Hollister
– Recent campaign finance documents show that in the race for
supervisorial District 4, incumbent Reb Monaco has raised and spent
more than three times as much money as challenger Tracie Cone.
Between July 1 and Sept. 30, the disparity is even greater – Monaco
raised $19,712.99 and spent $10,188
.54, while Cone spent $4,673 and spent $1,282.
Hollister – Recent campaign finance documents show that in the race for supervisorial District 4, incumbent Reb Monaco has raised and spent more than three times as much money as challenger Tracie Cone. Between July 1 and Sept. 30, the disparity is even greater – Monaco raised $19,712.99 and spent $10,188.54, while Cone spent $4,673 and spent $1,282.
Cone said the difference is no accident.
“I made a conscious decision not to accept money from anyone who might have business in front of the county,” she said. “With District 4 and Measure S, this is exactly what people didn’t want to have happen. They didn’t want big money to come in from outside and bamboozle us with slick ads.”
Cone said Monaco has been an enemy of campaign finance reform. He was the sole dissenting voice when the Board of Supervisors passed countywide campaign fundraising and spending limits in 2004; Monaco argued that such limits favor incumbents and the wealthy. Monaco voted against the ordinance again in 2005, when then-County Counsel Claude Biddle complained that it was full of loopholes and the Board voted to throw it out.
Two of Monaco’s biggest contributors are Kenneth Gimelli, who owns the land on which the proposed Sun City Hollister Development would be built, and local contractor Paul Wattis. Gimelli donated $6,500 to Monaco this year, and Wattis donated $7,000. Monaco said Gimelli and Wattis support his campaign because they are his friends.
“Some people have made the insinuation that my vote can be bought, and that’s absolutely untrue,” he said. “Anyone else will find me very open whenever I’m making a decision.”
The biggest donor on Cone’s most recent Form 460 is Paicines attorney Phillip Berry, who has donated $2,000 this year. Cone said she has spent a great deal of her own money on the campaign. A number of Santa Clara County residents – most of them donating $100 – have also given money to Cone. She said those donations come from friends she made during her tenure as a journalist for the San Jose Mercury News, and that these donors believe she will make a good leader.
“I’m proud of those contributions,” she said.
When Monaco faced Cone and County Clerk/Recorder John Hodges in June, he received 36 percent of the vote, beating Cone’s 33 percent by 82 votes. Hodges was dropped from the race, and because no candidate received more than 50 percent, Cone and Monaco are competing in a run-off election on Nov. 7.
Cone and Monaco recently appeared in a debate at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club. Cone said she used the opportunity to emphasize her economic expansion plan, which includes working with the city to make sewage plant construction the top priority, creating a new Economic Development Plan that outlines enterprise zones, and streamlining the permit process for businesses and encouraging development of service stations in commercial enterprise zones. Monaco said he tried to highlight his accomplishments in office, which he says include addressing staffing issues and moving forward with a revision to the county’s general plan and with the creation of a countywide parks commission.
Cone and Monaco will also appear at the election forum sponsored by the San Benito County Farm Bureau on Wednesday night.
One of the biggest issues in the coming election – for Hollister voters, at least – is Measure S, a citywide measure sponsored by developer Pulte Homes that would redesignate 1,300 acres of agricultural land near the municipal airport as a “mixed use residential community.” This land would be exempt from the 244-unit annual limit on residential allocations imposed by Measure U; instead, Pulte subsidiary Del Webb would be able to build up to 650 homes in its proposed Sun City Hollister retirement community per year.
Monaco said he was trying to remain neutral on the project, but he has reservations about amending the city’s general plan so soon after its recent revision.
“If I lived in Hollister, I’m not sure I would support it,” he said.
Cone said it was “a travesty” that only Hollister residents will be able to vote on the measure, because it will affect the entire county.
Before running for office, Cone was the owner of the Pinnacle newspaper from 1999 to 2004. She said the transition from journalism to politics was a natural one.
“I think that if you go back to 1999, when I bought the Pinnacle, you’ll see that I’ve advocated for many things that have come to fruition,” Cone said, pointing to her warnings about rapid development and her involvement in highway safety issues as examples.
Cone said she was less than impressed by Monaco’s record.
“I’m not sure what he stands for, because I don’t know what he’s done,” she said. “And I’ve followed the Board of Supervisors closely.”
Monaco, meanwhile, said he has a history of building consensus on the board, a skill he developed during his 32 years as a middle school special education teacher.
“I had to work with children to build consensus in daily activities,” he said. “Government is the art of compromise, and I think I’ve done a good job with that.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance.
