Voters chose to go in a new direction for the Hollister City
Council Tuesday, voting out incumbents Tony Bruscia and Tony LoBue
in favor of Brad Pike, Doug Emerson, and Monica Johnson.
Hollister – Voters chose to go in a new direction for the Hollister City Council Tuesday, voting out incumbents Tony Bruscia and Tony LoBue in favor of Brad Pike, Doug Emerson, and Monica Johnson.
The new council members will be saddled with the challenges of improving Hollister’s ailing budget, working through the sewer problems and bringing new life to the city’s downtown.
Pike, a Saratoga firefighter best known locally for founding the “Stay Alive on 25” campaign, and Emerson, a retired school administrator, easily beat out their competition for the District 1 and 4 spots, respectively. The race for District 5 between current Hollister mayor Tony Bruscia and nurse Monica Johnson was much tighter throughout Election Night, but in the end Johnson had about 46 percent of the vote compared to Bruscia’s 37 percent and Martin Deffee’s distant 17 percent.
While all the candidates were optimistic in the hours leading up to the election results, the eventual victors tended to be enthusiastic but cautious as the numbers rolled in.
“I’m feeling optimistic,” said District 1 candidate Pike as friend Susan Paura relayed his 62 percent lead over challenger Helen Ross from the telephone. But, Pike said, he wasn’t going to celebrate until all the votes were in.
“It’s still too early to tell,” he said around 10pm. “Still, I feel like we did everything we needed to do. I’m not looking back saying, ‘Man, I wish we would have done that.’ I feel like we got my name out there, but we didn’t over-saturate. It’s all about we, not about me,” he said.
Emerson was also hesitant to project a victory before all the ballots were counted, although he had a 64 percent lead over District 4 incumbent Tony LoBue with 41 out of 58 precincts reporting. Emerson wound up winning with 60.4 percent of the vote.
“It’s still early, but I’m feeling confident from the walking door-to-door that I’ve been doing” Emerson said early in the evening.
Incumbent Tony LoBue declined to comment on Emerson’s lead early in the evening.
Coming into their terms, all three council members will be focusing on some key issues, including bringing new business and tourists to Hollister, revitalizing the downtown area, and coping with the city’s poor finances.
The centerpiece of Pike’s plan to attract new businesses is the airport, which he calls “the sleeping giant.” Pike wants to use the airport and its surrounding business parks as resources to attract new businesses, but also wants to encourage current businesses to stay in town. He also plans to continue working for highway safety.
Emerson, who retired in August from his position as a financial analyst for the East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD), hopes to use his financial expertise to help improve the city budget. His first priority, he said after his win, will be to educate himself about the issues the city is currently facing.
“For me it’s going to be a big learning experience. I want to read a lot and learn a lot about the budget,” Emerson said.
Communication with residents will also be a top priority, Emerson said.
“I’ve always talked about communication, so in terms of a first task, I want to set up an e-mail list right away to keep people informed about the issues coming up before the council. When I was going door-to-door talking to people, there really seemed to be that communication gap,” he said.
Neither Johnson nor Bruscia could be reached for comment by press time.
Jessica Quandt is a staff writer for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
