The Community Action Board hosted a leadership luncheon Thursday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Cienega Road for local business and community leaders.
The title of the luncheon was “It Takes A Village,” and the discussion focused on the role of community in confronting economic challenges in San Benito County, among other issues.
Participating in the panel discussion was county board of supervisors Chairman Anthony Botelho, Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez, County Sheriff Darren Thompson, Community Foundation CEO Gary Byrne and Hollister Downtown Association President Brenda Weatherly.
“As we all know, we have gone through quite a tough period of time with the recession,” Botelho told the group. “It has affected government services.”
But he said he does believe there will be improvement in the economy.
“The assessed value of our county has risen 6 percent,” Botelho noted.
Botelho hailed the new stats, saying the “future looks bright” for the city and county.
The mayor seemed to agree.
“Something has happened with our community that is changing what we are doing,” Velazquez said. “We’re making huge progress in what we’re doing.”
The mayor discussed the merging of the fire departments in Hollister, San Juan Bautista and the county as an example of better cooperation among local elected officials.
“These are difficult things to do in government because government has a tendency to want to protect their territory,” he said while adding that the merge worked because the decision led to the hiring of more firefighters and cutting response times without increasing costs.
The cooperation and the community that has developed between the city council and the board of supervisors stems from their interest in “pro-business” policies and growing the economy, even in tough but improving economic times.
“The answer is yes, and we encourage people and tell them we are behind them (about bringing businesses to the area),” the mayor said.
