The Hollister City Council’s infighting continued into the fall as council members filed additional complaints against one another.
A complaint to the California Fair Political Practices Committee (FPPC) filed by Councilmember Rolan Resendiz against Councilmember Honor Spencer over an alleged conflict of interest was denied by the committee last month.
Also, Vice Mayor Marty Richman filed a complaint against Resendiz with the City of Hollister Human Resources Department. Because the complaint is a personnel matter, it is not available to the public.
Richman declined to comment on the complaint. When the Free Lance spoke to Richman following a complaint made by Resendiz about language Richman used toward him after a council meeting in May, Richman said he hoped the council could move forward and start working together.
“It’s certainly out of hand, and I’m not an innocent bystander,” Richman said about the council’s infighting in an interview the first week of September. “I’m going to try to do better.”
The FPPC complaint Resendiz filed against Spencer on Sept. 9 was regarding a meeting Aug. 5 where the council discussed the closure of Nash Road for the San Benito High School year.
Spencer recused herself because she works at San Benito High School. She made a comment about residents of District 2 disliking the road closure.
“I believe that Councilmember Honor Spencer is in violation of the Political Reform Act Government Code 87100: No public official may make, participate in making or in any
way use or attempt to use his/her official position to influence a governmental
decision in which he/she knows or has reason to know he/she has a financial
interest,” Resendiz’s complaint reads.
He also recused himself from the discussion because he is a resident of District 2 where the closure takes place, although he is not a property owner.
Less than a month ago, council members had expressed hopes to move on from the complaints filed by Resendiz and toward some kind of mediation. No mediation session had been scheduled as of the Sept. 3 council meeting.
