Outgoing mayor says working for the city has been “all about the people”

Published in the December 19, 2018 – January 1, 2019

For nearly three decades, Steve Tate worked for his fellow Morgan Hill citizens in local city government. At the Dec. 12 city council meeting he stepped down from 27 years of public service, the past 12 as mayor. His sterling character and many achievements were recognized in the speeches of good wishes from colleagues and citizens.

During the final moments he sat on the council dais, the 73-year-old Tate described why he gave so much of his time and energy to the community.

“It’s all about the people. I love this job …” he told the packed audience.

He paused for a long moment and gulped.

“I’m getting choked up,” he said. “I really love this job and the reason I love the job is because of the people I get to work with on our staff, the people I get to work with on our council, the people I get to work with in the community and on our commissions and everybody that supports us. We’ve got a city that knows how to get things done, knows how to come together to solve problems, knows how to come together to have a good time. And it just makes it delightful to be the figurative head of all that.”

Steve Tate and his wife Jennifer relax in their northwest Morgan Hill home.
Photo by  Robert Airoldi

When Tate and his wife, Jennifer Tate, moved from Walnut Creek into their Holiday Lakes home in August 1977, Morgan Hill was still a primarily rural city of about 12,000. Only two traffic lights were in town, both on Monterey Road. Tate had a career in marketing at IBM and commuted north to his job to the plant on Cottle Road.

Silicon Valley’s rapidly expanding computer industry drove many high-tech workers to find homes in Morgan Hill. The rapid growth of development scared longtime residents. They feared losing the community’s small-town charm. Voters passed Measure E the year the Tates moved to Morgan Hill. Forty-one years later, the city of now 45,000 residents still faces public worries over growth, a contentious point of debate in the November election.

Tate’s interest in local politics started when he served on a General Plan Update Dommittee in the 1980s. It sparked his interest in ensuring the city grew in a way that protected the quality of life. He became involved in upgrading Measure E to Measure P in 1990 to correct some of the original measure’s problems. After that, during the course of the next several years, he applied six times to get a seat on the Planning Commission. In 1991, he became a commissioner and served seven years.

“It was just a way to get involved in the community and looking at different aspects of things,” he said. “Jennifer got involved with schools and got elected to the school board, and so I thought I should be getting involved locally as well.”

In 1998, Tate took that involvement up another level when he was elected to the city council. Working with Mayor Dennis Kennedy, the next eight years were filled with involvement in various public building projects including the Outdoor Sports Center, the Centennial Recreation Center, the Community and Cultural Center and the new library. These multi-million-dollar facilities added to the quality of life and the civic prestige for Morgan Hill.

Voters put Tate into the mayoral seat in November 2006. A year later, the city faced a major economic impact with the financial slowdown in late 2007. Getting the budget adjusted required laying off city staff, an unpopular action. Ed Tewes was the city manager and he came up with a sustainable budget strategy that allowed the city to better manage its finances.

“That has served us extremely well since we put that in place, first to get us through the recession and ever since as a way to use very judiciously the reserves that we’ve been able to accumulate,” Tate said.

The loss of the Redevelopment Agency in 2012 when Gov. Jerry Brown decided to abolish these city revenue generators was another huge financial hit to the city, he said.

“It really got us off to a contentious start with the other taxing agencies that we had to deal with,” he said. “But we worked our way through it.”

More recently, with City Manager Steve Rymers’ public relations capabilities, Morgan Hill was able to come out with a dynamic Downtown Specific Plan that has transformed the city’s core with a new four-story garage, various housing developments, three public parks and the resurrection of the Granada Theater by developer Frank Leal.

Leaving government services doesn’t mean leaving involvement in the community, Tate said. He plans to keep active with nonprofit organizations.

“I know one thing that I want to do is spend more time in the Boys and Girls Club,” he said. “I’m involved there on the board level, but I’m not really hands on with the kids, which is what it’s all about.”

He’ll do a weekly shift at the library bookstore. And he’ll provide leadership on various nonprofit boards, including the Edward Boss Prado Foundation and the St. Louise Hospital Foundation. He will also stay active as a member of the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill, especially helping its Interact program with local high school students. He’ll enjoy an occasional business ribbon-cutting with the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce as well.

Newly-elected Mayor Rich Constantine sees Tate as a model of public service for Morgan Hill.

“Steve Tate  has served our city as mayor for 12 years, leading us out of one of the greatest economic down turns in U.S. history, to a thriving and growing city with a great downtown and a very bright future,” he said. “We owe Steve a debt of gratitude for his more than 27 years of service to Morgan Hill.”

Greg Sellers, who ran for mayor in the November election, noted Tate’s integrity and selflessness in his leadership. The two spent much time together when Sellers served on the city council.

“So many politicians these days are controlled by outside special interests, but Steve never cared what outsiders thought,” he said. “He is and always has been just a member of our community who cares deeply, and only, for Morgan Hill. His achievements were often subtle but will positively impact Morgan Hill for generations.”

Morgan Hill Historical Society President Kathy Sullivan came to know Steve and Jennifer Tate in their volunteering and leadership at the city’s history park, the Villa Mira Monte estate. In his tenure as mayor, Tate has enjoyed honoring longtime residents by announcing them at the annual Founders’ Dinner, she said.

“Even more enjoyable at these evenings was his tending the bar and serving generous pours,” she said with a laugh. “Most recently I appreciated Steve’s leadership in creating the City-Society Partnership to support the ongoing preservation of our city’s cultural heritage.”

Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman considers himself lucky to have worked with Tate on many government projects over the years.

“His passion about his city and the people he represents is obvious. He has given of himself, both mentally and physically, to make things better. And he has succeeded,” he said. “It has been a pleasure and an honor working with Steve on numerous issues benefiting Morgan Hill.”

Jennifer noted, quite happily, that her husband has no intentions for higher political positions. Retiring from local government means he’ll now have more time to spend with his family.

“One of the things we’re going to be able to do now is get up and ask: ‘You want to go somewhere?’” she said. “We can take a couple of days and disappear. There won’t be meetings and there won’t be obligations.”

Editor Robert Airoldi contributed to this story with an interview with Steve and Jennifer Tate.