It never should have been in doubt, but CalFire’s plans to build a new air-attack base on 12 acres at the Hollister Municipal Airport are once again included in the airport layout plan under review by officials.
The reason it had been in question three weeks ago was Airport Manager Bill Gere’s inexcusable decision to remove the CalFire base from the plan before it went to the Hollister City Council – just after the airport advisory commission had approved a recommendation to include it.
After Gere had done so, the city council delayed an approval to the layout plan so that officials could iron out differences between the document OK’d by the advisory commission and the one that found its way to council members.
There are really two issues here. One, Hollister must do everything it can to keep the state’s air-attack base local, and a new facility is necessary to achieve that.
And two, the airport manager made a poor judgment when he swapped out the advisory commission’s inclusion of the air-attack base between the time of the recommendation’s approval and the council’s consideration of the plan.
In doing so, Gere far surpassed his authority as a city staff member, and his actions were counterproductive to the democratic process in place and the very reason advisory panel’s are established at every level of government.
City officials rightfully delayed the decision while questioning and criticizing Gere’s move.
Former airport manager and current advisory commission member Allen Ritter called Gere’s behavior inappropriate and noted that he, as airport manager, never would have made such a change after an approval. City Manager Clint Quilter was a bit more restrained in his remarks, but did say, “The layout plan presented to the city council was different from the one presented to the airport commission, and that’s a problem.”
It is a problem, not only because it violated part of an established system for making representative decisions, but also because it would set a bad precedent and confuse the process if allowed.
Gere defended his actions, downplaying the significance. He acknowledged changing the plan before it got to the council, but called the action “not substantial.”
He also told Free Lance reporter Anthony Ha that many of the people speaking out against him at a Dec. 17 council meeting were protecting “specific, selfish interests” rather than focusing on welfare of the airport as a whole.
We strongly disagree that erasing CalFire from the layout plan was “not substantial.” And whether speakers at a public meeting had their own interests in mind while criticizing a public official doesn’t matter. That type of dialogue – open, public, for the most part unrestrained – is what makes the democratic process work.
