Three Hollister councilmen Monday announced definitive runs for office in November, while another one said he was "85 percent" sure he will seek another term.
Helping Hands of San Benito County, a new program to offer permanent housing to 11 to 13 individuals or families who have experienced homelessness, needs its own helping hand from property owners in Hollister.
The only clarity out of the recent debate on San Benito County's contracted fire service is that officials involved with the decision did a poor job of explaining the proposed arrangements from Calfire and Hollister.
City Councilman Doug Emerson contends that the brother of Supervisor Robert Rivas threatened to have his sibling reverse a vote for a $3.4 million fire contract if the Hollister official did not prompt a cancellation to San Juan Bautista’s recent town hall meeting over the proposed merger.
Hollister Councilman Doug Emerson has alleged that he and a city employee were threatened by political consultant Rick Rivas that his brother, Supervisor Robert Rivas, might flip his vote and oppose a $1.1 million annual fire contract with the city unless Emerson did a political favor – namely, prompt cancellation of a San Juan town hall meeting held in April over the matter.
The Hollister City Council voted 4-1 on Tuesday to decline moving ahead on a possible contract-based merger between the police department and San Benito County Sheriff's Office.
Days after the California State Supreme Court ruled that the legislature has the right to abolish redevelopment agencies but cannot require cities to make a payment to keep the agencies open, Hollister city officials are looking into the next step they need to take for life without an RDA while remaining hopeful that the legislature may come up with a last-minute reprieve.