The power of the people was on full display at the Hollister
City Council meeting last week as activists stormed the barricades
to save
– not the city, but the dogs.
The power of the people was on full display at the Hollister City Council meeting last week as activists stormed the barricades to save – not the city, but the dogs.
Expecting the usual low turnout as I drove up for the meeting, the TV truck and large crowd waiting to enter city hall surprised me. I parked and approached the building, patting myself on the back over my recent expose of the city’s irresponsible spending plan.
In the middle of a deep recession, the council was on the verge of giving the police an expensive new retirement benefit that would last forever in exchange for some small relief from crippling contract provisions – and even that relief was only temporary, expiring in October 2011. My research was good work, I thought, but rarely had it stirred our normally apathetic citizens to act. Maybe things were changing.
Walking among the crowd, I immediately saw that several people were passing out briefing materials on a completely different issue. They had come to oppose the city’s plan for mandatory spay and neuter of most pit bulls, Chihuahuas and mixes of either breed. Hoping that at least some folks were there about the contract change, I questioned one middle-aged man.
“We’re here to save the dogs,” he said emphatically. When I mentioned that my family had cats, he replied that, “Cats are nice, too.” However, there was something in the way he said it that convinced me cats would never replace his love of dogs.
The group was well organized and the city was back-pedaling before the public even fired the first shot. When the appropriate time came, the proposed ordinance was removed from the agenda so the staff could “work with” those in opposition to come up with “better ideas.” The council, prudently, had chosen to retreat and live to fight another day.
Nevertheless, the council decided to take public comment. After all, some in the audience had come from as far away as San Antonio just to say their piece. What followed was a classic case of an aroused public giving the politicians “what for.” Those opposed to the ordinance pointed out that the breed descriptions were for perfect dogs and were unsuitable for other uses – only DNA testing, at a few hundred dollars a pop, was reliable and sometimes multiple tests were required. Besides, using the copyrighted Chihuahua breed description without permission risked a lawsuit, said the woman from Texas, representing the Chihuahua Club of America, which owns the copyright.
Other speakers used a combination of pleas for compassion, reasoning, claims the city employees were not qualified for breed determination, cost estimates and lawsuit threats to make their case. And although no final decisions were reached, they certainly had won both a reprieve and commitment for reconsideration. After that, the dog defenders left and the council chambers returned to their usual state of near emptiness.
The police contract change came up and I took my three minutes to make my case. I got in some good information. It was obvious that some council members did not realize that this benefit was forever; nor did they understand that they could not even determine future costs without hiring a consultant – their own actuary. Most disappointing were the repeated claims that the police had agreed to pay for the benefit. The part left out was that the pay agreement was for only 14 months; after that all the costs are on the city.
No other member of the public spoke on the issue and the council voted 5-0 to swallow hundreds of thousands in added debt. I never had a chance of winning.
So the next time someone says that the city is going to the dogs, just tell them the dogs are doing a lot better than the taxpayers. At least the dogs get some enthusiastic support.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident.
