By Marty Richman
I was discussing Measure S when someone said,
”
You have to give them credit; even though it failed they were
able to sway almost all the undecided voters to support it.
”
I had problems with Measure S and moreso when they tried to use
the new sewer rates as a wedge issue and with their final desperate
attack on our elected officials. Consequently, I was about to
dismiss that remark, then I remembered Rule No. 1:
”
Never underestimate your opponent; there is always something to
learn,
”
and so there was.
I was discussing Measure S when someone said, “You have to give them credit; even though it failed they were able to sway almost all the undecided voters to support it.” I had problems with Measure S and moreso when they tried to use the new sewer rates as a wedge issue and with their final desperate attack on our elected officials. Consequently, I was about to dismiss that remark, then I remembered Rule No. 1: “Never underestimate your opponent; there is always something to learn,” and so there was.
Perhaps Measure S will be back as “Son of S” or as Pulte would have it, “Sun of S” – but they did have a plan of attack and they followed it; that helped win them substantial support. They held frequent strategy meetings where they decided how to focus all their resources to get the outcome they desired and in that, there is an important lesson: Having an integrated plan is always better than attacking problems piecemeal or having no plan at all and trusting to luck.
We must apply that method to improve the economy of Hollister and San Benito County; neither the city nor the county can succeed independently. The question I have is this: Do these two major political entities have an integrated economic plan and does it focus all their combined resources to make that plan a success?
The truth is that I don’t know, an answer I find worrisome in itself. Whatever the answer, if it’s just another alphabet soup like COG or LAFCO, agencies few people understand or support, I can tell you right now it’s doomed to failure. I’m not being pessimistic, just realistic.
Sustainable, smart and targeted development can aid in economic growth. However, for those who believe that raw development is some sort of panacea I’m the bearer of bad tidings; you’re just fooling yourselves. Not only is it illegal to use impact fees to fund non-impacted capital and operations costs, it doesn’t work. Many public officials and employees are tempted to support those one-time windfalls because they generate larger budgets, more responsibility and, ultimately, higher compensation, but it’s a net loser to the taxpayer. That’s because the ongoing operating costs eventually eat up all those funds; then you must develop again to feed the bigger and hungrier machine.
One problem with the county’s economy is that too much of it lies in the wrong sectors such as government. At the 2000 census, about 52 percent of the county’s employment was non-agriculture, of that slice fully 20 percent, one-fifth, was employment by state and local government. Government employees do not generate resources; they consume them. Please, no angry letters, it’s not an insult, it’s a fact that applies equally to my 22 years of military service; only towns with speed traps expect the police to turn a profit. Government is expensive and we must increase efficiency to solve this problem; local officials have to demand more from the system they supervise and they must streamline operations at all levels, including their own.
The second problem is that 48 percent of those employed in the county in 2000 worked in agriculture, and agriculture is a very competitive, low-paying industry that does not mesh well with the cost of living just off the central coast. In 2005, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics did a wage survey of more than 805 occupations in California. All the agriculture jobs were near the bottom of the list averaging just more than $8 an hour; servers made less, but at least they get some tips.
Just complaining about where people shop is not an economic plan. For big ticket items people shop the Internet, where they get better prices and save on taxes, or they go to Gilroy where they’re going to get good prices and the huge selection they desire. That’s not going to change much; we don’t have the population to support that kind of mega-center. Our merchants have to offer things you can’t get elsewhere: the right hours, personalized service and prices that are competitive.
Most of all we need some diverse and decent jobs in private industry, because those jobs generate the value added that fuels the entire system. It’s time for the local governments to take a hint from successful enterprise; they must work together to define an economic goal, then focus all their considerable resources to make it happen. As Branch Rickey said, “Luck is the residue of design.”
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident. He can be contacted at [email protected].
