Agreement on a new fire protection contract last week means local residents can rest assured they will continue to have high-level safety services into the future. This was a monumental win for our community.
This agreement marked the end of a collective process to extend the arrangement that has worked well in our community for over a decade. It also marked the beginning of next steps—continuing to work collaboratively on finding a long-term solution that brings fiscal stability—and all sides are fully committed to the mission.
Frankly, we as local leaders can’t wait several more years to build a path to sustainability. It must, and will, start now.
This successful contract negotiation, however, creates a strong bridge toward a better and permanent solution—with sights set on analyzing options for a fire district serving all three jurisdictions.
I’m proud I was part of the negotiation team that devised most of the contract terms between the county and Hollister, with Hollister coming back to the county and San Juan in early June adding an extra year to the arrangements.
There were challenges along the way. But there are inherent obstacles with complex contracts like these—with inherent tensions—and we came together to find a positive resolution.
Thank you to all of our partners at the cities of San Juan Bautista and Hollister who worked together. Thank you to the citizens for all of your feedback along the way, and thank you to local firefighters for continuing to bravely serve our community.
As I stated at the June 10 board meeting where supervisors’ approval solidified the arrangement, any good deal requires that all sides give something to find consensus. In this case, all sides compromised to find a good path forward for our constituents.
In the county’s case, that means increasing the annual financial contribution 50% by an extra $1.1 million with annual escalators, along with providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in impact fee revenue to Hollister. Importantly, all three sides would have to agree to terminate the agreement, meaning we are in a stable position while working out the long-term plan.
As the District 2 supervisor who represents the western portion of the county, I was distinctly pleased for San Juan Bautista and surrounding areas that rely on Station 4. Maintaining a fully functioning station in San Juan has been an absolute sticking point for me throughout these discussions, as that station is a crucial element to western San Benito County and the overall public safety picture locally.
There have been disagreements along the way, but we must all make it a priority to listen to one another’s perspectives and understand our differences moving forward. If we do, and we must, there are no limits to what we can accomplish as a community.
Kollin Kosmicki
San Benito County Supervisor
Wow. This letter is deeply misleading and a calculated attempt to rewrite history surrounding the year-long fire contract debacle. It distorts the facts and tries to frame a chaotic and opaque process as a collaborative success.
Supervisor Kosmicki played a central role in escalating tensions from the outset. Rather than approaching the City of Hollister’s decision to trigger the termination clause in the spirit of negotiation, he immediately launched inflammatory accusations—calling it “extortion” and falsely claiming the city was “reneging” on its agreement.
Contrary to the claims of collaboration, the County refused for more than six months to come to the table to even begin discussions. When they did finally engage in January 2025, it was not through transparent or inclusive dialogue. Instead, they opted for closed-door back room meetings with just two Hollister councilmembers, deliberately excluding key stakeholders such as the Fire Chief and the City of San Juan Bautista. After three months of secretive talks, the four officials produced a contract heavily skewed in favor of the County and attempted to rush its approval through in a week, through a series of hastily scheduled special meetings, minimizing public notice and input.
Fortunately, word got out. Firefighters, their families, and concerned community members mobilized to oppose the deal—one that would lower fire protection and response time with only staffing of two firefighters per engine (rather than the safer standard of three) and introducing periodic station brownouts. All while the County insisted it could only afford to contribute $1.1 million—far below its fair share, which should have been approximately $4 million additional.
When San Juan Bautista rightfully rejected the initial contract, and Hollister Council did an about face and both called for more open collaboration with all 3 at the table together, the County abruptly ended negotiations and declared its intent to form its own fire department. Despite previously claiming it could only afford $1.1 million, the County somehow found $6.5 million to fund a plan to build its own department—an inconsistency that further eroded public trust.
In a sudden reversal (interestingly coinciding with the launch of a recall campaign targeting Supervisors Kosmicki and Velazquez)—city leaders yielded to County demands. In a poorly publicized Friday night meeting, Hollister approved essentially the same contract that had been rejected 3 months earlier. San Juan Bautista followed suit, and the County finally got its desired contract—not through transparent dialogue or good-faith collaboration, but through political pressure, backroom dealing, and manipulation.
Supervisor Kosmicki’s framing of this process as a victory demonstrates his ability to spin a false narrative. The County’s refusal to contribute its fair share, the disregard for public input, and the pressure placed on firefighters under threat of departmental collapse if the county built its own department, are not signs of leadership—they are signs of dysfunction.
The resulting agreement is effectively a repeat of the flawed 2019 contract. It forces Hollister and its taxpayers to subsidize County fire services for the next five years at an estimated loss of $15–$20 million. Worse yet, the County insisted there could be no termination clause, no way out of this bad contract, locking Hollister in for 5 years. This outcome is not just disappointing—it is unacceptable.
The community deserves leaders who prioritize transparency, fairness, and public safety. Unfortunately, the current leadership has failed to meet that standard. The only way to correct course, restore trust, and ensure proper funding and governance of fire protection services is through the recall of Supervisors Kosmicki and Velazquez. San Benito County deserves better.