What would you like the City of Hollister to look like five to
10 years from now? What changes would you like to see over that
period of time? The Hollister City Council, city manager, city
attorney, city clerk and department heads spent a recent Saturday
morning discussing these two questions.
By MAYOR DOUG EMERSON
What would you like the City of Hollister to look like five to 10 years from now? What changes would you like to see over that period of time? The Hollister City Council, city manager, city attorney, city clerk and department heads spent a recent Saturday morning discussing these two questions.
The charge given the council during last Saturday’s retreat was to define a set of initiatives that will guide us as we move past the building moratorium and enter a new age for Hollister.
Hollister certainly has had her share of problems in the last 10 years, but it does us absolutely no good to dwell on the past. The time has come to take pride in our community, recognize the many positive things happening here and look to the future. Indeed, there are some bright lights starting to shine through the gloom and doom of the past five years.
The moratorium will end, the bypass will be complete, the city will take ownership of a portion of Highway 25, there are some signs that the housing market is picking up, and businesses are again looking at Hollister in a positive vein.
After two hours of discussion and debate on a multitude of projects, goals and opinions, your city council unanimously agreed on four guiding initiatives or directions for the future. These initiatives are not particular projects. They are not budget items and they are not something we just go out and do in the next months. Rather, they address the question of, how do we want Hollister to be different in the future?
The first initiative that came out of our discussions was economic development. We would like Hollister to be a self-sustaining community. We do not want to rely on raising taxes to provide a high quality of service to our residents. Thus, it becomes imperative that we make recruiting new business and industry a priority. It is imperative that we do all we can, and then some, to make it easy for current business to expand and grow. For me personally, I frequently think of the 10,000 or so individuals who, every morning, get in their car and drive to the Bay Area to work (I used to be one of them!). What would our community be like if those same people stayed here and worked locally?
Second, we agreed that emphasis needs to be placed on public information and customer service. Frequently citizens look at City Hall and government as the enemy – we need to change that perception. We need a community where citizens feel close to government, feel that their concerns are heard and validated and also take ownership in making Hollister a better place for future generations. A community that understands both what government is doing for them and what government cannot do makes for a healthy environment.
Third, we all agreed that there is an almost desperate need to reduce crime. The reduction in gang activity can be a subcategory. As mayor, I hear a number of horror stories of home break-ins, gang activity and unsolved crimes. As mayor, I hear the stories of long-time residents who no longer feel safe in their homes or walking the streets. In the ensuing years, we need to take whatever steps are necessary to reclaim our neighborhoods and our streets. We need to rebuild a community where drive-by shootings and crime no longer exists in the minds of our residents.
Lastly, we agreed that there is a need to address the problem of affordable housing. As developments are presented, we need to learn from the mistakes of the past. Emphasis must be placed on the diverse housing needs of the community rather than the objectives of the developer. A recent mandated study by the Hollister School District concluded that there are 145 families in Hollister that are either living in garages or have no actual address. The county basically has no transitional housing for those who are out of work and have lost housing. All of these factors are contributors to crime and safety.
In summary, looking to the future, your city council envisions a self-sustaining community with a wide range of job opportunities, a community with close, positive ties to government, a community with a feeling of safety and security, a community where citizens have a choice of affordable housing types and a community where the citizens play an active role in improving the quality of life for all. That is our vision for the future.
