I can only say that I am appalled by the decision taken by the
Gavilan College Board of Trustees to build a San Benito County
campus four miles from Hollister.
Editor,
I can only say that I am appalled by the decision taken by the Gavilan College Board of Trustees to build a San Benito County campus four miles from Hollister. As explained in the Free Lance, economic expediency was the trump card. So much for community, reduced energy use, ecology and other considerations that ought to be accounted for in a decision with such very long-term consequences.
What an opportunity San Benito County will have missed if the Gavilan Board decision is allowed to go forward! Rather than enrich our city center’s culture with the life of thousands of engaged, young people; rather than enrich our young people with the experience of a well-planned, attractive and vital urban center; rather than couple the downtown businesses with the economic vitality of college life; rather than build a campus within walking and biking distance of the entire city of Hollister, we will have chosen to build in the suburban style that has failed Central California so utterly for the sake of a couple million dollars – a paltry sum factored over the many years of the life of the campus. We will have opted for short-term savings rather than long-term solvency – a fools gamble.
What will happen when gas goes to $4 per gallon, or $5? Won’t we have forsaken the empowerment of our local population by making auto transit and a healthy gas budget a prerequisite for participation in community college life? What will happen when the almost universally-despised sprawl scatters itself from Hollister to Highway 156?
To their credit, the ground chosen by the Board was “non-prime” ag land. But is that our only consideration? Is the pollution that will foul our air and waters because of an increase in the use of fossil fuels commuting to and from this far off campus not of concern? Is the malaise of our downtown business climate not of concern? Is the accessibility of community college to all who would take advantage of it not our concern? Is it not the concern of the Board? How will we feel, when in the interest of putting a campus on “non-prime” farm land, the conversion of all the “prime” farmland between Hollister and 156 is mightily encouraged?
There is “non-prime” or unusable “prime” farm land near the center of Hollister. If there is difficulty with the acquisition, get creative. A campus within the Hollister city limits would crown the city in all the ways that a far off campus would detract from it.
In short, a Gavilan campus, well placed, will be a boon to the city of Hollister and the county of San Benito. As proposed, the campus, so far afield, will actually detract from the life of Hollister in almost every way I hoped it would add to it.
A bad decision only becomes bad if we do not relent. The location proposed by the Gavilan Board for a San Benito campus is unacceptable. They must revisit the drawing board, call on their abundant creativity and find a location closer to town. I have heard Park Hill suggested as a site. Now there’s an idea!
Joe Morris, San Juan Bautista
