Candidates for Congress, State Assembly, San Benito County Health Care Board and Gavilan College Board gathered before an audience to answer questions during Thursday night’s “Use Your Voice” election forum.
The San Benito County Farm Bureau and Benitolink sponsored the forum held in the city hall council chamber.
Candidates were given 30 seconds for opening statements. The candidates then answered four questions, with two-minute responses per question. Two-minute closing statements signified a shift to the next political race.
Congressional District 20 candidates went first, followed by candidates from State Assembly District 30, San Benito County Health Care Board, and Gavilan College Board.
Congressional candidates Jimmy Panetta and Casey Lucius are running to fill Congressman Sam Farr’s seat when he leaves office this November.
Panetta, the Democrat in the race, was asked what kind of presence he would have in the small district.
“It gets back to working together and making sure that you don’t just show up, but that you serve the people of this district,” Panetta said.
Panetta said he understood that the Hollister Fire Department didn’t receive a federal grant that funded 12 firefighters, worth more than $1 million annually, and that the reason was the application wasn’t detailed enough.
“There needs to be more coordination with the congressional office to make sure grants like that are done correctly and done appropriately so that when they put it forward, and it’s accepted or declined, they know exactly why. … There needs to be coordination and it should start with your congressman’s office.”
Lucius, the Republican in the race, said she would have a regular presence here.
“One of my priorities would be to make sure that I have a district office right here in Hollister and make sure that I personally have an open-door policy, and that the office is fully staffed,” Lucius said.
Lucius said that she would fight for federal funding for the district. She spoke of elevating the district to receive funding from the Department of Homeland Security in order to fix critical infrastructure.
“As you all know, we produce enough food here to feed the rest of the country, Lucius said. “We need the roads that that food can be transported on, we need the labor, we need the housing, and we need the water. The best way to assure all of those things is to see them as a network and then look at how we can drive a solution.”
State Assembly candidates Anna Caballero and Karina Cervantes Alejo approached the microphones after the congressional candidates finished their closing statements. Caballero is currently Secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, and Alejo is Watsonville vice mayor.
They answered a question about leveling the playing field for San Benito County because it faces challenges of a bedroom community.
“We have a tremendous need for workforce housing in our communities, but we end up housing other regional needs,” Caballero said. “So I want to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to be able to house our teachers, our firefighters, our police officers, as well as our farm workers that really contribute to the local economy. I want to bring housing dollars down so we can do that.”
Caballero said that economic development is done locally through land-use policies, and that she wants to bring state resources to help with county development plans.
“It’s going to take a multitude of different resources coming together and making sure we’re supporting the local decisions that get made,” Caballero said. “I want to work with the local county Board of Supervisors, as well as the cities here in this county, to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
Alejo started her response to the same question by saying there’s incredible opportunity in San Benito County.
“I know that multiple stakeholders have taken part in the question, in this particular and specific question about the economic vitality of the region,” Alejo said. “I’ve read and listened to part of that process, which includes your agricultural community, but also your emerging green energy industry as well.”
Alejo said agriculture and green energy are two key areas to increase the economic vitality of the region. She also pointed to organic farming as another point.
“Compared to other counties, San Benito County has a higher percentage of organic farming that is taking place here in the region,” Alejo said. “It’s an emerging economic engine throughout other parts of the state of California, as more people are interested in the food and wine movement. The pairing of those particular industries provides a very good economic opportunity for San Benito County.”
Caballero and Alejo gave their closing statements, which marked a shift to the race for San Benito County Health Care Board, which oversees Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. The two candidates in a contested race, Dr. Ariel Hurtado and current Board President Gordon Machado, offered their two biggest issues facing the district.
“Well the two biggest problems, they go hand in hand,” Hurtado said. “Number one is image. The image of the hospital has been degrading over the last couple of years. We all know that people don’t hold the hospital in very high esteem compared to other hospitals in the area. And that’s evident because they leave town to receive their healthcare, when it can easily be done here.”
Hurtado continued on by saying Hollister is changing.
“This is a bedroom community,” Hurtado said. “Like it or not, we’re growing; we’re getting workers from the Bay Area … They’re bringing their families. It’s a time of change and if we cannot get these people to come into our hospital at this time, then we’re never going to get them.”
Hurtado ended by saying he can use his experience as a doctor who has worked in 12 hospitals to improve Hazel Hawkins.
Machado responded to the same question.
“I’m certain that we’re at odds,” Machado said. “In the last 10 years, as I mentioned earlier, the hospital has turned around completely. I have to agree with Ariel besides that, within our community, that feeling was very true. But the feelings I have received in the last year, two or three years now, are the reverse of that. People are very proud of what we have there.”
Machado brought up the recent negotiations between Hazel Hawkins and the nurses union, and how he gives tours of the hospital so people can see internal operations. He continued on to praise technology used in the hospital.
“We have a lot of equipment at Hazel Hawkins Hospital that people don’t realize that in the Central Coast, high tech is there,” Machado said. “So it’s a matter of educating the public on what is there.”
The night closed with Gavilan College Board of Trustees candidates Danielle Davenport and Rachel Perez. Davenport is an advisor to tech startups, and Perez is a community college consultant.
They were asked how the connection between Gavilan College and San Benito County could be strengthened.
“I understand that community relations need to be mended,” Davenport said. “I understand that there’s a perception, and perception is reality. Because if you hear something, be it from your friends or your family, it becomes something you believe. So we really need to step back and reassess that and make sure that we’re very crisp and clear in our communication as trustees and as we represent the school.”
Davenport said the school and the community need to work together based on realistic goals and objectives.
“We do need to create some footprint in San Benito to make sure that everyone can be successful. So bridging that is really about bringing the diverse population together and coming up with a strategic plan with all of those members present, and making sure that everyone’s at that table to develop that.”
Perez responded to the same question.
“As I’ve traveled around and talked with people here in San Benito County, I’m actually getting an earful in terms of what they would like to get from Gavilan College,” Perez said. “One of the things is better outreach programs so that we are able to articulate what kinds of programs we have for students.”
Perez continued on and said that there needs to be outreach to the Latino population here.
“We need to make sure that there’s outreach to those populations so that they know there’s classes and things for them also, in terms of our non-credit program that’s available for them to learn to speak English, take vocational ESL programs, work on their GED, do citizenship, so that we outreach and do a better job of articulating what our specific programs are,” she said.
