Council approves measure in 3-2 vote
Hollister City Council members approved reinstatement of parking
enforcement downtown in a 3-2 vote Monday after supporters touted
its positive impact on businesses and detractors criticized the
proposal’s timing and whether it might be a financial risk.
Council approves measure in 3-2 vote
Hollister City Council members approved reinstatement of parking enforcement downtown in a 3-2 vote Monday after supporters touted its positive impact on businesses and detractors criticized the proposal’s timing and whether it might be a financial risk.
Council members’ votes came after each shared views and two business owners spoke in favor of reviving parking enforcement, while hiring a part-time community services officer and purchasing a Jeep Wrangler as the employee’s vehicle. Council members Doug Emerson, Victor Gomez and Eugenia Sanchez supported the changes, while members Pauline Valdivia and Ray Friend voted against it.
“I know if you have that movement downtown, it will have an effect on businesses,” Councilman Victor Gomez said.
Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia, however, noted how there were just two business owners supporting the two measures at the meeting while pronouncing, “Where are the merchants?” She said just one person “came forward” prior to the decision to show support for reviving the fines.
A bigger concern in her district, she said, is the rise of gang violence.
“That’s one of the things we really promised the folks in the community [with Measure T’s passage] is for us to have more patrol officers so we can prevent some of this stuff,” Valdivia said.
Officials estimate the city will lose about $12,700 in the first year, but that Hollister will net $15,270 in the second year – which amounts to a total of $2,600 in additional income during that time, according to a staff report. Police Chief Jeff Miller also noted how the new Jeep Wrangler should last at least five years, which means the projected net gain would increase in years three through five.
As part of the reinstatement, the fines would increase for various violations. The fine for the most common one, parking too long in a spot with a two-hour time limit, would go from $20 to $35.
The two council members opposing the fines expressed concern about the budget – noting how the figures are mere projections – and requested the city wait until officials examine the larger slate of finances in upcoming hearings.
“I just have a problem with revenue that we don’t know if we’re going to capture,” Councilman Ray Friend said at the meeting, “and we know we’re going to have to spend the hard dollars to even try and capture it. It’s money we could have spent somewhere else better.”
Gomez criticized opponents who cite the risk factor by saying “some people don’t understand the concept.”
“Yes, it’s definitely risky,” Gomez said. “There’s things that are more risky. There’s things that are going to come before the board and are going to be even more risky, and some of us are going to say, ‘Go ahead and do it.'”
He believes it will pay for itself in two years.
“In two years, if you want to give me a call and laugh at me, do it,” he said. “I’ll give you my phone number.”
Councilman Doug Emerson also feels confident the endeavor will operate in the black or remain cost neutral.
“These numbers could be optimistic, but the major expense here is a one-time expense for a vehicle,” he said.
Emerson also noted how the proposal came from the Hollister Downtown Association.
“I think we have a responsibility to the community when these organizations come to us and when it makes sense financially, and to me it does,” he said.
HDA President Jerry Muenzer, owner of Muenzer’s Cyclery and Sports Center, was among the public speakers at the meeting and contended that foregoing the parking fines has resulted in “money out of merchants’ pockets.”
He apologized to the council for the proposal’s timing, while noting the HDA had been working on it with the police chief for about a year.
“When a customer cannot get close to my front door or my back door, they tend not to come,” he said.
Another business owner, Gordon Machado from Rustic Turtle, addressed concerns about the finances by asserting “something that’s budgeted neutral seems good to me.”
Machado recalled to the council how a group of merchants in 1977 bought the parking lot at Sixth and East streets and dedicated it to the city as a “catalyst that brought in seven parking lots downtown.”
Muenzer said the business owners accepted assessments to fund the lots with an understanding the city would maintain them.
“Part of that maintaining is the enforcement of parking,” he said.
Gomez pointed out that some other neighboring cities already enforce parking.
“Other cities have parking enforcement,” he said. “Should we call them and tell them, ‘Hey, stop doing it because we’re not doing it in Hollister?'”
Mayor Eugenia Sanchez, meanwhile, capped the discussion and said she hears both sides.
“Maybe there’s no right or wrong answer,” she said. “It was brought to us. It is going to be cost neutral. In the long run, it’s going to help our businesses downtown.”
Parking enforcement costs
Costs related to the part-time officer, including the vehicle, are estimated to total $54,670 in the first year, according to a city council staff report. Officials estimate the city in the first year would gain $42,000 in revenue based on prior citation numbers. In the second year, the city projects a total net gain of nearly $16,000.
Meeting comments
“It came from a recognized organization we’ve been working with that rep’resents the business owners in the city … I think we have a responsibility to the community when these organizations come to us and when it makes sense financially, and to me it does.”
– Councilman Doug Emerson
“Maybe after August we will know more financially where the city stands. Right now, I couldn’t support this.”
– Councilman Ray Friend
“We still have 10 positions out there that we haven’t dealt with. We haven’t gone to the budget process to see where we’re at.”
– Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia
“In two years, if you want to give me a call and laugh at me, do it. I’ll give you my phone number.”
– Councilman Victor Gomez
“Projections? I think your annual budget is one big projection.”
– Business owner Gordon Machado
“We bought those parking lots with the understanding that you as a city council would maintain them. Part of that maintaining is the enforcement of the parking.”
– Business owner Jerry Muenzer
