HOLLISTER
The new year brings many opportunities for change and new goals for the county, supervisors told the Free Lance this week.
The Free Lance asked each supervisor about his or her goals for the year and how they might go about accomplishing them. The following are their responses:
Newly elected Supervisor Margie Barrios plans to hit the ground running this year, she said. Barrios already has attended the California State Association of Counties meeting in San Diego in December and has been in attendance at many board meetings in the past couple of months. The experience in San Diego was “very rewarding for me,” Barrios said.
Having already immersed herself with the board, Barrios said she wants to set up a partnership among the city, county and the schools.
“The community needs to keep the vitality going. In times like this, it’s very easy to lose this vitality,” she said.
Barrios added that all three entities serve the same population and by working together, all residents benefit. She believes it will help San Benito County residents become “united as a community” through the joining of resources and expanded community development.
Her second goal is to become one of the first graduates of the CSAC institute consisting of 30 hours of classes starting in December and continuing on into February and April – while focusing on county governance, state happenings, budgets, planning, land use and many other topics pertinent to the issues facing the board, said Barrios.
“I want to be a more effective board member,” she said.
Barrios noted that economic development was a focus of her platform when running for office and that she continues to view it as a high priority.
“The county has made an effort to hire an economic development person,” Barrios said of the new Economic Development Corp. director Nancy Martin. “This position should help bring life to the community and give the economic competitiveness to the county.”
Much like Barrios, Supervisor Pat Loe said issues surrounding the economy are “extremely important.” The first step in deciding what to do next is for the state to get a budget approved so the board can start looking at matters such as foreclosures and job losses. She would also like to continue working on the gang issues in the city and county.
She said the best way to accomplish all of these goals is to examine where money will be headed.
“We have to weigh all the money we spend against our goals,” she said. “We need to come up with goals and put our budget money where it’s needed. The board needs clear direction on where to put the money.”
Supervisor Anthony Botelho also has a number of goals as a supervisor for 2009.
“Everyone in county and local government feels that 2009 is going to be difficult to maintain services due to the financial crisis we are all dealing with,” he said.
Similar to Loe, Botelho said projects will be prioritized and the county must “find ways to be efficient as we can with the funds that we have.”
One of the ways he said the county can best accomplish this is through a streamlined planning process. He said the county needs to “continue ways to streamline the planning process – economic and job development.”
“And continue to do a better job to make it easier for businesses to locate here,” he said.
He also hopes to continue working with the City of Hollister, he said, to “jointly provide services and avoid duplications” to “help run the city and county efficiently.”
One of the major goals for Supervisor Reb Monaco is to continue progress with the parks and recreation commission, with which he is heavily involved.
“I want to continue the cooperation with the city and continue with the development of our parks commission,” he said.
He also would like to see the major vacancies currently open, for public works director and county counsel, filled as soon as possible.
“We’ve already started to fill the positions with the consultant,” Monaco said.
Along with the parks and recreation commission and filling county positions, Monaco said “there are lots of other issues – the economy is a big one.”
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz, much like his fellow board members, would like to encourage economic development.
“I want to make sure the economy gets better – that’s my No. 1 goal,” he said. “Through job creation, economic opportunities – stimulate the local economy.”
His other goal is that the board continues to work together to meet the expectations and goals of the community.
“This board will continue to grow and work together. I hope we continue to make diligent and aggressive decisions to meet the goals of the community,” he said.
