GARLIC FESTIVAL VISITOR GUIDE
Festival Co-Founder & Head Chef Val Filice
Forty years of the stinking rose
MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE
4 DECADES OF CELEBRATING GARLIC
GARLIC FESTIVAL VISITOR GUIDE
Festival Co-Founder & Head Chef Val Filice
Garlic Festival 40 Guide
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
4 DECADES OF CELEBRATING GARLIC
$1 • Friday, July 27, 2018 • Vol. 124, No. 30 • morganhilltimes.com • Serving Morgan Hill since 1894
Cannabis, hotel tax, city clerk, treasurer go to city voters MEASURES APPROVED AT LATEST CITY COUNCIL MEETING Jaqueline McCool Reporter
Barry Holtzclaw
Morgan Hill voters will see three local measures appear on their ballots this November—an increase in the tax on hotel room stays, a tax on cannabis sales in Morgan Hill and a measure that would change city clerk and city treasurer roles to appointed positions. The City Council voted unanimously July 18 to move forward with the measures. In April, the City of Morgan Hill commissioned a survey by Godbe Research to gauge public opinion on increasing the city’s Transient Occupancy Tax—often referred to as a hotel tax—as well as a sales tax on marijuana. Respondents generally favored both taxes.
HELPING HANDS Lindsay Buessing, right, of Gilroy, was a Garlic princess last year. This year, with the help of Alyson Funk
of Morgan Hill, the Sacramento State student is one of 4,000 volunteer workers at Christmas Hill Park.
It’s Garlic Time!
➝ Ballot Measures, 13
Barry Holtzclaw
RAISING THE ROOF Nob Hill manager Vito Mercado,
left, volunteers with student Kyle Buessing.
Preparations for this weekend’s 40th annual Gilroy Garlic Festival began in earnest on Monday, July 23, as hundreds of volunteers once again begin creating a white-tent city at Christmas Hill Park, days before the tangy fragrances of garlic and associated culinary creations would begin entertaining up to 100,000 visitors to the Garlic City. The festival set-up crews struggled in temperatures in the mid-90s, but forecasters say conditions this weekend should be garlic-perfect, sunny and in the low 80s. For Garlic Fest history, festival map and more, plus a regional Visitor Guide, see our magazine inside.
Gavilan board approves bond measure $248M SOUGHT TO IMPROVE THREE COLLEGE CAMPUSES Scott Forstner Reporter
A measure asking the voters for $248 million worth of bonds to upgrade Gavilan College's main campus, as well as its Coyote Valley and San Benito County satellite sites,
will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. The measure will require 55 percent voter approval to pass. Gavilan Joint College District Board President Jonathan Brusco confirmed a unanimous vote among the five trustees in attendance at the July 10 meeting, with two members absent from the proceedings. “If this were to pass, this would line the college
up for the next decade,” said Brusco, who stressed that the potential funds would impact all three Gavilan sites. “When you break down the money, it computes to less than $100 per year for the average property owner. For me, that’s well worth it for all the things we can do to improve student success.” If approved, the $248 million debt would be paid off over the next
28 years through property taxes on the assessed value of homes in San Benito County and southern Santa Clara County. Brusco said the timing is right, with the population growth in Santa Clara and San Benito counties nurturing an increase in demand for programs at the community college level, along with the availability of state matching funds for school construction projects.
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“The school is really reaching a new stride in the South Valley,” Brusco said. Possible targets for the bond monies, outlined in Gavilan’s master facilities plan, include a new library and technology center and new performing arts theater at the main Gilroy campus; the first phase of construction for the proposed San ➝ Gavilan Bond, 8