Anthony Botelho believes San Benito County’s at a
”
crossroads
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on issues ranging from planning future developments to how the
public perceives the Board of Supervisors’ level of
professionalism.
Hollister – Anthony Botelho believes San Benito County’s at a “crossroads” on issues ranging from planning future developments to how the public perceives the Board of Supervisors’ level of professionalism.
Botelho, a 43-year-old apple orchardist from San Juan Bautista, is a staunch supporter of personal property rights. And he showed it in his fight to defeat Measure G on the March ballot, a campaign that succeeded by a 69 to 31 percent vote of the public.
He wants to be the next District 2 supervisor, he said, so he can help the county set forth a longer-range plan for growth. He said he strives to preserve the county’s historical heritage and open space.
Botelho also said he supports calming traffic congestion, especially that on Highway 156 that runs through a large portion of his district. And he believes San Benito County hasn’t promoted enough economic development.
He said he’s better for the board than his opponent, Anthony Freitas, because he has more experience and involvement in the community. He touted his standing as a Farm Bureau director and former president, along with his participation with several other organizations and his involvement with local schools.
Growth
Botelho, once a planning commissioner under former Supervisor Richard Place, believes the county must draft a complete general plan revision. A general plan is a state-required blueprint outlining how a county wants to grow. San Benito County has never done a full revision, something the city of Hollister recently completed.
“It was apparent that this county was piecemealing and doing reactionary planning for a long time,” Botelho said. “It really needs to be a top to bottom revision.”
Botelho, who owns 20 acres of farmland in the San Juan Valley, fought Measure G because it would have changed zoning on properties such as his own to highly restrict housing construction.
He thinks even the current zoning on many agricultural properties – which allows for one housing unit per five acres – is too stringent. Botelho said there should be different standards for small and large development proposals.
“I’m a property rights guy,” he said. “I think there should be a difference between property rights and development rights. I think we need to evaluate them separately.”
He suggested other ways of preventing sprawl on current farmland, such as placing deed restrictions on properties.
He also said he supports setting up a transfer of development credits (TDC) program, which serves to keep most residential growth in areas that are already densely populated, such as in Hollister limits.
Economic development
Botelho said the county hasn’t supported businesses recruitment enough in recent years. A general plan revision may solve part of that problem because such a planning document establishes specific areas for commercial and industrial growth.
“We haven’t exactly been progressive in trying to attract living wage types of businesses and jobs here, and that needs to be taken care of.”
Botelho said he supports more manufacturing industry, such as West Marine, which moved into a Hollister business park a couple of years ago. He also favors more high-tech business development.
“Instead of driving out of town (to go to work), let’s do it here.”
However, he’s against brining in more warehousing and distribution types of industry. And he has publicly opposed a proposed Indian casino off Highway 25. He stated three reasons for his opposition to a casino.
He has problems with Indian sovereignty, which allows tribes to circumvent the normal approval process. The tribe and its investors have yet to say how they plan to offset potential negative impacts, such as crime and traffic congestion. And Botelho believes his district’s residents overwhelmingly oppose it.
“The community, for the most part, is opposing this casino or is very, very luke warm to it,” he said. “And I want to reflect that.”
The budget
Expanding the tax base through economic development is one way Botelho believes San Benito County can solve its budget woes. The county had to make up for a $4 million shortfall in the 2004-05 budget by cutting departments’ funding and by pulling millions of dollars from shrinking reserve funds.
But Botelho also said the county hasn’t been frugal enough in its day-to-day expenses, either. He particularly pointed out San Benito’s use of private lawyers and nearly $3 million paid to them over the past four years for an array of civil lawsuits.
“If our counsel can’t handle a certain situation, then maybe we should try to look for ways they can in house,” he said.
Ethics in government
Botelho said the new board will bring a fresh attitude and one that’s more conscious of the public’s desires.
“We have to get back to listening to the public and fulfilling their wishes,” he said.
He said some members of the current board “possibly” have been supervisors for too long. The three departing supervisors – Bob Cruz, Ruth Kesler and Richard Scagliotti – have a combined 40 years on the board.
He said the board handles too much business in closed session, the portion of meetings that can be conducted behind closed doors if the subject matters fall under certain categories, such as personnel issues.
He also said supervisors often don’t explain their reasoning for controversial decisions, which he believes they should do.
“I think people are very discouraged by the lack of professionalism,” he said. “And they would like to see the board deal with more of the issues rather than personalities and vindictiveness that is so obvious at every single meeting. It’s just embarrassing.”
Agriculture
Botelho said the county has done a good job of supporting the local farming industry. As an example, he said San Benito County has allowed Natural Selections and Pride of San Juan flourish. Both are among the county’s largest employers.
“The county is doing its part to maintain the agriculture industry,” he said. “We need to just assure the industry that we have a high quality of water.”
Local farmers are more affected by national issues, he said, such as the proliferation of imported crops from overseas.
“Agriculture will take care of itself as long as it’s viable,” he said.
