My wife and I moved from San Benito County two years ago but
still follow things through family, friends and with the Free Lance
online. One thing we have learned is that the grass is indeed
greener on the other side.
Dear Editor,
My wife and I moved from San Benito County two years ago but still follow things through family, friends and with the Free Lance online. One thing we have learned is that the grass is indeed greener on the other side. We now live in Oregon. Our community has about 11,000 less in population than Hollister, but there are about 20,000 more people in our whole county. We first came here because we loved the great outdoors. We also, quite frankly, couldn’t have afforded to retire in Hollister.
We found a community that has more facilities to offer to its residents than Hollister. A YMCA that has a full-sized indoor pool, a basketball court and gymnastics gym, a weight room, a bank of treadmills and elliptical riders, etc. We have a public library that is open seven hours a day, Monday through Thursday and three hours on Saturday, a large skateboard/bike park, four McDonalds, two Burger Kings, a Sears, a Gottchalks, a Super Wal-Mart, two Safeways, two Albertsons, a Holiday Inn Express and an average home price of just $179,000 in 2003. We also have a new three-story hospital and medical center. This was all accomplished without benefit of a sales tax. One other thing: there’s virtually no problem with graffiti or gangs. Our resident’s definition of a drive-by is something you do when you want to go visit someone.
The purpose here is not to brag, but to let Hollister/SBC residents know there is another way for city and county governments to do things. Hollister’s problem is that the “good old boy” mentality is limiting the thought processes. A prime example is the Motorcycle Rally. If that had been managed and supported correctly from the start, Hollister could have made a considerable amount of money each year. That could have subsidized additional services. You need only to look at Sturgis for a model of how to do things better. Could Hollister do the same? I guess you’ll never know as long as the current “good old boy” politicos stay around. Another example would be the water treatment fiasco elected officials created. No need to explain that to you. It speaks for itself and will unfortunately continue to do so for years.
Allowing officials to keep the status quo doesn’t work. Demand something different and set newer, higher standards. Hollister and San Benito County can, and will benefit, if you do.
Former resident, William Johnson, submitted via e-mail
