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$1 • Friday, November 3, 2017 • Vol. 123, No. 44 • morganhilltimes.com • Serving Morgan Hill since 1894

New animal shelter on its way to San Martin COUNTY TO FUND $26M PROJECT Scott Forstner Reporter

➝ New Shelter, 12 THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN

NOVEMBER 3, 2017

A section of the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times

OU T & AB OU T OF NDAR CA LE EN TS EV

THE SECRETS of Katherine Filice

Inside this issue: Magazine

SPOKING MY MIND P10 | BELLA VIVA P16 | REALTOR HAYLEY DOWSING-CONNOLLY P18

Scott Hinrichs

A new county-funded animal shelter is on its way to San Martin in a long-overdue project that proponents say will significantly expand South County's ability to house, rehabilitate and find homes for countless rescued animals. “This is exciting for us,” said Lisa Jenkins, who is in her third year as shelter supervisor and also acts as the interim program manager at the existing 40-year-old facility located on Murphy Avenue. “The current facility is quite antiquated. Looking at that facility, a lot of people don’t realize the great work and life-saving that goes on inside its walls.” County officials were scheduled to unveil their plans for the proposed San Martin animal shelter at a Nov. 1 community meeting at the South County Office Building located at 80 Highland Ave., right near where the new facility will be built. The meeting was held after this paper’s print deadline. They are expected to break ground in early 2019, according to Jenkins. The new shelter, which will replace the cramped quarters of the aging facility located at 12370 Murphy Ave., “will enhance animal care and safety with modern technology, include an upgraded adoption center, and add a barn to house abandoned horses and other livestock,” according to the county report. A feasibility study completed in 2012 recommended an increase in space to safely and effectively care for animals,

DIGGING IN Jenise Marcus, Morgan Hill resident and Mission Bell employee, cleans up in one of Audrey Henderson’s garden boxes with other Mission Bell volunteers.

Repairs help needy

VOLUNTEERS MAKE REPAIRS FOR THREE HOMEOWNERS Michael Moore Editor

Former volunteer firefighter Ascencion Gonzalez, 74, said he was treated “like a VIP” when volunteers from

CHARTER VIES FOR $11.5M IN STATE FUNDS TO UPGRADE CAMPUS Reporter

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Despite Morgan Hill Unified’s board of education supporting Charter School of Morgan Hill in its application for state rehabilitation funds, local school district leaders refuse to give the charter a passing grade necessary for them to qualify for the $11.5 million request. In doing so, the California School Finance Authority rejected the independent charter school’s application 1

new fence and gate leading to the back yard, painted the exterior and interior, installed a new overhead light in the master bedroom and put in a new stove in the kitchen. Even though Gonzalez is almost completely blind—due, he thinks, to years of welding in a previous career—the new light in his bedroom will allow him to watch his

beloved Dallas Cowboys on a small flat-screen television. “The people that were here were beautiful,” said Gonzalez. “Too bad I couldn’t meet every one of them. They did a fantastic job!” Gonzalez purchased the single-story Morgan Hill home with his late wife Carmen in 1977. That was after the couple moved here with

Ascencion’s parents in 1960, to “pick the easy money from the ground: prunes.” Since then, Gonzalez has worked in a variety of labor jobs, including farming, construction, mechanics and leather crafting. For about 15 years, he sold NFL merchandise at the Capitol ➝ Rebuilding, 14

District resists charter funding request

Scott Forstner

Daylight Savings ends this Sunday

Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley visited his west Morgan Hill home Oct. 28 to make some repairs. On this clear, cool Saturday morning, the nonprofit organized the “Rebuilding Day” at 38 homes throughout the valley. Three of the homes—including Gonzalez’—were in Morgan Hill. At Gonzalez’ home, the volunteers led by Rotary Club of Morgan Hill installed a

because the charter was not “in good standing with its authorizer” and, therefore, “not financially sound for a program award,” according to the state agency in charge. At stake is the funding for a modernization and upgrade project—identified by both the charter school and the Morgan Hill district as a crucial need—at the campus north of Morgan Hill, which is owned by the district. In a Sept. 26 letter to the state finance authority, Morgan Hill Assistant Supt. Kirsten Perez charged the charter school with not complying with the conditions of its petition—most notably not submitting adequate

financial statements—and failing to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the authorizing district, among other things. “Although CSMH continues to operate in the district, it has failed to meet many of the criteria outlined in its original petition, (and) failed to meet many of the stipulations under which the petition was renewed,” wrote Perez in her correspondence to Linda Sawin of the state finance authority. With a potential $11.5 million in Proposition 51 funding on the line, charter school director Paige Cisewski has not given up hope and has since appealed to the Morgan Hill school board, which

granted the local charter permission five months ago to move forward with the application process. Cisewski is requesting that the district either withdraw its Sept. 26 letter to the state or pass a resolution at its Nov. 7 meeting “regarding good standing and compliance with the terms of the charter” so they can still be considered for the grant money. They have until Nov. 15 to make that happen. “The district administration’s verbal and written communications to CSFA lacks any factual basis and appears to be nothing more than an attempt to undermine CSMH’s Prop. 51 application and to circumvent

the decision and intent of the majority of the Board of Trustees,” wrote Cisewski in her Oct. 26 letter to Morgan Hill school trustees. Morgan Hill Board of Trustees President Donna Ruebusch has kept tabs on the situation since the trustees gave CSMH the ability to pursue the grant money. However, Ruebusch said the charter school has failed to file its financial report with the district office. “From what I understand, the district has not received that document in the format necessary for the district to say, ‘We know that they are financially secure,’” Ruebusch said. ➝ Charter, 10


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