Measure T backers optimistic
Just five days before Hollister voters will be called to decide
whether to tax themselves more heavily for the next five years for
city services, the Co-chairman of the
”
Campaign for Hollister
”
expressed optimism Thursday.
Measure T backers optimistic
Just five days before Hollister voters will be called to decide whether to tax themselves more heavily for the next five years for city services, the Co-chairman of the “Campaign for Hollister” expressed optimism Thursday.
“The phone calls I’ve been making and the door to door visits I’ve been making are very hopeful,” said Hollister Councilman Doug Emerson.
Emerson’s optimism comes on the heels of a spate of endorsements for the measure.
Measure T is nearly a twin of a sales tax measure narrowly defeated by Hollister voters a year ago. It calls for a 1 percent sales tax hike within Hollister for the next five years. Income from the additional tax would beoverseen by a citizens’ committee.
The city’s pledge is to maintain or expand basic services, including police and fire.
Under past administrations, the city’s financial condition deteriorated, and Hollister’s budget has been balanced for several years by pulling money from reserves. That reserve has dwindled from more than $13 million to a sum that City Manager Clint Quilter said should go no lower in order to guard against the prospect of a fiscal emergency.
Recent endorsements of the measure have come from:
– The San Benito Chamber of Commerce
– The Hollister Downtown Association
– The Hollister School District
– The San Benito Association of Realtors
– The San Benito Business Council
– Rep. Sam Farr
– Assemblywoman Anna Caballero
– The Free Lance
– The Pinnacle
Part of the reason for Emerson’s optimism is the ballot itself.
Tuesday’s vote is a special election, and Hollister voters have only one decision to make: yes or no on Measure T. Voters outside Hollister and San Juan Bautista can stay home. In San Juan, voters are weighing two measures, one to bring the city’s planning laws into conformance with state housing mandates and the other a sales tax hike of its own.
But it is the Hollister tax measure that has attracted the most attention by far.
Emerson reasons that, with only one item on the ballot, uncommitted or casual voters may opt out.
“With this being the only thing on the ballot, the people who don’t care may not go to the polls,” he said. Last year’s vote came with a measure asking voters to approve a planned community for older adults just north of Hollister Airport and elections for state and congressional offices.
“Without those things it may keep people from the polls.” Emerson said.
“I’m reminded of a guy I talked with Saturday,” he said. “The man said ‘a year ago I wasn’t educated.’ I think there’s a lot of people who now understand about the 40 percent staff cuts and the other things that we’ve experienced.”
