District 2
The city never has been in worse shape. There’s a
state-mandated, indefinite building moratorium that bans even new
job-creating industry, a faulty sewage system and a controversial
plan for replacing it on the table, the council can’t get along,
staff seems to dictate council decisions rather than the other way
around, the city manager is leaving, etc.
District 2
The city never has been in worse shape. There’s a state-mandated, indefinite building moratorium that bans even new job-creating industry, a faulty sewage system and a controversial plan for replacing it on the table, the council can’t get along, staff seems to dictate council decisions rather than the other way around, the city manager is leaving, etc.
For the challenger: Why are you the right person to solve these problems?
Or for incumbent: In light of all of this, why should voters reelect you and how will you address these problems?
Scattini: If I’m going to sit up there and make decisions about the sewer plant, about the airport, about the streets in the City of Hollister, I want to know a little bit about what (staff’s) job entails before I make a decision. I think the problem is the city council is really shooting from the hip. They don’t have the background or knowledge of that particular agency. If I make a decision, I know it’s going to affect someone down the line and I want to make sure I’m shooting at the right target.
Corrales: First of all, some of the issues as far as the housing and the amount of housing were already there when Pauline and I got elected. The sewage has been a problem for a longtime. My husband and I used to go to meetings about it in the early 80s. One of the things that I felt I did when I came in was that we started saying ‘Let’s concentrate on this sewer problem,’ and of course everything started falling apart at that particular time through no fault of, you know, it was just a matter of it was going to happen. Nothing had been done to our sewer plant in years. As far as George, I had forgotten about George.
Why do you want to run and what makes you qualified to serve?
Scattini: The reason is I see a lot of problems that are not being addressed. We need to stop what’s going on now and put the brakes on. I’m from here, I know the quality of life is here in Hollister, I know what it used to be. I’ve been involved in the community as a citizen and as a concerned citizen.
Corrales: I think I represent my district. A high percentage of them have worked in the fields and continue to work in the fields. They feel comfortable coming to me in regards to a lot of things. These past four years I’ve learned a lot. Of all the council members who have been there previously, I belong to more than half of any regional kind of agency. I belong to the League of Cities, of the Monterey district. I was a treasurer for two years and currently am their vice chair. I’m also in AMBAG, I’m in COG, I’m also in LAFCO.
City government is the county’s second-biggest industry. The council is like a Board of Directors, a position that demands leadership skills, communication skills, intelligence and a vision for the future. Tell us how you meet these qualifications, what your vision is and how we get there.
Scattini: My vision of Hollister is like I said, trying to bring back the quality of life that we had in the earlier years. I know it will never be the same, but at least address these issues that affect all of us: water, sewage – animal control is another big problem, the facility that they work in down there. We need to go back and address these issues and put them in chronological order and try to stay focused on the issues that affect the people. And listen to the people.
Corrales: I think I just answered it, because I’ve been involved in all the other agencies.
Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, as well as San Benito County and the county Water District, are angry that they were not consulted before Hollister’s proposed sewage treatment plan was designed, yet the plant will have wide-ranging environmental impacts. It was created and approved without input from the countywide Groundwater Management Plan. Some agencies think that Hollister is trying to solve its problems with a quick, short-term fix without planning for the future.
For the challenger: Please say whether you think the current plan is adequate and how it can be improved.
Scattini: I think we should have talked to Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. I think we should have had public hearings on it in the city. Let the people have input on it, especially the farmers, the people down creek.
For the incumbent: Why do you think the current plan you voted for is adequate?
Corrales: I don’t really know how to answer those questions because I’m not on the water committee. I know that they’ve had some input. I find it very, very hard to believe that some of their input was not taken into consideration. But it could be true, I mean I couldn’t say, because I don’t go to those meetings.
For incumbent: You are a part of a divisive city council that has put the city in a position in which all construction and economic development is at a state-mandated standstill indefinitely. As the ultimate supervisors of the city workforce, you have neglected to foresee the problems that now exist. Why should citizens in your district vote for you?
Corrales: What do you mean by divisive? You know, I’m not even going to answer that question. I think Pauline pretty much stated how we felt about all that and that’s something I chose not to discuss, because those are internal problems.
Since an indefinite, state-ordered moratorium has been enacted on all construction – even jobs – what should be the priorities of the Hollister City Council? How can the city thrive without an expanding tax base?
Scattini: For some of these problems you might have to put them to a vote. I would at least have the city manager give monthly reports on the sewage problem, and other issues facing Hollister, but particularly the sewage, because that’s a block in the roadway. We’re not going to move on until we get that solved.
Corrales: New business does bring revenue into town, that is a fact. But we cannot issue permits, not even for homes and businesses and that’s where we’re at. We have to take care of the No. 1 priority right now and that is the sewage.
Please give us an example of an instance in which you have used good common sense in your life to solve a problem.
Scattini: I solve problems every day in my job in the Marshal’s office. I mean there’s so many of them. Every day, there’s a problem that I need to solve.
Corrales: When we discovered that my husband was very ill and had a short period of time to live we were faced with quite a few problems at that time. One of them was whether we should purchase a newer home or stay where we were at. I was also offered a better position at Agnew and because of his illness and because of personal things I had to chose not to take that promotion. And I don’t feel any regret, because I was offered it again and again and I turned it down.
If elected, what are your priorities?
Scattini: Again, I think we need to put into perspective the problems that are really facing Hollister. That’s the sewage, the water – also the communication, I think that’s one thing that’s really lacking up there right now between the Board of Supervisors and the City of Hollister. I would hope that I could be a buffer between them. I honestly feel I can work with all of them.
Corrales: No. 1, seek a completion of a sewage plant in the stages of the phases without having to get penalized. The other one, and it’s really a sad thing because we really don’t know how we’re going to do this, is this city really needs a new fire department. You’re supposed to have a five minute range by the time the alarm gets set and the fire engine get to wherever the fire incident is happening.
Employees at the Wal-Mart in Gilroy have been telling customers from
Hollister that a Wal-Mart is coming to Hollister. Many see the arrival of a Wal-Mart in a small town as a deathblow to local businesses and the end of downtown as we know it. If Wal-Mart were to come before the city council to seek approval to build in Hollister would you support it?
Scattini: I don’t know where they got their information. We’ve got Target here and it hasn’t been a deathblow. If it would come to Hollister I honestly don’t feel it would be a deathblow to the people of Hollister.
Corrales: I couldn’t answer that, because I’ve never heard of it.
The City of Hollister is a decade behind in its efforts to provide adequate parkland and open space for current and future residents. Do you think recreation facilities are part of an adequate infrastructure?
Scattini: As far as a decade behind, I don’t know where they got their information from, because I can tell you right now there’s all kinds of parks in Hollister. As far as there being a shortage of parks, I don’t personally see that problem.
Corrales: Oh yeah. People want larger parks where they can go and have football and baseball, and all the other parks we’ve put in do not accommodate those sports.
Who backs your campaign?
Scattini: I’ll tell you who backs my campaign. It’s just ordinary people.
Corrales: Who backs it? Myself.
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