The proposed Hillside ordinance, the widening of roads, and
activities for the town’s youth were surprise issues put to local
candidates at Wednesday night’s Chamber of Commerce and Farm
Bureau-sponsored candidate forum.
Hollister – The proposed Hillside ordinance, the widening of roads, and activities for the town’s youth were surprise issues put to local candidates at Wednesday night’s Chamber of Commerce and Farm Bureau-sponsored candidate forum.
While the sewer moratorium, a proposed Indian casino, and the revitalization of the downtown area were all predetermined and predictable topics in Wednesday night’s highly structured forum, the audience asked supervisor and council candidates to weigh in on some different issues. After each candidate had responded to two two-minute questions from the evening’s moderators, time was allotted for questions from the nearly full-house crowd.
Audience members were particularly interested in the Hillside ordinance, which would limit housing and growth on local hillsides, when posing questions to District 2 supervisor candidates Anthony Botelho and Anthony Freitas. Both candidates said they had some qualms with the way the ordinance is written.
“We don’t want to see big homes sticking out in a place where they’re going to be an eyesore,” Freitas said. “There’s some good and some bad in the ordinance, and I think there’s some stuff in there that needs to be omitted. We need to pay attention to vegetation and whether the homes are going to blend in with the hillside,” he added later.
Botelho said he opposes the ordinance as it’s drafted because “it doesn’t classify individual property rights. It’s just another piecemeal ordinance that’s not right for San Benito County.”
Concerned citizens also asked about highways 25 and 156. Freitas said he strongly supported the widening of 156, saying it needed to be safer and that “saving one human life is more important than anything.”
Botelho said he opposes only a six-lane express way through the San Juan Valley, though, saying it wouldn’t help alleviate traffic, and that he’d rather solve traffic problems than develop the San Juan Valley.
While Freitas does support widening 156, he did not mention a six-lane highway Wednesday night.
After the supervisors’ portion, the evening moved on to the city council. One woman asked District 5 candidates Tony Bruscia and Monica Johnson what plans they had, if any, to make Hollister more appealing to teens. Johnson replied that she would like to go to the teens themselves and ask them what they would like to see in terms of community programs or facilities. Bruscia, however, said he believes there is already plenty for Hollister teens to do if they look into it.
“Everyone says there’s nothing for kids to do here. But there’s lots of stuff for them to do. The hard part isn’t finding something to do, it’s the parents not necessarily having the time to drive their kids around (to and from activities),” Bruscia said.
He pointed out martial arts programs, dance classes, and the skate park as positive activities that teens can involve themselves in but people tend to overlook.
Johnson and Bruscia also commented on one issue relevant to the town’s very young residents: A park in the Kaufman Broad development. Johnson expressed frustration with the project, saying that she and people she has talked to during her campaigning were still waiting for the park, and that by the time it was actually built their kids would be too old to play at it. Bruscia, though, claimed the park would be completed by June of next year.
District 1 candidates Brad Pike and Helen Ross, and District 4 candidates Tony LoBue and Doug Emerson also spoke. Each candidate expressed an eagerness to revitalize downtown Hollister with new businesses and tourists, and attract big businesses by using holding tanks to work around the sewer moratorium.
The forum was broadcast live by CMAP and will be shown again Friday at 7pm on channel 17.
