The Hollister City Council race could see both incumbents ousted as a pair of slow growth candidates take the lead in the Nov. 5 District 1 and District 4 contests.
Newcomer Rudy Picha has a commanding lead over current District 1 council member Rick Perez with 70.14% of the vote so far over Perez’s 29.86 percent. Picha is a local school teacher who ran on a slow growth platform set on curbing residential development and infrastructure improvements.
“I will say that I am surprised. I thought that we were going to be a little bit more neck and neck. I think my messaging was pretty good,” Picha said in a phone interview.
The District 4 race is too close to call yet, as challenger Priscilla De Anda is edging out incumbent Tim Burns with 50.64% of the vote over his 49.36%. As of Wednesday afternoon, only 34.45% of the eligible voters’ ballots had been counted.
De Anda also ran on slow growth, and coupled with Roxanne Stephens’ projected win over incumbent Mia Casey for the Hollister mayor’s seat, the three victories would shift the city council into a majority anti-developer dais.
District 2 council member Rolan Resendiz is also aligned with that movement, leaving District 3 council member Dolores Morales as the sole voice not in that camp.
San Benito County District 5 Supervisor-elect Ignacio Velazquez, who is also a slow growther, said in a phone interview that he is excited about the results.
“What happened last night is a major shift in our community, and will give us hope again to take back control,” Velazquez said. “(I’m) very excited to have a group of people that are there to represent the public and not developers. (I’m) looking forward to working with them.”
