Politics

The San Benito High School superintendent and five trustees gathered at a special workshop Saturday morning to discuss a breakdown of trust and communication among officials, but violated the state open meetings law by following it with a closed session that had been absent from the agenda until that morning.

San Benito County supervisors Tuesday evening are set to choose a new chair and vice chair of the board at a special meeting.

The county superintendent of schools affirmed a commissioned attorney’s legal opinion rejecting a petition for a special election over a seat on the Hollister School District Board of Trustees. The decision means appointed Trustee Mike Baldwin will keep his seat.

Workers receiving minimum wage in San Benito County just got a New Year’s Day bonus, thanks to legislation that took effect last week.

Travel and training costs have escalated for some City of Hollister departments in recent budgets. During the current fiscal year’s first five and a half months, those expenses totaled $56,288, according to documents obtained by the Free Lance.

Hollister officials are ready to start promoting Pinnacles National Park to people entering and living in the city.

Days after a Free Lance story detailed 2015 travel expenditures incurred by Hollister Councilwoman Mickie Luna without council approval, she canceled plans for a second consecutive multi-day January trip to the League of California Cities conference in Sacramento designed specifically for newly elected officials, the city clerk confirmed.

Here is a sampling of the biggest stories during the past year in San Benito County as reported by the Free Lance:

People on social media, the Free Lance website and outside a busy Hollister store resoundingly called a man’s posting of a Confederate flag on his private property off Southside Road in rural Hollister an act of free speech, while some labeled it racist and others said they were unaffected.