As Mayor of San Juan Bautista, Reed Went Above and Beyond
As Mayor of San Juan Bautista, Reed Went Above and Beyond
Editor,
When I stop at the Windmill Market for coffee, I keep looking for Dan Reed. I’ve tried walking around the corner of the deli counter just in case he only stepped out of sight. Until his death on Nov. 2, his morning routine was to walk to the Windmill, peek at the newspaper headlines, buy a cup of coffee and chat with whoever wanted a word with the mayor of San Juan Bautista.
I thoroughly enjoyed our Thursday morning coordination meetings, after my breakfast at the Rotary Club, during my stint as city manager from July 2005 to February 2006. He frequently expressed appreciation when we discussed what I had accomplished during the previous week. He offered common sense suggestions for dealing with difficulties in a wide variety of aspects of the city’s business.
In a small town like San Juan Bautista, council members and people in the community pitch in to help in numerous ways and sometimes misunderstandings arise. A friend of mine called it “the world’s biggest condo association” where everyone has an idea about how to save money or make things perfect within the city’s .8 square miles.
When a citizen had a fairly impractical idea or felt distressed about an issue and wanted a sounding board, Dan and Vice Mayor Priscilla Hill were quick to schedule a meeting and listen to the person for as long as they wanted to talk.
But Dan wouldn’t make promises about resolving a situation until consulting with city staff about potential feasibility and I felt very supported in my management approach.
Dan seemed tireless and made me think that his health condition had no impact on his time and energy available for city business. I recall how he cheerfully went back and forth to his car to pull out more oxygen tanks during one five-hour meeting concerning the draft of the city’s annual financial statements.
Dan and I attended a meeting with the president of a bank with $3 billion in assets to check on the status of the city’s application for a $500,000 line of credit to help smooth cash flow for the final design of the water system project. The bank president stated that in 18 years of living in Hollister, he never reads local newspapers. However, he had vaguely heard that there might be some discord among SJB residents about the future water project so he asked Dan about the “pulse” of the community.
Dan responded that he spent a fair bit of time outside the post office so that he could meet people and find out what’s on their mind. He felt that if there was widespread opposition to the project he would have heard either at the post office, the Windmill, events around town, or his volunteer work at the mission.
I believe he helped people understand that the water system improvements are not “optional,” but required, for the city’s drinking water and sewage system discharge permits to meet state standards.
Dan’s goals focused on the overall good of the community, which included strengthening relationships vital for the city’s survival and success. He understood that besides providing services for 1,741 residents and 200-plus businesses, City Hall needs visibility in the circles of power, policy and money beyond its borders. He participated in California League of Cities events and became a member of the board and committees of the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.
Dan’s memorial service at the San Juan Bautista Mission was clear evidence of a life well lived that touched many people. Father Ed joked it would be appropriate to adorn Dan’s coffin with a frozen turkey, as a symbol of his zealous effectiveness in collecting turkeys for the mission’s Thanksgiving dinners.
I’m confident that Priscilla Hill and George Dias III will continue Dan’s high standards and I’m hopeful that future City Council members will follow his example of open government, active listening, fairness and flexibility in problem solving.
Jennifer Coile
Hollister
