Many who pushed for the success of Measure T are still
celebrating their recent victory, but Hollister resident and
retired Gavilan teacher Tony Ruiz is already planning for the next
election.
Many who pushed for the success of Measure T are still celebrating their recent victory, but Hollister resident and retired Gavilan teacher Tony Ruiz is already planning for the next election.
Measure T, which increased the local sales tax from 7.25 percent to 8.25 percent, was just the first in a series of steps needed to revitalize the city and its downtown, Ruiz said. Now Hollister voters must create an at-large mayoral position and exempt downtown from Measure U’s 244-unit annual growth cap, he said.
Voters would have to approve both changes, and Ruiz’s New Urban Independent Research Group wants that vote to happen soon.
“We’re looking at the June primary,” Ruiz said.
Hollister City Council members are appointed by the rest of the council to serve as mayor for one year at a time, and the role is largely ceremonial. In most surrounding communities, including Gilroy and Salinas, the mayor is elected directly by the whole town.
If the mayor is elected by only one district and serves for just one year, Ruiz wondered, “How can you claim to speak for the city?”
Research group member Gordon Machado, a former mayor, agreed it’s time for the city to elect “a single figurehead.”
“A lot of times people say, ‘Who’s the mayor now?'” Machado said. “By the time people recognize who the mayor is, his term is almost up.”
The research group plans to discuss a possible growth-cap exemption with the planning department, and then take both ideas to the council to place on the ballot. Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia said the proposals could be good for the city. But they won’t be a priority until the council figures out how to spend the additional revenue created by Measure T, she said.
“Right now, the measure has passed and our faith has been restored,” Valdivia said. “We need to get back on track and do what we said we’d do.”
Hollister will need an at-large mayor eventually, but it might not happen for a while, Valdivia said.
“It’s going to depend on the funding because that’s going to cost money,” she said.
The mayor could be paid as a full-time or part-time employee depending on the city’s needs and finances, Ruiz said.
Architect and Planning Commissioner David Huboi said the downtown Measure U exemption would be very important as the city grows because it would allow Hollister to build mixed-use housing and retail. Downtown retail won’t flourish until there are enough shoppers living in the neighborhood, Huboi said.
“The vision of the downtown is for the retail and the residential to fuel each other,” he said. “They go hand in hand.”
Growth is often a controversial topic in San Benito County, but Ruiz said locals are ready to support development, if it’s planned correctly.
“Like the rest of the country, we are feeling responsible for the next generation,” he said.
