It is understandable that three Hollister council members who are up for reelection in November have personal matters holding up their commitments, or lack thereof, to run on the ballot.
But we encourage those three incumbents to make their intentions known as soon as possible to prevent a repeat of 2008, when former Councilman Brad Pike waited until the last minute to declare he was not running, limiting time for others to jump in the race and allowing his planning commissioner, Ray Friend, to run unopposed.
District 1 Councilman Ray Friend, District 4 Councilman Doug Emerson and District 5 Councilman Victor Gomez are up for reelection in November. The standard filing period opens July 16 and ends Aug. 10. While Friend and Gomez said their evaluations will be based on matters related to their other jobs – Friend’s impending retirement from Pacific Gas & Electric and Gomez’s potential expansion as a Papa Murphy’s franchise owner could play significantly into their decisions – Emerson said he is waiting to find out what happens in the June primary election, when city voters will decide whether they want to elect an at-large mayor with four council districts or stick with the current setup of five districts and a rotating mayor.
It is crucially important for the three to declare their intentions sooner than later because the city cannot afford to potentially limit its pool of qualified council candidates, not with a $3.5 million budget deficit awaiting without approval of the wildly uncertain Measure T sales tax extension, and not with the county having one of the worst-performing economies in the state for the past several years. Â
The three incumbents certainly have a right to make decisions that they feel best fit their political playbook. But if any of them don’t intend to run, they should make that intention clear when they are sure of a prospective departure.
At the same time, Hollister would benefit greatly from multiple candidates in all three of those races and – with or without incumbents’ involvement – we encourage interested, passionate residents to seriously consider candidacy. In these challenging times, the more the merrier.
After all, voters don’t deserve to get Brad Piked again.
