By Robin Shepherd

lash back to the summer of 2000 . For John McKay and his wife Michelle it had been a long hard week at work . Ready to escape the concrete , traffic congestion and go-go pace of life in Silicon Valley , they hopped into their van and headed south on 101 . Their destination is Morgan Hill .

They take the Dunne Avenue exit and within minutes find themselves downtown . Both feel as if they ’ ve been transported to a different time and place where farms , orchards and open space still exist , the pace is a little slower and people are friendlier . John and Michelle are surrounded by people dancing in the street , enjoying a local band at the Friday Night Music Series hosted by Morgan Hill ’ s Chamber of Commerce . It ’ s a relaxed night out in a small town that feeds their souls .

Flash forward to 2014 . John and Michelle have been living in Morgan Hill for 14 years . They not only love it here , but they are fully engaged in Morgan Hill community life .

“ Moving here changed our lives for the better ,” said John McKay . “ Growing up in Mountain View , I had no real sense of community involvement . Moving to Morgan Hill was more than just a new place to call home … for us it was a commitment to community life .”

With a background in commercial construction , John was naturally curious about local development plans and projects . It wasn ’ t long before he began attending city planning meetings , learning about how local government works , and listening to public feedback .

He participated in Chamber of Commerce activities , and joined Leadership Morgan Hill ’ s Class of 2010 . That experience encouraged McKay to apply for a seat on the city planning commission in 2011 .

“ The planning commission seemed like a good place to influence change , but there ’ s a learning curve in terms of land use , residential growth control and other issues ,” said McKay . “ The thought of taking on a commissioner ’ s role seemed daunting , but my involvement with Leadership Morgan Hill convinced me that it was possible .

“ Morgan Hill city officials have made an effort to be an open government that seeks community engagement . City officials have done an incredible job helping Morgan Hill through changes in Redevelopment Authority ( RDA ) funding , a serious recession , and more . The Residential Development Control System ( RDCS ) is a difficult program to work with but we ’ re seeing a positive end result with good plans and quality homes .”

In 2012 , McKay began talking with friends and colleagues about the lack of awareness of Morgan Hill ’ s appeal as a tourism destination . Previous attempts to elevate Morgan Hill above its best-kept-secret status may simply have been ill-timed or under-supported , and therefore failed to gain traction .

“ I ’ d met with people like Adam Ferguson , Dennis Kennedy , Jeff Dixon and Jon Hatakeyama , all of whom agreed Morgan Hill had the potential to become an important tourism destination with our wineries , our farms and our parks and open space lands ,” said McKay . “ But it was our meeting with Edith Ramirez , Morgan Hill ’ s economic development director , who really moved things from talking to action .”

“ Edith spent more than three hours with us in that first meeting ,” said McKay , “ and she was the critical element in making the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance happen . She connected us with all the right people . A real spirit of cooperation developed . Along with Edith representing the city , I was joined by my fellow board members from the Morgan Hill Downtown Association and representatives from the Chamber of Commerce as well as the local hotels and wineries .

“ By the spring , we held our first community forum on tourism and we had a great turnout . We realized that a little branding was needed to help build awareness of Morgan Hill as a destination . It was Cinda Meister who proposed the simple yet appropriate slogan , ‘ Meet Morgan Hill ’, which instantly caught on .” Meister and her husband Brad

Jones own BookSmart , one of Morgan Hill ’ s most popular downtown businesses .

“ If it weren ’ t for the great collaboration among community members and support from the city , I think we would have abandoned the idea , and people wouldn ’ t be talking about Morgan Hill as a destination . But today , it ’ s become a normal part of everyday conversation . We continued to build momentum , with local wineries , restaurants and community organizations putting together a variety of ‘ wine and dine ’ events and fundraisers .

“ Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman provided support at the county level . That helped us earn the official designation of the Santa Clara Valley Wine Trail , followed by the installation of the wine trail signs this summer .

“ We received great coverage from the media . Along with the local newspapers and magazines , we captured attention from network TV , reporters in Sacramento , and Sunset Magazine . And this is just the beginning .”

McKay smiles broadly when asked about next steps . In his view , Morgan Hill has a bigger story to tell . An inviting downtown with a playhouse and a history museum . Great restaurants and wineries . Agri-tourism . Parks and open space lands with endless trails for hikers and cyclists to explore . Recreation facilities for soccer , swimming and other sports that can support local as well as regional competition . He has also served as Chair of the Downtown Association ’ s Placemaking Committee , which recently held a Symposium providing community members with a series of opportunities to learn about plans for Morgan Hill ’ s downtown development and provide ideas and feedback .

“ I had been interested in the idea of creating ‘ parklets ’, or interactive settings along Monterey Road downtown . The goal was to show the community how we could adapt sections of Monterey to make it a welcoming and safe streetscape where people could mingle with family and friends , browse the

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