gmhTODAY: Community pride was a main issue during your campaign. What can you do to improve community pride?
Greg Bozzo: Some people may know that I come from the landscape design and construction sector where curb appeal matters a great deal. The need for our community to improve our curb appeal, along our roadways, walkways, and especially at our gateways— or entrances— into our community, is something that almost everybody can agree on. It is an important factor that helps promote community pride. It ' s also important for economic activity and economic development. Curb appeal has not received a lot of attention over the years, so we need to make improvements in this area, and that ' s one thing I would like to address right away.
gmhTODAY: With your Garlic Festival experience and other volunteer efforts, do you see volunteerism as a way to help our community when it comes to roadside cleanups?
Greg Bozzo: At this point in time, I don ' t think we should have volunteer organizations responsible for doing the very basic responsibilities of city government like maintaining our roadsides. The landscape maintenance and basic annual weed abatement on our roads and gateways should not be the responsibility of our citizens.
Gilroy is unique in that we have properties adjacent to and within our city limits where we, as a city, do not have jurisdiction. On those properties, agencies like Caltrans, Valley Water, Valley Transportation Authority, Santa Clara County, and others have the jurisdiction. We need to strengthen our relationships with these agencies so that we can communicate our expectations regarding cleaning those properties up. These relationships must be strengthened or renewed so that we ' re more effective as a region to the benefit of our community. I will work to bridge the gaps in these overlapping jurisdictions and we, as a municipality, will hold them accountable to do their part.
gmhTODAY: You cite public safety as an important issue. What is the most important issue regarding public safety?
Greg Bozzo: We have challenges with our first responders. We ' ve been underfunded for years. Again, I don ' t think people disagree on that at all. We ' ve got to figure out a way to provide more funding for our first responders. The effort to pass a tax on the public to fund this municipal responsibility was defeated this past November. I think there are answers to this issue that exist as positive results of creating a more vibrant economic development strategy to attract tourism dollars, a more robust retail environment, and attract new businesses and high paying jobs to our area. Growth in these areas will result in a higher tax base and more income to the city. We need to bring more dollars in, and that’ s the job of elected leaders and City Hall. It shouldn’ t be placed on the backs of our residents. The net result is we will be able to increase staffing levels which will help reduce crime and increase response times for police and fire personnel.
gmhTODAY: Being at the southern edge of Silicon Valley and the Greater Bay Area, do you feel Gilroy gets enough attention and support from the county, state, and other regional entities?
Greg Bozzo: Those relationships, as I mentioned earlier, can be improved and need to be improved. Speaking of that, one of the big efforts has been building momentum between us and our sister city, Morgan Hill in creating the South County that benefits both communities and the unincorporated areas.
I think South County is very unique down here at the southern end of Santa Clara County and I see nothing but benefits by figuring out a way to unify and align ourselves with each other so that we capitalize on our strengths and resources. We need to capitalize on the collective experiences of both communities to make all of South County, including San Martin and the unincorporated areas, better, and create a sense of pride in all of South County. I ' m looking forward to working closely with the leaders of Morgan Hill, especially Mayor Mark Turner, so that we can figure out ways to unify all of South County.
gmhTODAY: We have both challenges and opportunities ahead in 2025. What ' s your message to the residents of Gilroy?
Greg Bozzo: One of the things I said a lot on the campaign trail is that I didn ' t run for mayor because I have some enormous amount of experience that uniquely qualifies me to be mayor over anyone else in this community. Rather, I believe that it is the collective personal and professional experiences of the people in our community that qualify us, and is more than enough, to meet our challenges and make our community a better place for all. That ' s why I ran. Now, as mayor, I will be collaborating with my fellow councilmembers, City Hall, and reaching out to our community for ideas, feedback, and solutions so we can all help Gilroy reach its full potential.
Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner
gmhTODAY: Congratulations on your victory. How does that level of support feel as you start your second term?
Mark Turner: I ' m grateful to have the support of the community. The vote of confidence from the residents of Morgan Hill was an overwhelming victory, which I ' m grateful for, and it really is an indication from the residents’ perspective that the city is moving in the right direction.
gmhTODAY: Your initial campaign focused on public safety, economic development, local job creation, and tourism. You“ doubled down” on those issues in your re-election bid and won a second term. Why are those issues important?( Continued...)
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