Best Way to Solve SBHS’s Feral Cat Dilemma
Best Way to Solve SBHS’s Feral Cat Dilemma
Editor
The caretakers – who do this all on their own time and money for cats on the San Benito High School campus – took a head count of all known cats after your newspaper story (Oct. 7). The number of cats counted was 38, not 100.
Of cats so far trapped and taken to Hollister Animal Shelter by the high school was an adult black and white female, found in the same area as she was trapped and afterward there were two kittens 3-4 months old missing their nursing mother. One was black and white and the other was solid black. Most likely she was their mother. Thank you to the volunteer who is now hand-feeding the kittens.
At least half of the cats on campus have been TNR (trapped, neutered and released back to home & trap site) from May 21 to June 18. This has been done at no expense or time to the high school by the founder, Vivian Kennedy, of All Creatures Great and Small Rescue and volunteers. We want to finish, and have the trapping stopped.
We believe the TNR method would be the most humane way to solve the high school dilemma. This is a growing national movement. For more information call Alley Cat Allies at 240-482-1980 or our local animal shelter at 831-636-4320.
Vivian Kennedy and JoAnn Hill
Hollister
Elected Officials Should Work for Us, Not Developers
Editor,
Recent articles in each of our local papers have caused concern about planning the course for San Benito County’s future.
One pointed out that an elected council person from the city of Lincoln, who has appeared in Hollister to praise Pulte/Del Webb’s Sun City development, is also moonlighting on the developer’s payroll. The other article stated that our incumbent supervisor Reb Monaco’s “friendly donations” of a considerable amount, are from those in direct line to profit handsomely if the Pulte Del Webb development goes through here. The development is not conforming to our current General Plan and has been widely acknowledged to be counter to the interests of agriculture and light industry expansion around the airport site.
Supervisor Monaco’s responses to questions about Sun City have been so vague and evasive that it only further reinforces our need to vote in a more dynamic supervisor. We need to support a long-range planner with ideas that have not been paid for. It should be a high priority that when we elect/hire someone to sit on our board of supervisors, they are in fact working for us, for the best interests of the community, and not for the benefit of an out-of-town corporate developer.
Sara Steiner
Hollister
Vote No on Measure S
Editor,
I have followed the information blitz being put out on the Sun City development coming up for a vote next month with great interest. One particular letter to the editor sticks in my mind from a gentleman who said after living here 11 years “it seems that every idea that even hints of progress for the city is opposed by the city council.”
Being fourth generation I look at things a little different. We have seen what the massive developers do when they come in. We are still trying to digest the 600-plus homes on the books our lame-duck city council voted in a few years back.
All of the development left us with sewer problems, congested traffic and the bypass still is not operational. Where are all the tax dollars that they thought were coming?
Let’s fast forward. Out to Sun City being proposed at the end of the airport. Does Reid/Hillview ring a bell? Our airport will be hemmed in. Our water tables in the area are already too shallow for many septics; will the golf course watering and waterways compound these problems?
Please let us look toward the future. Would we not be better off to install the sewer plant, digest the homes currently planned and finish the bypass. Work towards bringing business, both manufacturing and retail into the county to increase tax revenues. Build around our existing golf courses and city hubs, from within, within reason. And retain the quality of life we have.
Growth is a good thing and should be promoted but smaller plans allow our locals a better chance at some of the building permits and commercial growth allows our children a place to work inside of the community after the developer is gone.
Please join me in voting NO on Measure S.
Karl C. Skow
Hollister
City Should Seek Help in Gathering Revenue Ideas
Editor,
Here we go again, another failed lesson in basic logic.
The Oct. 18 Free Lance front page headline talks about how the City of Hollister is looking at drastic cuts in service if Measure R is not passed in November. Among those cuts is elimination of basic police services including gang intervention, proactive policing and property crime investigation. If that happens, all the gangsters, burglars and car thieves will flock to Hollister because the police won’t do anything about those crimes. Basic fire services will be cut as well. That’s a recipe for the start of the City’s downward spiral.
Hollister’s quality of life will hit rock-bottom. Residents will fear for their basic safety and will move out of town, more businesses will fail due to the lack of sales and any gain the city thought they would get by raising the sales tax will be more than lost in the long run. My own research shows that every city faced with any budget cuts kept public safety funded as much as possible because those city managers knew what would happen if the basic quality of life deteriorated.
Time and time again the city has chased away any potential revenue sources. They have mismanaged the rally, chased away a NASCAR race track and a casino. Let’s face it, the doors to the city are already open, the builders have come and gone and the city’s population is more than 30,000. What the city needs to do is encourage growth, managed growth, and make Hollister a destination for homeowners, business and industry. For example, the highway 156/25 interchange is ripe for a commercial center to take advantage of the 24-hour traffic using the bypass. A commercial center would be far enough away from the city so as not to impact traffic and be a potential sales tax “gold mine” for the county and the city. Another idea would be to woo Silicon Valley companies to San Benito County. The cost of real estate here is much less than in San Jose and maybe some of companies thinking about leaving the state could relocate to San Benito County instead of leaving.
All it takes is to look at cities that have faced similar situations and were successful. Look at Sturgis to see how to successfully run a rally, hire professionals to run it for the first few years until city staff understands how to do it. Talk to cities that have been successful in their urban planning efforts. They had to have cleared some of the hurdles Hollister is facing. The council has to be able to admit they don’t know how to fix the problems and to seek help. It’s not a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of wisdom. We can’t go on making the same mistakes over and over. If you read between the lines describing the cuts the city faces, we are only a few inches away from collapse. If that happens, we all lose. It’s time to get serious about planning for the future of the city we chose to live in because of the quality of life.
Tony Weir
Hollister
Vote Yes on Measure S
Editor,
I can’t believe that less than three weeks away from an election, people still do not understand what Del Webb is offering us. In no way are they a “bedroom community” as some still mistakenly believe. This is an active community for seniors 55 and older. We are already a “bedroom community” and the 244 homes on the books ready to be built will add to that state we’re in.
Del Webb has offered an opportunity to counteract some of that impact, and revitalize our wonderful town. An older generation who have the time to come spend their days and their money downtown, or volunteering with one of our many organizations. Pulte/Del Webb is a company with a quality product and willing to help us with our needs. Why in the world would we not listen further to what they have to offer? Ignorance makes us fearful, and fear will keep us from something that could be great.
Don’t turn your back on this opportunity. Vote YES on S!
Tami Pike
Hollister
