The Measure T ballot initiative to increase Hollister’s sales tax by 1 percent is about more than numbers. It’s about a community choosing between progression and digression, about demanding a better quality of life, about providing an acceptable level of public safety.
It’s about making the only reasonable choice available in desperate times to improve core city services as we look ahead past this dark era of stagnancy. It’s about understanding when a little sacrifice is necessary for advancement.
Voters proved in November 2006 that convincing an electorate majority in Hollister to give up another chunk of well-earned discretionary income is no easy task when Measure R – surprising, considering the city’s well-publicized financial collapse since the building moratorium started in 2002 – failed 52 percent to 48 percent.
Citizens were, and are, fed up with years of poor leadership peaking with the 2002 sewage spill that sunk Hollister into this economic misery. They’re fed up at inflated sewer bills caused by a wastewater system and its capacity that was largely outpaced by poorly managed growth. Understandably, they’re skeptical.
Yet, as Hollister’s revenue stream continues to spiral, as more city jobs are cut and basic services dwindle past the point of embarrassment, as crimes go unsolved and at-risk youths are given fewer opportunities to escape poverty and gangs, hope remains.
That hope lies with every voter who understands that citizens, for the long-term viability of this community, for the short-term manageability of what’s teetering on disastrous, should commit to this investment and approve Measure T on the November 6 ballot.
Measure T supporters – who range from city employees and officials to local business leaders and other concerned residents – have been working hard to get the measure passed this time by raising more money and by having more voices on the streets to educate the uninformed. Although opponents are less organized and have fewer messengers on their side, their message carries weight and resonates with many locals.
Critics distrust Hollister leaders’ ability to wisely spend the money. They scoff at there being no detailed plan for the $3.5 million to $4 million that would be raised annually by the hike for the next five years.
Opponents say it’s too much money assessed over too much time, that public safety, a local government’s inherent priority, could be restored with a smaller tax increase. They say the 1 percent would particularly hurt small businesses and lower-income residents.
And they say the city’s fiscal decline the past few years has been due to poor management – not just the sewer-spill induced building moratorium, a sputtering local economy and rising health care costs.
Critics, after all, have the right to distrust leadership because it’s hard to swallow that bitter taste left by past mistakes. Still, citizens must move on and trust our current leaders if Hollister has any chance to halt this continual path toward irrelevancy.
Four of five council seats have changed hands since the moratorium began. City officials, now more than ever, feel pressure because the stakes are raised and citizens are watching closely.
One of the big complaints is that those elected leaders would have too much leeway with the extra money. Unfortunately, an overly restrictive state law – clearly intended to turn off voters from such tax hikes – forbids governments that are proposing such increases from allocating the dollars before a ballot measure’s approval. An explicit plan – without a two-thirds super majority – would be illegal.
The City Council and other Measure T supporters countered the concern by requiring that a citizens oversight committee be established to supervise the city’s spending priorities. It’s an appropriate safeguard against any chance of irresponsible expenditures.
And if you’re uncertain about the potential economic impact on merchants and their customers, and on the city’s economy, listen to a local business community widely supporting this measure, businesses that stand to take a short-term hit in exchange for better days ahead. The San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, the Hollister Downtown Association and the San Benito County Association of Realtors all have endorsed Measure T. The Hollister School District Board of Trustees even took the rare step of weighing in on a city issue by unanimously endorsing it this week.
Although this measure comes down to quality of life, to public safety and, ultimately, to economic and commercial headway, the numbers don’t lie.
At the top of the list is the crisis on Hollister’s streets as police staffing has declined – there are 29 sworn officers, with two detectives – and the frequency of violent crimes and gang activity has correlatively grown.
When you go to the polls Nov. 6, remember Christella Macias, a 20-year-old woman whose body – her clothes pulled up over her neck – was found on a June morning along a residential road. Remember this year’s two other homicides, four attempted murders and 15 drive-by shootings. Remember that this problem will get only worse because Hollister needs, more than anything, additional officers to patrol and investigate crimes.
Remember that Measure T is a temporary, necessary fix and that every voter on Nov. 6 has a chance to make a small investment in a brighter future.
