Gilroy's Safe Routes to School

Elementary School classrooms and campuses build the foundation of civic duties and community. Since 2015, through the adopted Safe Routes to School Action Plan the City of Gilroy, the Gilroy Unified School District, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, individual schools, families, and other community members have been working to enable children and youth to safely walk and bike to school through Safe Routes to School efforts at schools throughout Gilroy. 

Safe Routes to School aims to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for students to walk, bike, and roll to and from school. In the recent past Principals would coordinate directly with organizations regarding assemblies and programs, as each campus has unique schedules, cultures, identities, and activities. 

There was a tragic accident that took place January 16, 2026 shortly after 8am near Cydney Casper Park and Las Animas Elementary School in the Glen Loma neighborhood (D3), where a teenage driver struck and killed parents Andrew and Stacia Stuart who had just dropped their child off at school. The City of Gilroy in response identified $229,000 in TDA 3 funds from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) for traffic safety improvements and pedestrian/bicyclist safety around Las Animas Elementary School. 

We have a documented need through an independent Las Animas Elementary School Area Study that was made public at the June 15 Gilroy City Council meeting. The report cited unsafe street crossing outside of crosswalks, unsafe driving, and more. The State of California recently updated its rules for setting school zone speed limits through Assembly Bill 382. These updates are designed to streamline local safety efforts and strengthen protections for students walking, biking, and traveling near schools. City staff evaluated every public-school site, developed a comprehensive signage plan, and all essential steps to safely and effectively roll out the new reduced speed limits. This along with several other city initiatives is us saying YES to an all of the above approach.

After months of advocacy to the GUSD Board Trustees and the GUSD Superintendent, I am encouraged to read the re-affirmation in the latest monthly update from GUSD. “Please slow down, follow posted speed limits, and observe all safety rules. We are grateful for our continued partnership with the Gilroy Police Department, as we identify areas of concern and share important reminders about pedestrian and bicycle safety. We are also collaborating on the development of safety assemblies for our schools to help reinforce these important practices with our students.”

GUSD has the support from a broad coalition. Safety assemblies focused around traffic, biking, and walking can help compliment and support Comprehensive School Safety Plan (CSSP) requirements, under California Education Code section (32280-32289.5)

We are actively embracing, advancing ideas, and projects that promote the concept of free- range people in the City of Gilroy. We advocate for building and planning that considers future generations as well as current residents who don’t own cars. Advancing mobility options reflects what we are teaching the youth in our community through Safe Routes to School and why we are nationally recognized as a Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists, as well as recognized by the World Health Organization as an Age-Friendly Community.

As GUSD continues down the path of declining enrollment and potential school closures, this creates impacts that weren’t originally designed and mitigated for at their existing campuses. Especially when you now have parents and students traveling farther distances outside of their home school boundaries or granted permission for interdistrict transfers to programs offered at schools outside of their home schools. We need GUSD to help mitigate these impacts their schools bring in conjunction with us.

Gilroy Fire Department Annexation

Annexation of the Gilroy Fire Department to Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District is currently an option supported by multiple labor groups and has shown it can be done in 90 days. Completely getting out of the business of managing and funding a Fire Department that has struggled to grow and retain staffing under multiple Fire Chief's and City Admin’s is on the table, including the escalating costs to pay for contract emergency medical dispatch. Our City Administrator has extensive experience with this from his time at Saratoga, Cupertino, and Los Gatos. Our Assistant City Attorney has experience with the recent annexation at Los Altos where she serves as their City Attorney. 

Responsibility for delivering services transfers entirely to the Fire District. This means no labor negotiations, no personnel management issues, no operational liability, no budgeting for multi-million-dollar fire engines, no station maintenance projects, and no station replacement programs.

After police services, fire services are often one of the most resource-intensive municipal functions, consuming significant time from elected officials and staff. This service model includes the communications and dispatch component being funded and handled by the District and they will assign a Chief Officer as the City Liaison. That way the City Manager and Council have a point of contact for fire-related questions, meetings or concerns.

We established the minimum standards in 2019 and for now that includes the Santa Teresa 12 hour unit, we can’t reduce our overall citywide times and Santa Teresa District, without staffing this company on a regular basis 24/7 365.

The letter that we received from Local 2805 in 2023 was a lifeline for help, they weren't trying to fight us, they weren't asking for increase in wages and benefits, they are contracted by the city to provide services that we established through our standards of coverage in 2019. We need to ensure that the voices of Local 2805 and AFSCME Local 101 have a seat at the table during any future Fire Department Strategic Planning, since this affects both of their working conditions. LAFCO Fire Service Review 2023

2480 & 2740 Hecker Pass Residential Project Builder's Remedy Project

The 2480 & 2740 Hecker Pass Residential Project Builder's Remedy Project Draft EIR (Council District 3) was released for circulation on August 21, 2026, for a 45-day public review and comment period. The final day to submit comments for consideration is October 5, 2026. A copy of the DEIR is available at the Gilroy Library (350 W. Sixth Street), the City of Gilroy Community Development Department at City Hall (7351 Rosanna Street), and on-line. Comments can be sent electronically to CEQA@cityofgilroy.org or can be mailed to City of Gilroy Community Development Department c/o Aaron Campbell, 7351 Rosanna St, Gilroy, CA 95020. 

A Notice of Availability was posted on and off site where the proposed project is to be located and published in a newspaper of general circulation. All project details can be found here. https://www.cityofgilroy.org/1008/2480-2740-Hecker-Pass-Residential-Projec 

Legal documents received on August 17, 2026 by the City of Gilroy and Gilroy City Council represent a formal dispute between the Mana Camden Fund and the City of Gilroy regarding a proposed 116-unit residential development. Represented by Holland & Knight, the developer alleges that the city has engaged in an illegal "course of conduct" designed to effectively block the project through administrative delays and unreasonable environmental mitigation. The applicant asserts that the project is protected by the Housing Accountability Act and "Builder’s Remedy" provisions, which should exempt it from certain local zoning and specific plan constraints. Specifically, the correspondence challenges the city’s insistence on infeasible mitigation measures related to agriculture, historic preservation, and noise that would diminish the project's density. The developer concludes by demanding that the city cease its obstructionist tactics or face imminent litigation to enforce state housing laws.

Hecker Pass Builder's Remedy Housing Project Podcast