Guest view: San Benito needs a second high school
By working together, our community has made it possible for San Benito High School to create a world-class learning and working environment for students and staff members. During its more than 125-year history, San Benito High School District has grown along with our community....
Guest view: Keep hospital discourse open and transparent
During December 2022, Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital first notified the County of San Benito of its untenable financial status. On Dec. 10, 2022, the San Benito Board of Supervisors was given a notice requesting a $10 million loan. The Board of Supervisors and staff...
Guest view: Hospital needs outside, objective guidance to survive
The best chance for Hazel Hawkins Hospital to survive this fiscal crisis is for district leadership to embrace outside professional guidance—an objective third-party consultant—to develop a business plan in order to stabilize a deep structural deficit while pursuing an acquisition partner.
In my role as...
Guest view: Gavilan College serves South Valley community
The Gavilan Joint Community College District extends from the Coyote Valley to the southern edge of San Benito County, and includes the communities of Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Tres Pinos and Paicines, along with the surrounding rural areas. It...
Guest View: Beware of misinformation from growth supporters
A coordinated effort has been underway to make false claims about specific public officials. It’s clear their motivation is to discredit elected officials who support slow housing growth—a movement favored by a vast majority of local residents.
It’s no coincidence those behind this effort are...
Guest view: Fine hike for illegal dumping is a long time coming
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors at the latest meeting initiated efforts to significantly strengthen the county’s illegal dumping ordinance to deter those activities.
Supervisor Dom Zanger and I had requested this formal consideration, and I have been pushing for more action with regard...
Guest view: Conserve water, all the time
California’s severe drought continues, and mandatory water conservation measures are in place. These climate conditions, along with our limited long-term water supplies, mean it is in our best interest to use water as efficiently as possible. Not just when we’re in drought, but ALWAYS!
On...
Guest view: Special interests destroy our community
Benjamin Franklin said there were two things certain in life: Death and taxes! When it comes to special interests’ involvement in influencing our government, I can add two more certainties: Bad policies and more taxes to cover the costs of those policies.
To be clear,...
Guest View: Struggling artists take note—and take to social media
The past year and a half has been extremely hard on everyone, but it has been especially hard on small business owners. And according to Americans for the Arts, the arts were tremendously impacted by the pandemic, with an overall expected financial loss of...
Guest View: Americans and a lifelong relationship with health insurance
Health insurance—can’t live with it, can’t live without it… or can you? These days, it seems the price we pay for health insurance is more than what it’s worth.
When you tally up the monthly premiums, health care deductibles and copays, the average healthy American...














