Hollister Mayor Tony Bruscia announced Monday he’s running for a
second term on the City Council in the Nov. 2 election.
Hollister Mayor Tony Bruscia announced Monday he’s running for a second term on the City Council in the Nov. 2 election.
He had been weighing whether to take another shot at the District 5 council seat against two challengers who have announced their intentions to run – nurse Monica Johnson and Marshal’s Office deputy Martin Deffee. Bruscia’s deadline to return nomination documents would have been Aug. 6.
He wants to run again because he has four years of experience with Hollister’s obstacles – namely the city’s budget projections showing deficits for several years to come and Hollister’s efforts to build a new wastewater system.
“I think we need experience at this point,” Bruscia said. “We have some tough issues to deal with.”
Bruscia, 36, also noted his involvement with the League of California Cities – an association of local officials that lobbies state legislators on issues affecting cities. There’s talk among league members that he may gain an appointment to the league’s state board, Bruscia said.
Before making the decision over the weekend, Brusica’s main consideration had been whether he’d have enough time for the council – aside from his full-time job as an insurance broker and plans to get married this month. His wife to be, he said, supported his run for a second term.
With his relatively late decision, Bruscia said he’s confident he’ll have enough time to campaign. He’ll have only two months to do so because he won’t return from his honeymoon until later this month.
There’s plenty of time to go knock on doors in his district, he said, and many community leaders already know what he brings to the table.
“I’m capable and I care, and I think those are two key elements,” Bruscia said.
He also said he has thick skin, something he believes local politicians need these days.
“We need people who can handle the nastiness in this community that’s going on, and that’s not easy to do,” he said.
Councilman Robert Scattini, whose seat is not up for re-election, said he supports Bruscia in the race, even though his own deputy, Deffee, also is running for the seat.
“I think we really need him,” Scattini said. “We came a long way this last year.”
– On a related note, Councilman Tony LoBue won’t get a free ride onto the council. Doug Emerson, a retiring administrator at the Eastside Union High School District in San Jose, returned nomination papers for the District 4 seat. Other candidates have until Friday to pull papers in both districts.
And in District 1, candidates have five extra days, until Aug. 11, because current Councilman Brian Conroy doesn’t plan to run for a second term. Two candidates have said they’re running – fireman Brad Pike and airport commissioner Helen Ross.
