works in the area around Monterey Street, council members say they hope to quell any discord between developers

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and nearby residents before it gets out of hand. The council unanimously approved an ordinance March 4 that sets new guidelines for downtown businesses and gives mandatory deed notices to those buying property in the area. The council decided to follow in the footsteps of cities like Livermore and worked with the Downtown Business Association ➝ Downtown, 4


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