Politics

The Free Lance takes a first look at the District Two county supervisor race. The Free Lance will look at the candidates in District One and District Five next week. Coverage of candidates’ views on top issues will follow. One year ago, four-term San Benito...

The public anger that led to the resignation of Hollister’s city manager candidate hasn’t subsided— it’s gone viral. In his Nov. 15 resignation letter, Interim City Manager Paul Eckert said he had been the victim of a “witch-hunt” and warned that he “will likely take...

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’s infighting continued into the fall as council members filed additional complaints against one another. A complaint to the California Fair Political Practices Committee (FPPC) filed by Councilmember Rolan Resendiz against Councilmember Honor Spencer over an alleged conflict of interest was denied...

The Farmworker Housing Act of 2019, introduced by Assemblymember Robert Rivas of Hollister, passed the California Assembly and State Senate. For Rivas, who represents the 30th district in the Assembly, the passage of the bill in his first term is personal. His grandfather was a...

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...