Wow, wasn’t that a surprising left turn that our country took
this week? The bus driver apparently didn’t see it coming, but
that’s what happens when you ignore the road signs and try to
create your own path.
Wow, wasn’t that a surprising left turn that our country took this week? The bus driver apparently didn’t see it coming, but that’s what happens when you ignore the road signs and try to create your own path.
We Californians were our unique selves again, re-electing a Republican governor despite Democratic efforts to link him to George W. Bush; putting a former Democratic governor (Jerry Brown) back in power as attorney general; saying yes to billions of dollars worth of state infrastructure bonds; but saying no to cigarette and gas taxes.
What a state! We’re tax-and-spend liberals; we’re Christian conservatives; we’re Independents; we’re Greens; we’re moderates. We’re a little bit of everything. And we’re lucky to live here.
San Benito County wasn’t quite the bellwether that it historically has been. According to yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle, we were the only county in the state in which a majority of voters said yes to Proposition 88, which would have imposed a $50 parcel tax to benefit education. Similarly, we were one of just two counties that favored Prop. 89, which promoted public financing of campaigns through additional corporate taxation.
While locals were willing to say yes to a statewide parcel tax, a majority apparently struck down Measure R, which would have increased Hollister’s sales tax by 1 percent to benefit the city’s general fund. The educated guess is that voters remain leery of the city’s ability to balance its books – regardless of how much revenue is available.
Now we’ll see whether the dire predictions about drastic cuts in services will come true. Will our city fall into disrepair? Will recreation programs be eliminated? Will my sewer rates get even closer to my mortgage payment?
Time will tell, though as a parent and coach of kids who play Rec sports, and as a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, I’m worried. Maybe the threats were hollow. Maybe the return of Kentucky Friend Chicken is heralding a rebirth in business prospects and tax receipts for our fair city.
Or maybe there will be painful cuts and hundreds of kids will be left only with the option of playing “travel ball,” in which parents (myself included) shell out hundreds of dollars for their kids to play competitive sports. Those teams are out of the price range for many families, and the loss of affordable recreation programs will mean the end of organized sports options for hundreds of kids.
The demise of Measure S leaves thousands of active seniors with seemingly nowhere to go (except, of course, for the hundreds of homes that are sitting for sale locally.) It was a slick campaign with eager volunteers, pretty brochures and DVDs, and a tempting offer to help defray $20 million of the city’s sewer plant cost.
But yet again, voters were leery. They weren’t sure if such a development would bring all of the benefits it promised or be another in a series of leapfrog developments that have left the fringes of the city looking like south San Jose.
We can’t shut the door on development; we just need developers to realize many people are a little gun-shy after the rampant, poorly-managed growth in the 1990s that left us with cookie-cutter homes and a sewer mess.
Then again, with this week’s news that the San Francisco 49ers are planning to move to Santa Clara and the Oakland A’s want to head south to Fremont, why not recruit a professional team to Hollister in order to help our economy?
We could watch the San Benito Warriors regularly miss the playoffs at a new facility near the airport. Or we could root on the Hollister Raiders despite the fact that the ‘Baler football team would likely draw more fans.
Whatever happens, remember that voting not only allows you to have a say in the workings of democracy – it gives you the right to complain. And that’s democracy.
Adam Breen teaches journalism and yearbook at San Benito High School. He is former editor of The Free Lance. He can be reached by e-mail at
br******************@ya***.com
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