Ballots for Measure L, a property bond that could give Hazel
Hawkins Hospital a $30 million face-lift over the next 20 years,
should be nestled between the bills and junk mail in residents’
mailboxes by today, according to the county election’s office.
Hollister – Ballots for Measure L, a property bond that could give Hazel Hawkins Hospital a $30 million face-lift over the next 20 years, should be nestled between the bills and junk mail in residents’ mailboxes by today, according to the county election’s office.
The bond measure would add approximately $84 in property taxes to the average homeowner’s annual fee, and must be returned to the Election’s Office no later than May 3 at 8pm, said Registrar John Hodges.
Besides mailing them in, residents may also drop their ballots off at the office, located at the San Benito County Court House. But they must adhere strictly to the rules of dropping off absentee ballots, Hodges said.
“No dropping off other people’s ballots unless they meet the (specifics) written on the ballot,” Hodges said. “Family members can do it as long as the person signs it and they’re sick or disabled. If I were going to drop my wife’s off, she better be sick or I’m not doing it.”
If the ballots aren’t mailed by April 29, people must hand deliver them to the office to make their vote count.
If at least two-thirds of voters approve the bond, the funding will help finance additional hospital staff, advanced medical technology and a new emergency room that would service about three times the number of patients the current one does, said hospital CEO Ken Underwood. If the bond passes, the hospital hopes to open the doors on a new emergency room by 2007, Underwood said.
All registered voters in the hospital’s district, which includes all of San Benito County except 688 voters in Erie, Bitterwatter Tully and Aromas, will be eligible to vote.
A committee stumping for Measure L has mailed flyers to county residents over the past few weeks and plans to send an additional informational pamphlet next week to educate voters about the bond, committee co-chair Fernando Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said about half the people he’s talked to have already received their ballots and many of them have voted “yes,” he said.
“We have a lot of volunteers still contacting people,” he said. “And things are looking pretty good.”
Questions concerning mailing or dropping off the ballots should be directed to the San Benito County Elections Office at 636-4029. For more information about the bond, contact Measure L committee volunteers at 634-0347.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
