The Hollister City Council voted unanimously on all but one item
up for consideration over a 12-month period tracked by the Free
Lance
– a time frame from November 2007 through October 2008 that
included 45 regular and special meetings and more than 120
unanimous votes on those agendas.
BY COLIN MCCONVILLE AND KOLLIN KOSMICKI
HOLLISTER
The Hollister City Council voted unanimously on all but one item up for consideration over a 12-month period tracked by the Free Lance – a time frame from November 2007 through October 2008 that included 49 regular and special meetings and more than 120 unanimous votes on those agendas.
The Free Lance examination of posted minutes during that period included a count of all items voted on by council members in attendance at the gatherings, as sometimes there were just three or four of them present. It excluded a tally of unanimous votes on consent agendas, which usually include an array of matters with expected approvals, for each regular meeting. Council members can, and often do, pull potentially divisive issues off of consent agendas for independent consideration.
The newspaper’s analysis also excluded votes to adjourn from meetings.
Many considerations over that one-year period, included in the tally, generally were viewed as formal approvals – such as blocking off streets for parades and other events. But others, such as a range of approvals on employee raises or a proposal to sell T-shirts at the biker rally, had a higher level of potential for debate and dissension.
As a whole, considering the numbers figured into the equation, council members voted unanimously more than 99 percent of the time. The only approval that was not unanimous during those 12 months came May 19, when then-Councilman Brad Pike dissented on a 4-1 vote to oppose Proposition 98 on the November ballot, which related to government’s ability to use eminent domain for private uses.
Additionally, since October, there was another non-unanimous consideration on Nov. 24 when council members voted 3-2 to remove Don Kelley from the parks and recreation commission due to a perceived conflict of interest. In that case, Pike and now-Mayor Eugenia Sanchez voted against removing Kelley.
Council members react
Council members who responded to the Free Lance did not sway one way or the other on whether the voting record was a positive or negative sign.
Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia, though, said the unanimous voting came back to members being on the “same page.”
“Overall, we’re on the same page when it comes to different issues,” Valdivia said, adding that different opinions are often broached and that it keeps meetings healthy.
“It’s healthy because people are entitled their opinion,” she said. “We need to look at issues and discuss and explain why they feel the way they feel.”
Former Councilwoman Monica Johnson, whose term just ended, said she studied the reports on issues for the council meetings well ahead of time and added that the city staff has been providing much more information in reports than in the past.
“There was a lot more information put into our packets than in the first and second years (of my term),” Johnson said. “I found that I didn’t have as many questions.”
She added that while she was prepared for the meetings, not all the other council members were completely prepared.
Lack of controversy the cause?
Johnson said much of the unanimous voting over that year was due to a lack of major, controversial issues on their plate. She also pointed out that oftentimes, members appeared headed toward a vote one way and then went with the majority.
“There were several times that people sounded like they were going to vote some way and then voted another,” Johnson said. “Discussions didn’t always seem to be like they were all on the same page.”
Differing opinions are common on the council, said Sanchez.
“You’re not going to agree all the time and that’s part of our job. If (council members) disagree, that’s their time to voice their concerns. Whichever way they vote, we have to be respectful of that position.”
Sanchez didn’t say whether she thought the council voting unanimously more than 99 percent of the time was a good or bad thing, but asserted that opportunities are available to get more information from city staff.
“We always have the opportunity to contact staff,” she said. “We need to have these tools to make the best decision.”
With this information available, Sanchez said it shows “we are aware of what we need to do as council members.”
New member against ‘rubber stamping’
The two newest council members, who had not been serving during that one-year period, spoke to the Free Lance about that record of unanimous voting and one of them, Councilman Ray Friend, contended such a consistent consensus is not necessarily a beneficial trend.
Friend said he believes the mayor does not want council members always “rubber stamping” approvals.
“I don’t think it needs to be unanimous,” Friend said. “The constituency of each district may have different opinions.”
Councilman Victor Gomez said he hopes nearly all the votes were unanimous because members “were in pretty good agreement.”
“I’m not sure exactly what the issues were at hand,” he said.
Mickie Luna is a regular attendee at council meetings, as she is president of the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. She emphasized that local issues are “very, very important” to LULAC and said debate among elected officials benefits the community and allows for better understanding by the public.
Most important for the group, though, is that council members attend meetings, she said.
“We took the time to elect these people,” Luna said. “It is nice, once in a while, for them to have discussion.”
Councilman Doug Emerson and Pike did not return phone calls for this story.
