In these days of partisan bickering it’s good to finally see a
group of politicians agree on something
– anything – and it happened right here in Hollister. All the
candidates for the Hollister City Council believe that economic
development is one of the key issues for the city’s future. In
fact, I think it’s safe to say that all the current members of the
city council agree; yep, it’s unanimous.
They just don’t do anything about it.
In these days of partisan bickering it’s good to finally see a group of politicians agree on something – anything – and it happened right here in Hollister. All the candidates for the Hollister City Council believe that economic development is one of the key issues for the city’s future. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that all the current members of the city council agree; yep, it’s unanimous. They just don’t do anything about it.
If you research California’s employment and wages by occupation and location, you find the data at www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/?PAGEID=152. As you scroll to San Benito County (SBC) you’ll notice there are two lines of information. One has SBC as part of Southwest Central Valley Region and it runs until 2005. The data for 2006 through 2008 has SBC as part of San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara Metropolitan Statistical Area.
What difference does it make? In 2005 when SBC was part of the Central Valley data, the average annual management wage was $79,785. With a change to the Santa Clara, the 2008 average annual wage is for the same group was $134,650. That’s why Benjamin Disraeli said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” So it’s official: the federal and state governments are assuming we are in the same economic boat as Santa Clara; do you feel rich yet?
I don’t know how many people were employed gathering and analyzing this data, but if you really want to know the economic status of Hollister and SBC, there is an easy way to find out. Just get up early on a workday and observe the traffic as it leaves town on the major arteries. You’ll see a parade of taillights; they just stream to other places – places with more opportunities and better-paying jobs.
When it comes to economic development, being aggressive is essential; the completion is tough. I’ll be glad to help the current and potential members of the city administration move one more step, from desire to action. What the local economy needs is good-paying jobs. That means engineering, professional and/or manufacturing jobs with a high value-added component. Lacking that, we need to bring in significant funds from other parts of the state including both the state and federal governments.
The following is a story from the Free Lance dated August 2005: “Planning Hollister’s economic future” – “Hollister’s economic development is moving past the discussion phase with the creation of a work plan aimed at hiring a person to market the city and the drafting of a long-term plan for the city’s economic development.”
If this plan exists, it’s the best-kept secret since D-Day. When you go to the Economic Development section of the city’s official Web site, there is a contact point and that’s it. Even the mission statement is nothing but a blank placeholder. In contrast, Gilroy’s city Web site is linked to the Gilroy Economic Development Corp., which also has a full website of its own and working information displays including; Site Selection Services, Living and Working, Data Center, Industry Strengths, Publications, Business Resources, Planning Resources, Available Properties, News and Partners. The message is clear – they are open and ready for business.
Time has made the catch all excuse of a sewer moratorium moot. It takes months and sometimes years of planning to bring in significant businesses and one must account for that lead-time; being prepared is not just for Boy Scouts.
What comes out of the city government is directly related to the priorities and resources provided by the city council; it’s their job to lead. The former council showed leadership on the wastewater issue, although they were forced to deal with it by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The current council has been sitting on their laurels. They have allowed critical programs such as the Gang Task Force to go dormant for months on end. In the case of economic development, the council has treated it with utter neglect; it has been marking time for years, making it a real priority is long overdue.
