The deadlock over what will replace a canceled regional fire protection contract continues, as the City of Hollister and San Benito County are still trading barbs over alleged bad faith bargaining.
But time is running out and the March 2025 termination date set by Hollister officials looms closer.
After months of negotiations, there is no shared vision for what would replace the current fire protection contracts, which tasks the Hollister Fire Department with providing services to the city of San Juan Bautista and unincorporated county lands.
In June, the Hollister City Council voted to end the current contracts in order to put pressure on the county to pay more for the services. The action gave a 270-day notice before the agreement ends, giving the county until March 15, 2025 to pay up or find a better solution.
Hollister’s elected officials said the other jurisdictions are being subsidized at the expense of city taxpayers. For the 2023-24 fiscal year, the county paid $2.2 million for the services and San Juan Bautista paid about $260,000 into a fire budget of almost $14 million. Hollister was left to contribute the rest.
Hollister now wants the county to more than double their share from $2.2 million to $6 million in order to negotiate the canceled agreement. But county officials say they can’t afford it and are looking at other options.
At an Oct. 22 board of supervisors meeting, county consultant Don Asthton presented seven possible options to break the impasse:
- Renegotiate the Hollister contract
- Create a hybrid model made up of Cal Fire and local staff
- Form a regional fire protection district with neighboring counties
- Create a new San Benito County Fire Department
- Contract with private fire service providers
- Create a volunteer or volunteer/professional fire department hybrid
- Create a Joint Powers Authority with Hollister and other agencies
Some of the options may take between 18-24 months to establish, Ashton said—the quickest being the creation of a county fire department. But cost is the underlying issue and Ashton said that no single jurisdiction in the county can individually fund the level of service needed.
He cited El Dorado County as an example and told the San Benito board that, comparatively, the increased amount Hollister is requesting is higher than the budget that similar jurisdictions operate with.
“You guys know your budgets far better than I do, but $6 million is a lot of money for a small rural jurisdiction to pay for fire service. In El Dorado County, they have 12 or 13 special fire districts […]. The most expensive one is in the $2.5 to $3 million range for a single engine station,” Ashon said.
District 1 Supervisor Dom Zanger said at the Oct. 22 meeting that Hollister is “extorting” the county over the funding needs.
“Unfortunately, from my perspective, the way that the city is currently treating this is more closely related to extortion than a partnership. So, I hope that things can change. I hope that we really can work together,” Zanger said.
Hollister City Manager David Mirrione challenged the county’s framing of the ongoing negotiations, saying an informative document circulated to residents misrepresented the talks.
He alleged that the county had stalled by canceling multiple negotiation sessions at the last minute, and that its claims that the city is unwilling to compromise are “disingenuous.” He also questioned why the county failed to mention the ongoing, parallel negotiations exploring the creation of a fire district.
“I urge your staff to provide complete information as they set forth to educate the community, and we’re available for your town hall (meeting) as well. I trust that we can continue negotiations with the goal of fostering a long term and mutually beneficial partnership,” Mirrione said.
Hollister Fire Chief Jonathan Goulding also addressed the board, saying that San Juan Bautista has already approved an amendment to their contract with Hollister Fire. Goulding also said that the proposed $3.8 million increase for services was lower than what it actually cost the department.
Ultimately, the board of supervisors did not take any actions during the Oct. 22 meeting and negotiations are set to continue.
San Benito County officials announced a town hall meeting to discuss the fire contract negotiations set for November 7.
If you go: Fire Service Town Hall- Thursday Nov. 7 at 6:30pm at the Veterans Memorial Hall
646 San Benito St. Hollister, CA 95023
