Politics

The Hollister City Council is starting over in its search for a new city manager. After a month of rare consensus, the council is now more divided than ever. Ending two turbulent weeks, the council returned to its familiar 3-2 voting pattern on Monday, Nov....

Brett Miller, Hollister’s assistant city manager and manager of administrative services, is acting city manager. Miller’s appointment Friday afternoon, Nov. 15, was one of the last acts of Bill Avera on his last day on the job before his retirement as city manager. One day earlier,...

Hollister’s Interim City Manager Paul Eckert resigned today, Nov. 14, after just eight days on the job, according to Mayor Ignacio Velazquez. Velazquez said Eckert delivered a resignation letter to the city late Thursday afternoon, one day before City Manager Bill Avera’s retirement and one...

Within days after the Hollister City Council backtracked on a commitment to hire Paul Eckert as its new city manager—hiring him instead on an interim basis—even that appointment was increasingly in doubt this week. Eckert’s job status was to be the subject of another closed-door...

The Hollister City Council meetings are becoming increasingly contentious—and loud. Its most recent meeting Aug.19 devolved into a series of shouting matches as councilmembers went head to head over several seemingly minor agenda items.  The meeting went on for five hours as council members waded into...

The 2020 mayoral field in Hollister already has two candidates: current Mayor Ignacio Velazquez and first-term District 3 council member Honor Spencer. Spencer announced at the Aug. 5 city council meeting that she would be running for mayor in March 2020, and Velazquez confirmed that...

In a raucous three-hour debate before an overflow audience punctuated by tears, shouts and legalese, the Hollister City Council voted 3-1 on June 3 to allow a multi-purpose development plan in the center of downtown to move forward. The council vote upheld a planning commission...

This year’s Democratic state convention in San Francisco offered a select group of party regulars a sneak preview of Democratic campaign themes. Included among the 3,400 delegates at the May 31-June 2 convention were local elected officials and party workers, from former city councilmember Mickie...

The expected showdown between Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez and the City Council over a San Benito Street development this week was delayed until June 3 because city staff didn’t release a report to the public ahead of the meeting on May 6. After the mayor’s...

Congressman Jimmy Panetta’s first week of his second term was a busy one, as the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives faced new responsibilities and a government shutdown. Panetta and his Congressional colleagues were sworn in en masse Jan. 3 in the Capitol. By...