County Update
With Santa Clara County
Supervisor Mike Wasserman
R
esidents of Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin not
only live in California’s Historic Santa Clara Valley Wine
Country, but also are in the southernmost part of Santa
Clara County – America’s 16th largest county with 1.9 million
residents. As your elected County Supervisor, I collaborate with
regional partners to provide you with essential services, regional
planning, and recreational opportunities.
You may have read recently that regional open space and
parklands are expanding locally. My colleagues and I on the
County Board of Supervisors authorized the purchase of 2,748
acres that link Coyote Lake, Harvey Bear Ranch and Anderson
Lake County Parks to each other, and also to Henry Coe State
Park, the largest recreational land holding in the California Park
System resulting in a potential future trail network linking these
three parks.
Several important South County land use proposals will
ramp up in 2016. One is Morgan Hill’s 215-acre Southeast
Quadrant (SEQ) project which is the area bounded by Condit
Road and Highway 101 to the west, San Pedro Avenue to
the north, Carey Avenue to the east, and Maple Avenue to
the south. Another large project is Gilroy’s 721-acre North
Neighborhood District which is located west of Monterey Road,
north of the existing City limits, east of Santa Teresa Boulevard,
and south of Fitzgerald Avenue. While both projects are under
the jurisdiction of their respective cities and will require City
Council approval, each will be vetted through the state-man-
dated Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) which
oversees the boundaries of cities to discourage urban sprawl and
preserve agricultural and open space lands. I am one of seven
elected officials and members of the public who serve on this
Commission. Meeting schedules and agendas for 2016 are
available at: santaclaralafco.org
The five elected members of the Santa Clara County Board
of Supervisors hold public meetings twice monthly, on Tuesdays,
beginning at 9:00 am at the County Government Center –
70 West Hedding Street, San Jose. The Board’s five standing
Committees meet monthly: Children, Seniors and Families
Committee (CSFC), Finance and Government Operations
Committee (FGOC), Health and Hospital Committee (HHC),
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation Committee
(HLUET), of which I’m Vice-Chair, and the Public Safety and
Justice Committee (PSJC), which I chair. The County’s 2016
meeting schedules can be found at sccgov.org.
If you are curious about county services, public meetings, or
special events happening in the community, then join the 25,000
others who receive my monthly newsletter by subscribing at:
supervisorwasserman.org. My staff and I are available to answer
questions and connect residents with services. You can reach the
District 1 Supervisorial office at 408-299-5010.
Supervisor Mike Wasserman was elected to the Santa Clara County
Board of Supervisors in November 2010, and re-elected in 2014.
He represents District 1, which includes Gilroy, San Martin, Morgan
Hill, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and portions of San Jose.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SANTA CLARA COUNTY OFFICE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
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