After spending the past month traveling through South America
studying Latin American economies as part of my master’s program,
it was quite disheartening to return home and see the Hollister
City Council grapple with having to lay off a large part of their
workforce.
I don’t fully blame the current City Council and I don’t blame
the previous City Council for the current financial problems of the
city and soon the county. Nor should the former city manager,
George Lewis, be blamed.
After spending the past month traveling through South America studying Latin American economies as part of my master’s program, it was quite disheartening to return home and see the Hollister City Council grapple with having to lay off a large part of their workforce.
I don’t fully blame the current City Council and I don’t blame the previous City Council for the current financial problems of the city and soon the county. Nor should the former city manager, George Lewis, be blamed.
Did all of those above make mistakes? Of course! But so have we, as Californians, believing that the answer to population control was to chase evil business owners out of the state and out of the country through excessive regulations, insurance premiums, dubious environmental laws, government entitlements and endless litigation. History has shown that socialism does not work and only leads to higher rates of unemployment and poverty.
Study the economies of Latin America or any other failing economy around the world and a clear picture emerges as to why their economies fail and why there is such a large gap between the rich and the poor. Socialism, corruption in government and regulations designed to stymie businesses are always present in failing economies.
Many of the same things are happening in San Benito County. To say the county supervisors are outright corrupt would be a stretch and I want to make it clear that I don’t believe any of the supervisors are asking for financial payoffs or accepting bribes, but I do feel several of their activities are on the cusp of corruption.
Why is one of the supervisor’s vast land holdings exempt from Measure G? How did he have his property rezoned in a few months when it takes others years to accomplish the same task and then sell it for a profit of millions of dollars? Why did the supervisors meet secretly with individuals in helping create Measure G? Why were property and voting rights usurped trying to implement Measure G? Why does the owner of The Pinnacle, Tracie Cone, attack my character and of others with false stories every time the supervisors are criticized? Could it be true as alleged by many that one of the supervisors is financially supporting The Pinnacle?
The current Board of Supervisors is oblivious to what a disaster Measure G will be on the local economy. Mainly because they have no idea of how economies work.
All one needs to do is review the finances of the City of Hollister to see what happens when growth is stopped.
Ironically, one of the best things to happen to the City of Hollister is the building moratorium, which was caused by a lack of capacity at the sewage treatment plant. The building freeze that resulted from the moratorium has shown everyone exactly what happens when growth stops – the economy stops!
How safe do you feel knowing the city’s fire chief is being laid off or that several police officers will be let go? Who will be there to protect your family or home when things go wrong?
As I watched the City Council on Monday night ponder the fate of several hard-working families in our community, I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to all those that believed no-growth was the answer. What happened to that lady who spoke at a City Council meeting a few years ago and said, “If we build more homes those dirty poor people will come. I should know because I moved here from San Jose to get away from them.”
Did she already take her profits and leave the rest of us holding the bag?
I’ve said time and again the answer to this community’s future is a plan that benefits everyone – not only those that falsely believe their home values will go up if development stops.
If you believe it’s time to take back our community from outside environmentalists and our current inept Board of Supervisors, contact me so we can defeat Measure G together.
Don’t wait until the county has to lay off the sheriff!
Ignacio Velazquez can be reached at ig**************@ho*****.com.
