Don’t Fear Measure S
Don’t Fear Measure S
Editor,
In Japan there is a group of elderly people with special skills, talents and knowledge that are called “Living Treasures.” We too have “Living Treasures” in our midst, but we are a youth-oriented society that often ignores them.
I observed at the Hollister City Council meeting of Oct. 2, some people in the audience and council had a great deal of fear and reservations. Not all elders are wise when they are gripped with fear. Fear seemed to penetrate many minds. Fear is crippling as President Roosevelt so well knew from his life experience as a physical cripple, but his mind and spirit grew as his physical body grew weak. He gave us those famous words, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Those words solidified our country into greatness in a time of depression and war.
At the Council meeting when discussing the Del Webb project, fear penetrated from every adversary. They were afraid of change, loss of local power, seeing strangers on our streets, a change of demographics, it’s too good to be true, what’s in it for Del Webb? What about the sewers? It will destroy our way of life and town, etc, etc, etc. These fears can be crippling and self destructive.
Hollister needs the courage to face the inevitable. Change will come. Hollister has changed from its beginning and will continue to change. We need to embrace it and choose the quality advances that the Del Webb addition can bring to our town. We would be foolish to turn down this opportunity and be forced at a later time to take our share of growth which will come sometime in the near future. We can choose wisely now and forstall some lesser quality growth. We will have the good fortune to have people here who may enrich this community and will give their lifetime expertise to our schools and town.
As a grandparent with a daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren residing in Hollister, I have a great personal desire to share with the younger generation my knowledge of history and convictions learned through living. So do most older people. We have a strong desire to be valuable and useful.
Let’s not let a group that may contain “Living Treasures” move somewhere else. The physical factor such as land use, sewers, ecology of the area, etc. can be worked over and solved later.
Measure S simply asks, “Do you want us here?”
Never Fear!
Jo Ann Semenza
Hollister
Say No to Measure S
Editor,
People of San Benito County, do we need another bedroom community? It seems most of our existing problems were caused when we became a bedroom community – roads, streets, schools, water, sewer, police and fire protection. We don’t have jobs for the people who live here now. The property in question should be commercial.
The developer and his staff do a great job when they plan tours of their existing projects by bus. I wonder what you might learn if you went on your own and talked with people at random not hand picked by the developer, it might be interesting.
Vote 180 on “S,” we have already told the supervisors and city council that we want controlled growth.
Nevada Thomas
Hollister
Del Webb Development in Lincoln City is Nobody’s Paradise
Editor,
I have lived in Hollister for 11 years now and I love it here. I don’t want to see anything ruin our town, but the upcoming vote for our future is very important. Measure S is a plan by an out-of-town big-money developer to do an end run around our city plan to build 4,400 homes next to the airport.
People who support measure S say “just look what we did in Lincoln.” Well, I have been a truck driver for 33 years and have been going to Lincoln for pickups in the last 20 years. Every time I go, I talk to the locals about their town and all they tell me is the developers like Del Webb have caused nothing but problems. Lincoln went from about 10,000 people to about 40,000 people in a few short years and there has been nothing but problems. I went to Lincoln last week and it took more than four hours to get through the traffic. The locals say that the Del Webb people stay in their country club and they don’t come into the little downtown which is dying. Don’t let the nightmare of Lincoln happen to Hollister. If we pass Measure S, there is no going back. The locals in Lincoln tell me that everything Del Webb is telling us is a lie. If you don’t believe me, just call anybody at the Gladden McBean Clay plant and talk to them. Remember that Hollister has a good plan for growth – one that won’t turn our town into another San Jose. Please vote NO on Measure S.
Michael Miller
Hollister
