Editorials

The local transit agency's long-term budget plan is a fantasy wish list, so talk of creating a so-called “vehicle miles traveled tax” to fund its massive, self-created shortfall should be viewed from the same fictional perspective.

San Juan Bautista City Manager Roger Grimsley is wise to support lifting the ban against chain businesses, and he also happens to be the right man for the job of eliminating it.  The historic city tucked along the Highway 156 corridor established a ban in December 2002 as an urgency ordinance, while San Juan officials renewed it three times since then, with a minor adjustment in the latest version of the law allowing “formula” businesses only if they fulfill unmet needs among existing businesses.

An opportunity like Pinnacles National Park doesn't come along too often for such a relatively unknown, isolated county like ours, so local business and government leaders must get moving on a plan to claim the “gateway” title and develop strategies to gain the utmost economic benefits from the change.

Officials are on the right track with planning for a revived motorcycle rally by hiring a qualified event manager, drastically cutting the law enforcement budget and - perhaps most poignantly - putting those hogs back on the main drag.

It is extraordinarily sad to see the Muenzer's sporting goods shop close after 102 years in operation, as some family members continue on with the locksmith portion of the business.

The city's signature event and its best chance for renewed economic activity has been dormant over the past four years, so it is good to see city council members are showing serious interest in reviving a Hollister motorcycle rally in July 2013.

The city got itself into a mess with the Veterans Memorial Building and should fix the problems before handing them off to the nonprofit sector.

In far too many instances, city officials in Hollister have gone to absurd lengths by impeding a free flow of commerce.

Hollister School District parents deserved another choice - an alternative to a lagging educational institution - and now they have it.

With one exception, county voters were decisive in their decisions on Election Day.