Hollister
– The city’s sample ballots for the Nov. 7 election are going to
be a lot thicker than expected – and with those extra pages comes
an extra $55,000 in printing costs.
Hollister – The city’s sample ballots for the Nov. 7 election are going to be a lot thicker than expected – and with those extra pages comes an extra $55,000 in printing costs.
City Clerk Geri Johnson requested that the sample ballots include the full text of Measure S in English and Spanish, a move that – if approved today by the San Benito County Board of Supervisors – will add more than 100 pages to the document and nearly double the cost of what was initially a $60,000 contract between the county and K&H Integrated Print Solutions.
“I don’t really even consider it a decision,” Johnson said. “The public has to see the information.”
Johnson added that she submitted her initial budget to the county in the spring, before she knew such a lengthy measure would be on the ballot. The county will eventually bill Hollister for the additional printing costs.
County Registrar of Voters John Hodges said he was surprised by the request to print the full measure.
“Normally, if any voter wanted to see the text, we would just produce the facsimile for them,” he said. “This is the first time something like this has happened since I became the registrar of voters in 1983. But we just do what we’re told.”
Johnson said the city’s sample ballots will include the full text of every measure up for a vote.
Measure S is sponsored by developer Del Webb, which hopes to build a nearby retirement community that could house as many as 4,400 homes. If passed, the measure will amend the city’s general plan to redesignate 1,300 acres of agricultural land near the municipal airport as a “mixed use residential community.” When the city’s moratorium on development is lifted, this land would be exempt from the annual 244-unit limit on Measure U; instead, Del Webb could be issued up to 650 building permits a year.
Annette Giacomazzi, campaign manager for the Yes-on-S campaign, said she didn’t agree with Johnson’s decision.
“I’m not aware of any city in the state of California ever printing the entire text of any measure like this,” Giacomazzi said. “It doesn’t make any fiscal sense. Any voter can pick up the measure – a public document – at City Hall.”
Gordon Machado, head of the anti-Measure S campaign, said he hadn’t heard of the additional costs, but he supported printing the full measure.
“I don’t know how many people will actually read it, but you should be entitled to read the whole thing,” he said.
Machado added that he was surprised Del Webb wasn’t paying for the extra printing costs.
“There’s something wrong there somewhere,” he said.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831–637–5566, ext. 330 or ah*@fr***********.com.
