City Beat
Gilroy City Council Prioritizes Economic Development,
Public Safety, Customer Service, and Infrastructure Improvements
The biennial budget has been passed and is positioned to drive the City for-
ward with Council prioritizing customer service, economic development, public
safety, and infrastructure improvements in a fiscally-responsible manner.
Much care and examination were taken to ensure that the Council’s priori-
ties could be met on the foundation of fiscal prudence. Council examined the
cost to both provide the current service levels and restore service levels that
had not been recovered since the recession of 2008.
Here’s a brief summary of new services you can expect with the Fiscal Year
2020 and 2021 Budgets:
One-Stop Development Service Center
A more efficient and consolidated process for land development and permitting
assistance at a single location through the addition of 3-year term-limited
staffing for a One-Stop Development Service Center.
Economic Development
Increased focus on improving the economic and social well-being of
the community by the addition of a Deputy City Administrator focused on reve-
nue-driving economic development and funding to implement the Council’s Eco-
nomic Development Place-Based Initiatives (cityofgilroy.org/DocumentCenter/
View/8610/Gilroy-Placed-Based-Economic-Development-Strategy-12-04-18).
Public Safety
Providing for the needs of the community by the addition of two police officers
dedicated to quality of life issues and the addition of the Fire Department’s
quick response vehicle as a pilot program to improve emergency medical
service delivery.
Infrastructure Improvements
The addition of an engineer and four maintenance workers focused on
infrastructure maintenance improvements to the water, sewer, and transportation
systems.
This new budget builds on the momentum of the last biennial budget which
addressed the need for sustaining service levels with a growing population by
providing funding for technology improvements, modernizing of equipment,
and staff development. The city is currently in the process of implementing
these investments paid for in the last budget. Included in these investments
were:
• An Enterprise Resource Planning solution to upgrade our finance,
accounting, and human resource record systems allowing for efficiencies
in data keeping.
• A Land Management System to provide easier management of and
access to lease data, ownership, and permits, improving customer
service for developers and property owners.
• A Public Records Access Portal to provide online storage, public access,
and searchability of public records.
• A new vactor truck for cleaning drains and sewers.
• New paving equipment for enhanced minor road maintenance repairs.
• Targeted restructuring of staffing to enhance service delivery including
the addition of management analysts to study and provide data-based
recommendations.
• Increased focus on staff training and development.
Overall, the City is in a better position than it was two years ago with the new
budget providing for further progress and improvements to service delivery to
the community.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
august/september 2019
gmhtoday.com
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