The following people, events and organizations deserve a Thumbs
Up or Thumbs Down this week:
THUMBS DOWN: San Benito High School lost three of its top four administrators after last school year, and this week we found out recruitment for former Principal Debbie Padilla’s job has stalled because the interview panel deemed all the candidates unqualified.
The school, it seems, has lost much of its appeal to potential school leaders, one reason likely being its immense size at just under 3,000 students. The community must feel a sense of urgency and continually put pressure on our school officials to solve what amounts to a larger set of problems. And if there’s a time we need our board of trustees and existing administrators to step up and make major improvements, it’s now.
THUMBS UP: While a developer’s proposal to develop six hangars at the Hollister Municipal Airport may clash with Cal Fire’s negotiations to build its air-attack base on the site, the story marks a positive sign for the airport and Hollister’s potential for economic development.
The airport and its ideal setting for luring corporate jet owners, and the bundle of revenue generation that come with them, gives Hollister a launch pad for economic recovery once the building moratorium is lifted. Developer Andrew Barnes estimated his hangars would generate about $1.5 million annually in tax revenue for the cash-strapped city.
Whether it’s Barnes or other developers willing to build such facilities at the airport, city officials do, indeed, have that so-called jewel of Hollister, and it’s preparing for take off.
THUMBS DOWN: A tourist destination without a gas station at which to fill up before leaving? Yet another sign of San Juan Bautista’s economic decline came this month when the city’s only gas station closed shop. A gas station closing doesn’t usually foster screaming headlines. But this one signals a continued loss of fuel for an economic engine that’s puttering out.
A town without a gas station is a town giving casual drivers a reason to keep cruising on by. It’s a town whose residents now have to drive seven miles to fill up. City leaders must see this as a serious problem; consider how often tourists will be stranded and, perhaps, not want to come back; and find a way to have another gas station opened in the Mission City.
THUMBS DOWN: One of the sadder impacts of budget cuts we’ve seen so far is that of animals being euthanized at the Hollister Animal Shelter after eight days in confinement because the facility just doesn’t have the staff anymore to hold them until they’re adopted.
The shelter usually has a 200-animal capacity in the summer but only housed 55 of them Tuesday when Free Lance reporter Anthony Ha reported on the story. The shelter also is down two other employees after two full-time staffers resigned in recent months. While the city works to fill those roles, we urge residents to consider adopting from the Hollister Animal Shelter and help save pets’ lives.
