$1 • Friday, September 1, 2017 • Vol. 123, No. 35 • morganhilltimes.com • Serving Morgan Hill since 1894
Wolfsmith victims speak up in court FORMER MH TRAINER SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR ASSAULTING 13 WOMEN Michael Moore Editor
➝ Women, 12
➝Wolfsmith, 10
Robert Eliason
in their background that hindered or advanced their early and current success—the women answered questions from the audience. About 100 people attended the panel. Some of the women on the panel surmounted difficult conditions in their childhood on their way to success. Duong and her parents, for example, came to the U.S. as
A former downtown Morgan Hill gym owner convicted of sexually assaulting more than a dozen women he trained over the course of several years faced his victims at an Aug. 25 sentencing hearing. David Wolfsmith, 51, manipulated, shamed and groomed his victims in order to gain control over them before physically abusing them, according to several accusers who spoke or submitted written statements at the hearing. The women described a “cultlike” atmosphere when they exercised at Wolfpak, Wolfsmith’s former gym at the corner of Monterey Road and Third Street. While coaching the women and other Wolfpak clients, Wolfsmith often referred to himself as a “vessel of God” and claimed he knew more than the athletes, their families and doctors about their health and their own bodies. After establishing a pattern of fear and intimidation, Wolfsmith physically assaulted the victims while insisting the contact was intended to measure their fitness progress or help them recover from injuries or exercise, according to four victims’ accounts. Wolfsmith pleaded guilty June 23 to
WONDER WOMEN Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Duong (clockwise from top left), Weston Miles Architects co-owner Lesley Miles,
Gavilan College President Kathleen Rose and Morgan Hill Assistant City Manager Christina Turner participated in an Aug. 24 Women’s Week panel.
Women in the spotlight PANEL OFFERS INSIGHT FROM SUCCESSFUL LOCAL WOMEN Michael Moore Editor
Some of South County’s top female leaders offered some insight into how they have achieved success despite the odds against them, and some advice on how women can
continue the struggle toward full equality and acceptance at a “Leadership Professionals Panel” in Morgan Hill Aug. 24. The panel, held at Morgan Hill City Council Chambers, was part of Women’s Week and the celebration of Women’s Equality Day. The panel, and other Women’s Week events, were sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Morgan Hill.
“We’ve got a long ways to go in some ways, but we need to appreciate what we’ve achieved,” said U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, one of five panelists at the Aug. 24 event. Lofgren, of San Jose, is a Democrat who represents California’s 19th Congressional District, which includes Morgan Hill. Lofgren was joined on the panel by Lesley Miles, a local architect and coowner of Weston Miles
Novelists to welcome fans at BookSmart
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
T OUT & ABOU OF CALE NDAR EVEN TS
Scott Forstner A section of the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
Reporter
Joan for the Hills Community honors folk singer and lifelong activist Joan Baez
Inside this issue:
OUTGOING TIDE P10 | CLOS LACHANCE P16 | LEVEE WALK P17
Joan Baez and the Coyote Preserve
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Architects; Irene Chavez, Senior Vice President Area Manager for Kaiser Permanente; Kathleen Rose, President of Gavilan College; Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Duong; and Morgan Hill Assistant City Manager for Administrative Services Christina Turner. After each panelist gave a brief introduction about themselves— along with circumstances
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South County novelist Janneke Jobsis Brown will host an author reading from her first novel “Following Shadows,” which is the first book in her “Finding Home” series at 4 p.m. Sept. 17 at BookSmart of Morgan Hill. Brown, of Gilroy, who previously owned a private psychotherapy practice in Morgan Hill, writes of love, intergenerational trauma and the ultimate sacrifices a family makes spanning generations,
according to the event announcement. “In this Historical Family Saga, a family is transformed when elderly Jakob Vanderveer tells of his lost childhood during WWII, in the Japanese Concentration Camps of Indonesia,” according to the release. Brown, who was born in the Netherlands but also spent her childhood in Iran, Utah and Texas, is a psychotherapist now living in Gilroy. “For 60 years after World War II, death
has haunted the entire Vanderveer family,” reads the book summary. “Death lives within the soul of Jakob Vanderveer who vowed to be a silent keeper of secrets. He believes hiding his boyhood trauma would be the best way to raise a loving, safe family.” NYT Best selling author coming to Booksmart on Sept. 8 Rene Denfeld, author of “The Child Finder,” and New York Times Bestselling novel, “The
Enchanted,” will host her special event at 7 p.m., Sept. 8 at BookSmart of Morgan Hill, Friday. First hour is free, or join in a ticketed after-party with desserts, local port and intimate conversation with the author. Denfeld brings her own personal experience as an investigator to her novels. “The Child Finder” features Naomi, a private investigator of missing children, who is on a case that triggers her own troubled and cloudy memories when she was
found alone at the age of 8, never to know what happened to her. A new case searching the snow-covered wilderness in rural Oregon reawakens lost memories as a child’s life hangs in the balance. “The Child Finder” was inspired by the author’s work as well as foster adoptive parenting, and explores themes of survival, resilience and prevention. At BookSmart, she will introduce and read from ➝ Author, 12