The “Valley of Hearts Delight” existed as San Jose’s springtime produced a breathtaking vista of thousands of acres of fruit trees bursting alive in pink and white blossoms.
San Jose took a detour. Do we want Hollister to take that detour? Those who are trying to recall a winning supervisor want this detour.
We have already seen what the detour produces: Instead of apricot trees warming in the sun, cars heat roads. Instead of hungry ground supporting prune trees, dead ground supports houses. Once ground is covered by asphalt and houses, it loses its ability to ever again grow food for us and our animals.
This is why this transformation is critical. There is no going back.
Towns and cities can be rebuilt but agriculture cannot. Thousands of acres of fruit trees grew in San Jose. Dozens of canneries produced jobs and the economy by inventing canned fruit such as “Fruit Cocktail,” a still popular product of peaches, pears and grapes red-dotted by maraschino cherries.
World War Two produced the invention of aerospace industries like Lockheed. The invention of semiconductor chips introduced the computer and internet industries. Santa Clara Valley fruit trees were forgotten and gone forever. Famously, San Jose is now known as “Silicon Valley.”
Fruit trees can still be enjoyed here on Fairview and Hillcrest roads but are threatened. Do we want our town to evolve into another San Jose?
Different choices can be made. Affordable houses, not mansions, can be built inside Hollister city limits. Sprawl is a bad idea. Supervisors like Kosmicki, Velazquez and Zanger support Hollister over developers and builders who do not care for the vital job producing industry that gives foundation to our economy.
We must not allow this theft to continue. This recall election is a moneyed theft of voter respect. Realize Hollister is at a critical transformation and could fall off the cliff of sustainable existence.
Mary Zanger
Hollister
