Hartenstein named to Dean’s List
Emerson College student Lily Hartenstein, of Aromas, earned Dean’s List honors for the Fall 2022 Semester. The requirement to make the Dean’s List is a grade point average of 3.7 or higher for that semester.
Hartenstein is majoring in Journalism and is a member of the Class of 2023.
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning, says a press release from the college.
CHP offering senior driver safety class
The Hollister-Gilroy California Highway Patrol Office is holding a free “Age Well, Drive Smart” senior driver safety class at the Gilroy Library on March 17 at 10:30am.
This program is designed as an educational tool for mature drivers. Topics of discussion will include:
• How to tune up driving skills
• Refreshing knowledge of the rules of the road
• Learning about normal, age-related physical changes and how to adjust to them
• When it may be time to limit or stop driving
• Understanding the alternatives to driving
This class is geared toward drivers age 65 and up, but is open to anyone interested in this safety information.
Space in this class is limited. The online event listing and registration can be found at bit.ly/3KBZ2Ii.
For information, call the Hollister-Gilroy CHP Office at 408.427.0700.
COG Board appoints chair, vice chair
The Council of San Benito Governments (COG) board of directors named its new chair and vice chair for the 2023 term at a recent meeting.
At the Feb. 16 meeting, the board named San Benito County Supervisor Bea Gonzales as the chair of the five-person body, and San Juan Bautista City Councilmember Scott Freels as vice chair, says a press release from COG.
The COG board consists of elected officials from within city limits and unincorporated areas throughout San Benito County. The board consists of two members representing the City of Hollister, one representing the City of San Juan Bautista and two members representing San Benito County.
Currently sitting on the board are Gonzales, Freels, Hollister Mayor Mia Casey, Hollister City Councilmember Dolores Morales and San Benito County Supervisor Mindy Sotelo.
The COG board meets at 4pm on the third Thursday of the month at the County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 481 Fourth Street in Hollister.
The COG Board also serves as the San Benito Airport Land Use Commission, the Local Transportation Authority, the Measure A Authority and the Service Authority for Freeways & Expressways.
For more information, visit sanbenitocog.org.Â
Ah Mon Ami,
The trouble with appointed bureaucrats to transit agencies is that they are immune from voters’ recall remedies, which only apply to elected representatives. So, SBCCOG’s “directors,” govern without the consent of the governed. SBCBOS, which has the voters’ mandate, does not perform any oversight of COG’s decisions, which they do for the Planning Commission. So, as a result, SBC (and California’s other Counties) get transport decisions primarily made to protect the turf of transit agency brass, public sector employees who run the mostly-empty buses, and transit contractors who feast off the taxpayers to the tune of about 99%. The turf protectors get their way 100% of the time, and motorists are not COG’s #1 Top Priority. Who is? Emperor Transit First. Directors, and COG brass come and go, but until we have a change in transport policy, the civil and constitutional rights of the taxpayers of SBC will continue to be violated. Caveat viator. Joe Thompson, 408-848-5506; Charter-Member, SBCCOG Citizens Transit Task Force; Charter Member, SBCCOG Citizens Rail Advisory Committee; Past-Chair, Legislation Committee, Transportation Lawyers Assn.; Past-President 1999-2001, 2006, Gilroy-Morgan Hill Bar Assn; E-Mail: Tr******@Pa*****.Net