THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
NOVEMBER 30, 2018
A supplement to the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
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Apricot cookbook celebrates regional orchards
SOUTH VALLEY MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Fragrant Fruits New cookbook celebrates local agriculture
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THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
NOVEMBER 30, 2018
A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance
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Apricot cookbook celebrates regional orchards
SAN BENITO MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Fragrant Fruits New cookbook celebrates local agriculture
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$1 • Friday, November 30, 2018 • Vol. 124, No. 48 • morganhilltimes.com • Serving Morgan Hill since 1894
Council banks on tourism revenues
Open Space Linked
SMALL HOTELS UNHAPPY WITH CURRENT PLAN Jaqueline McCool Reporter
➝ TBID, 14
Submitted Photo
The City Council's new plan for a tourism business inclusion district aims to raise funds to entice more visitors to Morgan Hill, but the effort could face opposition from the owners of smaller hotels who fear they won't be sufficiently represented. Approving a plan for an inclusion district comes on the heels of Morgan Hill residents passing a Transient Occupancy Tax increase on Nov. 6. The tax increase, known as Measure H, was overwhelmingly approved with 79 percent of the vote as provisional and mailin ballots were still being counted earlier this week. The council had previously agreed that if voters passed the tax increase, they would form an inclusion district. The tax increase added another 1 percent to the cost of hotel room stays in the city, bringing the current transient occupancy tax to 11 percent. Money collected from the hotel tax hike will provide an additional $270,000 in annual funds to be used for the city’s emergency response systems, police and street improvements. According to the city’s 2017 comprehensive financial report,
SCENIC CONNECTION Peninsula Open Space Trust’s purchase of 159 acres takes a giant step towards completion of a protected reserve
the size of San Francisco between Morgan Hill, Los Gatos and San Jose.
159 ACRE-SITE CONNECTS TWOS AREAS NEAR COYOTE VALLEY Staff Report
The Peninsula Open Space Trust and the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority on Nov. 27 announced the purchase of a 159-acre property that widens a vital
linkage between the Authority’s Rancho Cañada del Oro and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s Sierra Azul open space preserves. This provides opportunities for connecting recreation options across the two preserves, while securing wildlife habitat and expanding a protected corridor between Highway 17 and Coyote Valley. The property, known locally as “the Punch Bowl” because of its
bowl-shaped terrain, is now permanently protected as open space, the trust said in its announcement. It borders properties in Barrett Canyon that were protected earlier this year and was purchased for $400,000, funded in part by a $130,000 grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The trust and the authority are funding the remainder. The land was
previously under private ownership, according to today’s announcement. Entirely undeveloped, it features diverse topography and native habitat, including serpentine soils, coast live oak woodland, California bay laurel forest and the headwaters of Barrett Creek, which flows to Almaden Reservoir. The property is now owned and managed as part of its Rancho Cañada del Oro Open
Space Preserve. With this acquisition, the authority said it gains more contiguous management of a critical fire break that helped control the 2016 Loma Fire. The Authority will partner with Midpen to eventually establish trails across the property to connect to an existing network of 37 miles of trails across both Rancho Cañada del Oro and Sierra Azul, including the popular Bay Area Ridge Trail.
New trustee has desire to make difference MH TEACHER HANDILY WINS HOLLISTER DISTRICT Scott Forstner Reporter
As a high school civics teacher at Ann Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill, veteran educator Jeanie Wallace asks her students to believe in the democratic process. As a staff representative
with the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, Wallace helped recruit candidates for the local school board. So when the Hollister resident read in the local newspaper that there were not yet any candidates running for the Gavilan Community College Joint District seat that covers the area she resides in, the 60-yearold Wallace—who is contemplating retirement in the near future—decided
to step up and live the civics lessons she had been teaching for years. “There’d been times when I was recruiting people for the Morgan Hill school board, and it was really hard to find people with the type of experience that I have in education to take the time out. So, I felt like a bit of a hypocrite if I didn’t do anything,” said Wallace, who has a daughter attending UCLA and a son set to graduate from
Sobrato in the spring. “I guess it’s time to step forward.” Two days prior to the close of the candidacy filing period this summer, Wallace went to the San Benito County Registrar of Voters office and inquired if anyone else had pulled papers. After being told “no” by the clerk, Wallace pulled papers and returned the next day, again asking if another resident had stepped forward
for the Trustee Area 5 seat. After getting the same response, Wallace filed her candidacy paperwork. Unbeknownst to her, before the end of the filing period, which was extended since the incumbent did not seek re-election, Wallace had competition for the seat in Richard Perez Sr., a 49-year-old small business owner and retired ➝ Gav Trustee, 12