For one local organization, it won’t be business as usual.
For one local organization, it won’t be business as usual.
A recently founded coalition of South County business representatives hopes to make existence in the region ideal, for their bottom lines as well as their way of life.
The South County Business Council’s first target: the sprawling, controversial Santa Clara County Habitat Conservation Plan, which some members feel could institute an unnecessary bureaucratic layer and make the future of South County development uncertain.
“I would never join a council like that. I’m not really a joiner. But it’s really strength in numbers and that’s was intrigued me,” said Jeff Martin, local farmer, landowner and member of the habitat plan stakeholder committee who has publicly opposed the 50-year project. “I think these guys, they each have a little ax to grind, but collectively they’re going to have a bigger voice. I’m hoping it will have an influence on our politicians.”
After nearly year of planning, the South County Business Council was officially formed about seven months go, said consultant Jim Conklin, who helped bring about the organization. The current 14-member group meets once a month, said Conklin, who helped form similar groups in San Benito County and Stockton.
“The mantra is to address and resolve strategic issues that are impacting South County, and to work with the public sector to work though and resolve these issues,” Conklin said.
One big task the group will take on is how to increase revenues in South County, Conklin said.
“A community’s wellness revolves around revenues,” he said. “What are the things that can be done the create revenues?”
For some members of the council, the organization is long overdue.
“We had no organization in South County representing Gilroy and Morgan Hill,” said Steve Staloch, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Mainstreet Media Group. “South County has kind of been seen as an adopted step-child because we’re in the shadow of the metropolitan area.”
The council is issue-driven, Staloch says, and is not meant to endorse political candidates. The council, so far, is comprised of private business owners and senior management officials in realms such as local banking, healthcare and agriculture.
The council’s norm is expected to begin with zeroing in on an issue, researching it thoroughly, deciding whether to stand for or against certain issues and to make those positions public.
The habitat plan comes along at just the right time, members said.
“The future development of the county is predicated on what the HCP does,” Staloch said. “It’s a very complex issue.”
Martin said the council will take on its issues case by case, and a wealth of thought and research will go into every approached issue.
“This isn’t some sort of Tea Party ranting. This is people in the community trying to keep enterprise going,” Martin said.
As for what the council can accomplish long-term, Martin is taking a wait-and-see approach.
“We don’t have a track record, so it’s hard to say,” he said. One thing is certain members, said: The council should not be mistaken for a social club.
“It’s a job,” said Steve Costa, co-owner of Headstart Nursery.
So intensive is the council that Costa, who says his land won’t be affected by the habitat plan, might pull out of participating for now and leave it to the remaining members.
“The people that are really passionate are going to drive it,” Costa said.
