Despite pleas from veterans groups in recent years, Hollister police haven’t issued any citations for illegal skateboarding at the Veterans Memorial Building since 2011, according to data from the department.
Veterans groups and others have complained from time to time about skaters’ use of the downtown memorial’s courtyard and resulting damage to the renovated property. Police officials have responded by stressing the importance of protecting the memorial, but also by pointing to relatively low reporting frequency from the public while underscoring there are other priorities for officers.
Skating citations at the veterans building, it appears, have been low on that priority list. Between 2012 and March 2015, there wasn’t a single citation issued for illegal skating at the Veterans Memorial Building property at Seventh and San Benito streets, according to data provided to the Free Lance in response to a public records request.
Most recently, there were two citations issued in 2011 and seven issued in 2010 for illegal skating at the building, according to data from the Hollister Police Department.
In responding to the data, Police Chief David Westrick pointed to a low reporting rate. There was one call for service in 2011, three calls in 2012, nine in 2013 and 15 in 2014. One person reported it in 2015 through late March, according to the figures.
“Like almost anything that we do, our service is reliant upon people reporting,” Westrick said.
The chief also pointed out how a good portion of those infrequent calls have been during afternoons and early evening times, the busiest for law enforcement.
“It’s going to come in as a lower priority,” Westrick said.
Joe Love, commander of the local American Legion post, told Hollister council members in December that he had been beating his “head against the wall” over skaters’ use of the property, following the Nov. 11 rededication of the memorial after an extensive renovation.
While skaters’ use of the property has been intermittent since then, some of the illegal activity, and reported defiance toward adults who ask skaters to leave, has continued.
Architect David Huboi, who worked on the building’s $4.4 million renovation more than a decade ago, has experience with the continued problem. Huboi on March 23 sent an email to the mayor, Love and the Free Lance—taken by his wife, Ravena—of skateboarders who had spurned her request for them to stop skating on the memorial property.
Huboi said he doesn’t believe fining skaters is the answer, pointing out that many of them come from households with two working parents. Instead, he prefers community service as a penalty.
“Community service repairs harm done to the community,” he said.
Citations issued at Veterans Building
2010: 7
2011: 2
2012: 0
2013: 0
2014: 0
2015: 0 (through late March)
Source: HPD
