Tag: marty richman

Although voters will make the decision on the November ballot for an extension to the 1 percent sales tax, the city’s first at-large mayor – if the measure passes – would be tasked with leading council members in deciding how to best spend the $3.2 million annually.

The race for Hollister history has begun.

Two issues were brought out in the recent Free Lance article regarding my trip to China in July 2011. The first issue deals with my accepting travel expense for my wife and the second issue is my relationship with Clear Spot Inc.

Councilman Doug Emerson on Wednesday admitted he violated state ethics rules and amended a filing with the city to reflect that he reimbursed half of $4,650 he reported receiving from a solar company for his July 2011 trip to China.

Councilman Doug Emerson in July 2011 accepted $4,650 for a trip to China – and apparently exceeded the state’s gift limit for elected officials – from a private solar company that requested he speak at a seminar to help recruit investors for California projects.

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.

I started writing a regular opinion column for the Hollister Free Lance four and a half years ago, in December 2007. Counting those columns, opinion pieces and analyses, I’ve certainly produced more than 200 articles. I am now embarking on a new course – running for the office of mayor in the City of Hollister.

Panelists answered the question: Do you believe President Obama's executive order – granting work permits to certain, young illegal immigrants – will take away jobs from American citizens or legal residents?

I was watching the terrific series “Moon Machines” on the Science Channel. It’s about the Apollo Program that put man on the Moon July 20, 1969. Much was human interest – vignettes showing who did it and how. They ranged from engineers at MIT designing inertial guidance systems, to the “LOL” system of computer programming. LOL stood for the “Little Old Ladies,” the operators, almost all mature women, who physically wove wires and doughnut-shaped magnets to program computer memory. The show eventually got to the Saturn V, the 6.2-million-pound, 363-foot high, 3 million part, behemoth multi-staged rocket system used to propel Apollo. As they ran the launch films, I found myself talking to the TV – feeling the same feelings and saying the same thing I said during launches more than 40 years ago. “Go baby, go!”

On Tuesday, the Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, survived the much-watched recall election initiated by the state’s public employees. Closer to home the City of San Jose overwhelmingly approved pension reform, Measure B, that gives current city workers "the option of switching to a lower pension or staying in the current plan and paying off pension debt with annual contribution increases" - the city was sued immediately thereafter. While many voters, including me, support serious public pension reform, it is a mistake to blame the entire problem on the unions; doing so would let the other actors - the employees, the elected officials, and ultimately the public - off the hook.