Dear Editor,
I attended the San Benito County Board of Supervisors meeting held on Feb. 28 where they discussed the anticipated budget deficit for the next fiscal year. As I am sure you will report, it is indeed very bleak, as I understand the City of Hollister’s situation to be. Speakers highlighted what is to come as the library and parks are closed and core services are curtailed. This is time for our community to come together and seek solutions.
What caught my attention was a statement made by speaker Ruth Erickson when she said volunteers could not run the library. She said it would be illegal. I have heard similar statements made previously in conjunction with school libraries closing. If there was ever a time for us to examine our priorities and change what got us to where we are today, it is now.
I can surmise how this particular situation happened. To protect jobs, unions lobbied the legislature to make sure the volunteers could not replace previously paid positions by making it illegal to do so. This provides the employing agency cover for avoiding the obvious solution for a community such as ours to retain certain services. To be clear, no one wants to see anyone laid off or hours reduced. But faced with the reality of our budget, we are going to have to make hard decisions without throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater.
Whether in a union or not, employed or unemployed, we need to take care of and better ourselves, and most of all, our children. While the elected leaders of San Benito take on the huge task of fixing our budget problems, we must figure a way to make sure our children continue to enrich their minds and get the education they need to succeed. Because there is no fast way to increase revenues, and even if we could the public may not want to without reform, we must do things like getting community volunteers to fill in gaps in service. This is what America and San Benito County is about!
I would propose that our legislature repeal any law that gets in the way of a community taking care of itself. It is clear by the state of California’s finances and those of the cities and counties within it that the one-size-fits-all approach that Sacramento has taken over the past quarter of century has not worked. We in San Benito County cannot and should not depend on out-of-touch legislators that pander to special interests in Sacramento with our money. It is time to bring decisions closer to home, be able to fix problems and overcome obstacles. Want to know why I am running for State Assembly? To make that happen.
Rob Bernosky, San Benito County
