Pauline Valdivia
Born and reared in San Benito County, Councilwoman Pauline
Valdivia is married, with three children and five
grandchildren.
Pauline Valdivia

Born and reared in San Benito County, Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia is married, with three children and five grandchildren.

Though she does not have a college degree, she has taken many college-level courses. She is the executive director for Jovenes Antaño, a non-profit agency charged with caring for the elderly and the disabled, where she has worked for slightly more than 28 years.

In this role and in her duties as a Councilwoman, Valdivia says she has long been involved in community issues. The honors bestowed her include attending a White House conference on aging at the request of Rep. Sam Farr, and being selected as woman of the year by the Chamber of Commerce.

Valdivia said she ran for the City Council four years ago to make a difference, and she believes there’s a lot of “unfinished business” she want to take care of: the sewer system, a new fire station, better water quality.

Randy Pfeifer

Randy Pfeifer is a relative newcomer to Hollister and politics, but he said that’s good because he doesn’t owe anyone any favors. Born at a naval hospital in Oakland, the 51-year-old Pfeifer grew up in Fremont, and remembers when it was orchards.

Pfeifer attended community college, has one grown daughter and two younger daughters in Hollister schools. Pfeifer moved his wife and family here three and a half years ago. Pfeifer originally worked as a psychiatric technician at Agnews State Hospital, then went back to school for a nursing degree and was trained in drug and alcohol counseling.

He now runs the nursing clinic at the Holden and James Boys Ranches in Morgan Hill, a program for juveniles on probation. Pfeifer was only candidate to bring a flier what he stands for, which shows a picture of him with his family and more than a dozen bullet points, including better recreation activities combined with gang prevention in addition to the usual staple of issues pushed by the other candidates such as Highway 25 improvements and a more effective sewer system. Pfeifer said he has taken his campaign door to door.

Henry Sumaya

Born in the Imperial Valley and raised in the San Joaquin Valley, Henry Sumaya came from a migrant family and worked in the fields as a kid. He moved to Hollister with his wife in 1957. He served in the National Guard Army Reserve for eight years.

At 21, he registered to vote and became involved with his brother, John, in politics. A trucking dispatcher, Sumaya soon became involved in job training with the Department of Employment, one of several volunteer positions he said he has held over the years in connection with the DOE and the Department of Labor. He has also worked in programs to bring food stamps to farm workers.

Robert “Robbie” Scattini

Born in San Jose, Robert Scattini has been in San Benito County since the age of 3. After graduating from San Benito High School, he joined the army for two years, then became a deputy sheriff in 1961. He has been in law enforcement in one capacity or another since then. He moved onto the California Highway Patrol in 1966 and left in 1983 after being elected Sheriff of San Benito County, a position he held until 1987. After a stint as head of security at an air force base, he was appointed to the Constable/Marshal’s Office in 1988, and has been elected to that position from that time on. He intends to keep this position if he is elected to the council.

A graduate from Gavilan, he went on to graduate from Sacramento State with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. At 62 he is married with a son and two stepchildren. He has been a member of the Elks Club for 28 years and has been involved with the Chamber Of Commerce. He also taught at traffic school in the county at one time.

Margaret “Peggy” Corrales

Councilwoman Peggy Corrales moved to San Benito County in 1960.

Raised in a migrant worker family, Corrales was born in the Imperial Valley and is a graduate of Gavilan College and San Jose State University. A widow, Corrales has one grown son. Her first job was a lab technician at Gilroy Foods. She worked for Headstart for five years, did two years with Growth and Opportunity, which is a day-care type facility and at the migrant worker camp in Gilroy. She now is a senior pysch technician at Agnews State Mental Hospital. She was elected to the Hollister Council four years ago.

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A staff member wrote, edited or posted this article, which may include information provided by one or more third parties.

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