June 29, 2007

News from the Villages

Supervisor Don Gage speaks at the Republican Club at
the Villages

By Gary Hill
Special to the Times

On Monday, June 25, the Republican Club at the Villages was treated to a speech by Don Gage, the Santa Clara County supervisor for District 1. District 1 includes the area that encompasses the Villages.

Gage, who is currently the Chairperson, has been on the board of supervisors since 1997 and is serving his final term, which ends in 2010.

Gage stated that under his Chairmanship the board is concentrating on four goals:

Achieving financial stability (currently they are working to alleviate a $227 million deficit

Maintaining good governmental relations between county and state, and county and city

Santa Clara County Supervisor for District 1, Don Gage, spoke at the Republican Club at the Villages on June 25. Photo by Lou Rosenberg

Improving the county transportation infrastructure

Working to resolve the housing situation for low income and homeless persons

Gage mentioned a startling statistic – it currently costs the county $62,000 a year per homeless person in the existing infrastructure, but if the county were to provide housing, directed care and services, the cost would be reduced to $16,000 a year.

According to Gage, Santa Clara County is faced with some serious problems in the future. The state has mandated that Valley Medical, the county managed hospital, must be upgraded structurally by 2013 to withstand and remain operable after an 8.0 earthquake. This work will cost an estimated $ 1.4 billion, and since the entire county budget is $3.7 billion, the upgrade becomes a severe funding issue for the next few years.

In addition, the forecasting pundits are projecting that California’s population will double by 2040. Part of this growth is in Coyote Valley, where will be a projected population of 75 – 80,000 residents living on 3,000 acres. To compare, Gilroy has 45,000 people living on over 10,000 acres. This projected growth presents huge infrastructure issues for Santa Clara County’s leadership and taxpayers.

New Villages General Manager Darren Shaw welcomed by outgoing GM

From left to right: Kimberly and Darren Shaw are welcomed by Geoff and Melene Smith. Shaw is taking over as Villages General Manager and was given a welcoming handshake by Smith, the outgoing general manager, following the annual membership meeting of the Villages Golf and Country Club at the Cribari Auditorium on June 18.

Photo by Thom Harney

Villagers showcase their talents at Villages Variety Show on June 24

Jan Day and Bette Spinrad, known as “Two on a String,” perform a guitar and song medley	Ron Williams performs “Delilah” at the Villages Variety Show

Directors of the Villages Variety Show, are all smiles following the show, which was held June 24 at the Cribari Auditorium. All proceeds for the show, which featured an overflow crowd, benefited the Villages Medical Auxiliary.

Photos by Thom Harney