Developer Pulte Homes funded the most expensive campaign in San
Benito County history. And they lost.
Developer Pulte Homes funded the most expensive campaign in San Benito County history. And they lost.
In the weeks leading up to the election, voters were flooded with brochures, DVDs and even free popcorn, all promoting Measure S, the citywide ballot initiative sponsored by Pulte and its subsidiary Del Webb. But when the earliest vote counts were released on election night, the measure was trailing badly. On Monday, with only provisional ballots left to count, Measure S looked certain to fail, and by a large margin: 58 percent to 42 percent.
“I was surprised by the margin,” said Tim Foley, superintendent of the county’s office of education. “I always felt it was going to be close. But in the end, it wasn’t very close at all.”
Foley has spoken in favor of the measure, which would have amended the city’s general plan to redesignate 1,300 acres of agricultural land near the municipal airport as a “mixed use residential community.” Del Webb – which hoped to build a Sun City Hollister senior community – would have been exempt from the 244-unit allocation cap imposed by Measure U. Instead, the developers would have been issued up to 650 permits per year, leading to a community of up to 4,400 homes.
“People were concerned about the project and unanticipated problems down the road,” Foley said. “They didn’t understand plans for mitigation. … It’s a wonderful opportunity that we passed on.”
Local agencies came out both for and against the measure. Both the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors passed resolutions opposing Measure S, while the San Benito Chamber of Commerce supported it.
Voters interviewed by the Free Lance on election night were similarly divided. Even a married couple couldn’t agree on the measure – Johanna Gonzalez said a Del Webb community would make Hollister too crowded, while her husband Saul argued that the community needs more senior housing, which would in turn create space for low-income families.
On Monday, Hollister resident Bruce Swank said he voted against the measure because it would have “overburdened” the community’s infrastructure without creating many new jobs. As for the campaign, Swank said he wasn’t impressed.
“It was just rude,” Swank said. “They spent too much money. … If they spent that much money on the campaign, they’re probably going to waste a lot of money on the project too.”
He added that he sometimes received the same brochure in the mail two or three days in a row.
According to the most recent filings provided by the elections department, the Yes-on-S campaign had spent around $660,000 at the end of September. Gordon Machado, a local business owner who organized the opposing campaign, said he spent about $7,000; he argued that the quality of the Yes-on-S campaign actually backfired.
“It was too slick of a campaign, too professional,” he said.
Machado thinks the two biggest reasons people opposed the measure were its location near the airport and the inequitable allocation of permits.
Michael Serpa, Del Webb’s Bay Area brand manager, previously told the Free Lance that Hollister’s voters had failed to understand what a Sun City Hollister development could bring to the community. He said the developer plans to “respect the wishes of Hollister’s voters” and start looking for another location.
The Free Lance tried to contact Serpa Monday for an update on Del Webb’s plans, but he was out of the office.
The failure of Measure S doesn’t mean San Benito County voters have heard the last of large developments. Ray Becker, project manager for the proposed Rancho San Benito project, said that after developer DMB files its application for the project next year, the project will appear on the county’s ballot. Becker said a county ordinance requires the project to go for a vote immediately after its application. However, he hopes the Board of Supervisors will change the ordinance so the vote doesn’t happen until after “a thoughtful planning process.”
Machado, Foley and Becker were all quick to emphasize that there are major differences between the proposed Sun City Hollister and Rancho San Benito. Becker noted that DMB is planning to build near the county’s northern border and said they had approached the county without a “preconceived plan.”
Becker added, “We’re committed to trying to make everything transparent and available to the community in every detail.”
Yes-on-S campaign manager Annette Giacomazzi declined to comment.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at (831) 637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
