Even if it’s still too soon to start drawing up plans for a new
courthouse, it’s good knowing that the governor is in our
corner.
Even if it’s still too soon to start drawing up plans for a new courthouse, it’s good knowing that the governor is in our corner.
Earlier this week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a letter to the Legislature urging funding for a new courthouse in San Benito County. We won’t know until May, when the Legislature unveils its budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year, whether the $32 million project is included in the state’s spending plan.
But we do know that San Benito County badly needs a new courthouse. The existing structure at Fifth and Monterey streets was built in 1962 and is clearly outdated.
At 12,000 square feet, the building is too small to meet the needs of the county’s superior court and the family and small claims courts, let alone accommodate the public’s needs for court-related services. Its lack of security features – from metal detectors to holding cells for inmates – has become a public safety concern.
The state knows all of this, too. The California Administrative Office of the Courts surveyed court buildings around the state, county by county, and ranked San Benito’s courthouse among the worst. Last year, the agency listed replacement of the San Benito County Courthouse No. 3 on its list of top facilities priorities.
The Administrative Office of the Courts, the state Finance Department and now the governor are all recommending that the state build a new courthouse here. The Legislature needs to make sure that this year’s state budget includes the needed funding.
That said, the local leaders who will choose where the new courthouse will be built need to focus on a downtown area site.
Two parcels of land have been offered for the project, one by the city and the other by the county. The old Freemont School campus at Fourth and Monterey streets, now owned by the Hollister Redevelopment Agency, is by far the better place for a new courthouse.
It would be much more accessible to and convenient for the public than the four-acre site out on Flynn Road offered by the county. Additionally, a new courthouse would not only be a big improvement over the shuttered school, which has become a frequent target for vandals, but would also contribute significantly toward community efforts to revitalize downtown Hollister. The answer to questions raised about parking in the area can be found just a block away, at the presently underutilized public parking garage in the Briggs Building.
Of course, this being California, a seismic evaluation needs to be done to assure that the old school campus is a safe building site. Hollister Mayor Brad Pike has indicated the city will move ahead with a seismic study when state funding for the courthouse is secured.
What’s needed now is for our representatives in Sacramento to make sure their colleagues in the Legislature understand the need to include San Benito County’s new courthouse in the state budget. It can’t hurt having the governor – a man noted for his persuasiveness – in their corner.
