Daniel (Dan) Harney was recently appointed for the second time to the Gilroy City
Council. The first time was in January of 2016 when he was appointed to fill the spot
vacated by Perry Woodward, who had moved up to the Mayor’s seat. In nine months
he only missed one Council meeting — that was when his son, Urban, was born!
Although not one of the top vote-getters in the November 2016
election, Dan has shown a remarkable ability to represent Gilroy
effectively on a variety of regional boards and locally to offer a
strong business insight on the Council dais. This, coupled with
his solid experience and regional connections landed him the
recent appointment. He is filling the spot vacated by Roland
Velasco when he was elected Mayor in the November election.
He will serve as an appointee until the 2018 election.
His Background
Born and raised in Canada, Dan became a US citizen after a
Boarder Control Agent questioned why, after ten years of living
in the US, he had not become a citizen. Both Dan and his wife
work in Silicon Valley. They moved to Gilroy from Morgan Hill
because of “its small town charm, open spaces, the strong park
and recreation program and most importantly, a great public
school system fro our children,” said Dan. He further noted that
compared to cities further north, Gilroy has a “better quality of
life — less traffic, a strong public safety organization, strong
volunteerism and a real sense of community.”
Dan noted that Gilroy is one of the few areas in the Valley
that has buildable land for businesses and housing. Growth
will happen. The task at hand is to make sure growth benefits
current and future generations while maintaining green belts
and agricultural resources. He calls for more local involve-
ment in regional groups such as VTA, LAFCO, the County and
Water Board.
As a council member, Dan would like to see a strategic plan
that focuses on:
• Infrastructure and a capital funding plan to
support improvements
• Alternative revenue sources for the General Fund
• Community engagement
As a councilperson, Dan represents the City of Gilroy on
Gilroy Gardens Board, Santa Clara County Expressway Plan
Advisory Board, Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency Governing
and Implementation Boards, Santa Clara Valley Clean Energy
Authority, South County Joint Planning Advisory Committee,
and VTA Board (Alternate, VTA Policy Advisory Committee.)
Dan is a global senior manager at eBay in San Jose. He talks
about the differences between the culture at places like
eBay and the City of Gilroy. He notes the similarities—both
organizations have a sense of providing services for every one.
At eBay, collaboration is the rule—then “debate, decide and
deliver.” In the City, staff does most of the background work
and identifies decision points; the Council reviews, debates
and makes decisions.
His Vision
On the Council, Dan brings a global perspective to decisions
and a different set of decision-making tools. He likes to know
and understand the history of the issue as well as the current
implications, costs and consequences. He likes to see the
support data. He likes to look at the impacts of decisions from a
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
local and regional perspective. In a recent editorial in the Gilroy
Dispatch (February 2, 2017), he highlighted Gilroy’s changing
role in Silicon Valley. He believes that regional and local
decisions cross each other and that an increase in jobs in Silicon
Valley will mean more housing in Gilroy; and more commutes.
Dan is concerned with the recent departure of several key
City employees. He wants to work on the downtown “to make it
better.” Like it or not the High-Speed Rail will have a significant
impact on Gilroy and the region. With either a downtown or
eastside location the HSR station will have an impact on local
and regional travel, traffic, housing, dining and shopping. Dan is
an interesting man. He is a good listener and manifests passion
to make Gilroy a better place to live and work.
MARCH/APRIL 2017
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