Dear Editor,
There seems to be some negative things being blogged and
reported in the local paper concerning the business operations at
Leal Vineyards. As we know, there are two sides to every story. All
the Frank Leal
”
bashers
”
do not know the man, nor have they probably ever visited this
beautiful facility. For all those quick to judge and condemn Mr.
Leal, I offer this viewpoint.
Leal does a lot for the community
Dear Editor,
There seems to be some negative things being blogged and reported in the local paper concerning the business operations at Leal Vineyards. As we know, there are two sides to every story. All the Frank Leal “bashers” do not know the man, nor have they probably ever visited this beautiful facility. For all those quick to judge and condemn Mr. Leal, I offer this viewpoint.
Frank Leal opened Leal Vineyards in 1998 with a few goals in mind. The first was to create a world-class winery that produces handcrafted wine. The second was to promote the historic, agricultural wine region and the third was to build a facility where our local community could enjoy a variety of public and private events right here in Hollister. Mr. Leal did this by the sweat of his brow and endless days and nights of hard work. He is the first one in and last one out almost every day of the week. Contrary to what is being broadcast, Frank Leal is not a cry baby, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He has earned everything he has with a work ethic that is second to none and a natural gift of vision.
Earlier this week, some fires raged along Fairview Road where Leal Vineyards operates. Thanks to the quick, efficient response from Calfire and other emergency response teams, the fires were extinguished quickly. Helping with those efforts was Frank Leal. He pulled out his own equipment and started to help trench a safety perimeter around his neighbors’ homes to prevent them from burning. The emergency response helicopter was also able to draw water from a lake on the property to help control the blaze.
This is just one of many generous, thoughtful things that Mr. Leal does for the surrounding communities. Leal Vineyards has donated facility space and thousands of dollars of wine to numerous schools, civic groups and non-profit organizations to help with their fundraising events.
The winery not only brings prestige to the area, it also brings in a lot of tax dollars. Leal Vineyards has consistently promoted the use of other local businesses in order to help capture tax dollars from outside the county. Last week, the winery invited a group of 50 avid wine aficionados from San Diego to come visit our area and enjoy what Hollister has to offer. These folks spent the day not only visiting Leal Vineyards, but the group spent the night at Ridgemark, ate at local restaurants and shopped at various stores.
For the record, Leal Vineyards does hold and maintain the permits to operate as a business here in San Benito County. There are a few issues that have been called to the winery’s attention and good-faith efforts have been made to acquire the permits that are lacking and to be in compliance.
Mr. William Lee has made bold statements of egregious infractions at Leal Vineyards. Most of this is hyperbole. Mr. Lee has been living next to Leal Vineyards for seven years. Why is he all of a sudden raging this personal vendetta on the winery? Seems like these constant complaints he makes may have some ulterior motive behind them.
Frank Leal is a reasonable man who has done much to enhance the business sector and well-being of the entire community. That is the other side to this story.
David Cox, executive director, St. Joseph’s Family Center
Wrong area for events
Dear Editor,
Leal Vineyards is located in a quiet rural residential neighborhood. They should never have been given a permit to hold events. If the Board of Supervisors rescinds their permit, it will mean more business for Bolado Park, which would generate much-needed revenue for the county. But that will never happen because the supervisors would lose their big campaign contributions.
Robert Gilchrist Huenemann, Hollister
