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PrOGRESS
$1 • Friday, Sept. 29, 2017 • Vol. 123, No. 39 • morganhilltimes.com • Serving Morgan Hill since 1894
MORGAN HILL
pRIDE
SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
2017
LOCAL SCENE
Youth obstacles Morgan Hill Get Fit will host a Youth Obstacle Course Challenge starting at 8 a.m. Oct. 7 at the Centennial Recreation Center, 171 W. Edmundson Ave. The exciting event is designed for children age 5 to 13. Starting and ending at the Centennial Recreation Center, this 1.5 mile run/Walk obstacle challenge will take place on a course that utilizes streets and the park surrounding the Centennial Recreation Center. All participants will receive a race shirt and medal. Register online at mhreconline.com, and enter the code #FSY002. For more information, call (408) 782-2128, or email kolby.rousseau@mhcrc.com.
Make your own compost
Robert Eliason
CHEERS! Taste of Morgan Hill visitors Diana Johnson, Jill Lopez and Christy Thompson raise their glasses Sept. 24 at the annual downtown festival sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.
A ‘terrific’ taste of success SALES ARE UP FOR CHAMBER TRADITION Michael Moore Editor
For the 28th consecutive year, the Chamber of Commerce Taste of Morgan Hill street festival entertained visitors and residents with live music, plenty of food, cold beverages and scores of vendors THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
More Broccoli, Please
Matt Linder, Senior Broccoli Product Manager
OU T & AB OU T OF NDAR CA LE EN TS EV
Inside this issue: Sakata Seed America turns 40
BEAR’S HIDEAWAY P10 | HEALTHY FOODS P16 | REALTOR CHRISTINE FORTNEY P21
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completely sold out with 172 participating vendors. The Kids Zone ride area was bigger and more popular than ever.” On Saturday, the festival’s annual car show— always a hit—was also sold out with the owners of 185 classic cars delighted to show off their rides, which ranged from old Model A’s to “modern prototype electric vehicles and everything in
between,” Horner said. While the event is an annual fundraiser for the chamber, the organization doesn’t publicize specific dollar figures, Horner explained. But he noted that beer, wine and soda sales at the 28th annual Taste of Morgan Hill were “higher than they have been over the previous five years.” Furthermore, the Saturday Night Street Dance—a relatively new attraction at
the annual festival—“has become a lynchpin of the weekend, and we plan to do it for many years to come,” Horner said. Pacific Soul played this year’s street dance. The Taste also featured numerous live bands throughout the weekend. Downtown streets were closed to vehicle traffic as vendors and patrons took over on foot. ➝ More Photos, 12
‘Madagascar’ comes to MH Director Carol Romo and Theater Fun present a rollicking production of "Madagascar – A Musical Adventure JR.,” based on the hit DreamWorks animated motion picture, at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse, Oct. 26 to 29. The show follows your favorite friends as they escape from their home in Central Park Zoo and find themselves on a journey to the madcap world of King Julien’s Madagascar. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Oct. 26 and 27; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Oct. 28; and 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Oct. 29. Tickets cost $10. For more info, visit facebook.com/ events/525663884453041.
District prepares for budget cuts PARCEL TAX COULD ALLEVIATE SOME CUTBACKS
Sakata Seed America is 40
A section of the Hollister Free Lance
offering a variety of handmade crafts and trendy merchandise. Chamber Executive Director John Horner said this year’s Taste of Morgan Hill, which took place Sept. 23 and 24 in the city’s downtown, was a “terrific success.” “We enjoyed beautiful weather, which was neither too hot nor too cold,” Horner said. “Vendor booth rental spaces were
Discover the benefits of gardening using your own compost. Learn basic backyard composting techniques in a fun and simple to understand lecture format. The free two-hour workshop, taught by a Santa Clara County Master Composter, will take place 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road. A free compost bin will be given to one lucky participant. Registration is required. Call (408) 918-4640 to register.
Scott Forstner Reporter
School officials must mine their way through $5.5 million in budgetary cuts unless they can generate more revenue to offset the district’s deficit spending that began last year, according to a “Right Sizing the
Budget” presenta- produce around $1.5 tion at a board million annuof education ally at $75 meeting earliper parcel. er this month. DisA comtrict staff is bination of awaiting the both cuts and state budmore reveget in Janunue is a more ary to crunch preferred scethe numbers nario for dis- Steve Betando and see how trict leaders much, if any, who are seeking new cuts or increased revefunding streams such nues will be necessary as placing a parcel tax to balance MHUSD’s on the June 2018 elec- budget for the 2018tion ballot that could 19 school year.
Last year was the first time in the last five years that Morgan Hill Unified School District spent more money to run the district than what was coming in, Assistant Superintendent Kirsten Perez said at the Sept. 15 board of education meeting. Three-year financial projections show a deficit of $4.42 million in the 2017-18 school year operation ➝ Budget Cuts, 10
2017 SAN BENITO FOOTBALL PREVIEW
SCHOOL SPENDING SHORTFALL
(Three-year financial projections) 2017-18 school year Costs: $90,716,199 Revenues: $86,294,270 Deficit: $4.42 million 2018-19 school year Costs: $92,394,063 Revenues: $86,763,007 Deficit: $5.63 million 2019-2020 school year Costs: $94,490,817 Revenues: $91,123,941 Deficit: $3.37 million