Hold on to that resolve
We all make New Year’s resolutions as we look back on one year
and think of what we can improve for the next. We promise to spend
more time with the family and less time at work. Or we vow to work
more hours to pick up that promotion we’ve been eyeing. We say we
will exercise more and eat healthy.
Hold on to that resolve
We all make New Year’s resolutions as we look back on one year and think of what we can improve for the next. We promise to spend more time with the family and less time at work. Or we vow to work more hours to pick up that promotion we’ve been eyeing. We say we will exercise more and eat healthy.
But by February many of those resolutions are long gone as we fall into comfortable patterns and we might as well have tossed out the goals with the Christmas wrapping paper.
Though we know how hard it can be to keep the goals we set for ourselves, we’ve got a few good ideas for San Benito, Hollister and San Juan Bautista. And unlike individuals, the municipalities have the support of a community behind them.
New Year resolutions for 2007:
Highway 25 bypass
The talk of a bypass around San Benito Street for state Highway 25 as long been on the tongues of politicians – but we are still waiting for it to come to fruition. Now that the contract for construction has gone out to bid, we challenge the San Benito Council of Governments to stay on schedule with the project, which includes assigning the contract in January and starting construction in February.
Several opportunities are on hold until the bypass is completed, including a new retail corridor and improvements to downtown Hollister that would make the historical district more pedestrian friendly.
San Juan water project
This is another project that has been talked about for years – held up by squabbling between San Juan City Council members and the San Benito County Water District. The project has seen two city managers come and go and still construction hasn’t started. While the water project itself is a major feat, one of the reasons we think its completion is so important to the city is that the existing system, some of which dates to the Gold Rush era, demands nearly constant repair and delivers water that few residents dare to drink.
Other infrastructure projects have fallen to the wayside while the city waits to figure out financials that will allow them to actually start construction on the water project. Once their water woes are figured out, San Juan can look to repair those sidewalks tourists trip over and the potholes in the streets.
Hollister sewer project
We know the sewer project can’t be done in one year, but we hope to see a good faith effort on the part of the city to get the sewer fix-up started in 2007. Business ventures are stalled. Affordable housing is hard to come by. New development is at a standstill until the sewer project is completed.
The city council needs to work with the planning department to get the project on schedule and maybe in a few years Hollister will begin to blossom anew.
Downtown market place
San Benito has a summer farmers market at the corner of San Benito and Fourth streets, but in order to take advantage of the local products – produce, wine and meat – the county needs a permanent marketplace for residents and tourists alike. To cook a meal such as chicken in wine sauce with all local products, a customer would need to drive out to Tres Pinos to stop at Paul Hain’s chicken farm, look around through the Cienega Valley for a bottle of wine and find one of the farm stands in the region.
The San Benito Chamber of Commerce launched a holiday buy local campaign this year and the marketplace could be a key component in creating a San Benito brand name. If it is convenient, people will buy local products.
Balance the budget
We all know how hard it can be when the money we bring in each week doesn’t match the money we send out. And we understand that San Benito, San Juan and Hollister all face the challenge of managing money for more than 55,000 people. But we know pulling the wool over eyes about finances is never the best way to handle debt. Balancing the governmental budget for Hollister, San Juan and the county is important and we’d like to see city and county administrators take aggressive steps in that direction for the coming year.
Whether it takes cuts or bringing in more revenue, the local government owes it to the citizens to be fiscally responsible with the money we entrust to them.
County parks district
The San Benito county Board of Supervisors took a step in the right direction in discussing a parks and recreation commission for the county. The commission would make decisions on creating new parks, renovating existing parks and putting the parks to their best use with educational programs for residents.
But a parks and recreation commission is useless without money to back its activities. A creation of a county parks district would charge a small fee to property owners to boost county recreational facilities. It would be a small price to pay to improve the quality of life in San Benito.
The money drawn in by a parks district could also help the county move forward on a project to create a San Benito River corridor. Improvements along the county’s namesake river would allow for hiking and bike trails, fishing spots and a chance to view local wildlife.
Gavilan College campus
It’s time to offer more to community college students in San Benito. Now students can take only a few classes in the Briggs Building on the corner of San Benito and Fourth streets. The rest of the time they have to commute over to Gilroy. Once again, there has been talk of a complete campus in San Benito but discussions over a location have stalled the project.
Wherever the campus may be, it is time to get construction under way.
Appreciate the view
We often get accustomed to our surroundings, almost to the point where we don’t really see them anymore. But we encourage all San Benito citizens to take some time in 2007 to look around them and enjoy the blue skies, green hills and lush valley in which we live.
And if you can’t keep your own New Year resolutions, help the county along with some of these.
