Our members who attended the June 5 Council meeting and spoke in favor of the Downtown Elevated alignment were

For months there has been controversy swirling around the potential advent of High Speed Rail in our community

At our May 23rd GGS meeting we decided, after much discussion, to support the Downtown Viaduct (aeriel) alternative for Gilroy’s High Speed Rail alignment. The decision was based primarily on the consultants’ reports

At our May 23rd GGS meeting, Joey Weitz was chosen as the GGS representative to the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC), with Carol Marques serving as an alternate

High Speed Rail Alignment – copies of the comparative charts of three alignments studied in the report commissioned by the City Council were handed out. Discussion was held on the merits of the three alternatives that were studied in the report

Connie announced that HSR is holding an Open House to provide information and receive community input on the project. It will be held on Tuesday, April 18 from 5-8 PM at the IFDES Hall, 250 Old Gilroy St. in Gilroy. Everyone was urged to attend so that they would be fully informed in order for GGS to take a position on a preferred alignment at our next meeting.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oil -Gas Leasing and Development- John and Carolyn Hernandez spoke to the group regarding a public meeting they attended in March that was held at the Central Coast Field Office regarding an amendment to the BLM's Resource Management Plan (RMP). The BLM is asking for public comment by April 6 on the Environmental Impact Statement that is reviewing five different alternatives. that could affect the Sargent and Castro Valley Ranches just south of Gilroy west of Hwy. 101

It is called Civic Voice–at http://civicvoice.accela.com/gilroyca/index

We discussed High Speed Rail and handed out some literature on the pros and cons of each alignment and the latest information on High Speed Rail. Again, if you would like this information sent to you, please email and let me know.

Just to recap, we discussed how Gilroy Growing Smarter first began and introduced ourselves to each other. We talked about our future purpose as a sort of "watch dog group" and what our methods and values would be.

We just had a very productive first meeting of Gilroy Growing Smarter, "reinvented". Thanks to all of you that were able to come. We are in process of forming small committees to take on some specific tasks.