Hollister
– City officials announced this week that a number of municipal
offices will be reducing their public hours later this month.
Hollister – City officials announced this week that a number of municipal offices will be reducing their public hours later this month.
Beginning the week of Feb. 12, City Hall, development services and the engineering and finance departments will be closing their doors on Fridays. That means Hollisterites who want to make last-minute or late payments on Friday for their water and sewer bills – or who have questions or complaints about those bills – will have to wait until after the weekend.
On Friday afternoon, the city finance office seemed to be receiving a fair amount of visitors. Hollister resident Larry Vasquez said he normally mails his water payments to the city, but he made the trip to City Hall this week because it was the last day to pay his bill. Vasquez said he’s unlikely to be affected by the closures.
“I’ve been in Hollister for nine years, and this is only my third time coming down (to the finance department),” he said.
These closures are part of the deficit reduction plan approved in January by the City Council, a plan that will also include cuts to the city’s fire and police service. Vasquez said closing city offices one day per week seems like a reasonable move in light of the cuts. The public safety reductions, he said, are much more worrying.
“That’s going to hurt more than anything,” Vasquez said.
Councilman Doug Emerson said he’s been asked repeatedly by his constituents how closing City Hall is supposed to save the city money. Emerson emphasized that the closure of city offices doesn’t mean employees will start enjoying three-day weekends. He said that instead of answering comments and questions, the reduced staff will be free to focus on paperwork and long-term projects.
“We had a similar problem in the school business,” said Emerson, who is a retired administrator and teacher. “We were always reacting.”
Emerson noted that the city has fallen behind in the implementation of its general plan, which is supposed to govern long-term growth and development in Hollister. Among other things, the closures should allow city staffers more time to work on planning issues.
The community services department will remain open Monday through Friday, which means repairs to line breaks and sewer overflows will continue throughout the week.
Johnson acknowledged that with the finance department closed, a water shut-off on Friday could leave someone waterless and without recourse for three days. However, she said, the city will make sure that situation is avoided by rescheduling shutoffs to other days of the week.
Johnson also noted that Hollisterites have to miss the deadlines for two water bills – covering four months – before their water is turned off.
“We’re trying to do more with less,” Johnson said.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or
ah*@fr***********.com
.
