Hollister
– The San Benito County Board of Supervisors plans to look at
economic development and gang issues at its board retreat on
Tuesday.
Hollister – The San Benito County Board of Supervisors plans to look at economic development and gang issues at its board retreat on Tuesday.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho said it’s particularly important for county leaders to examine the role they play in economic development.
“We could spend the whole session on that,” he said.
Botelho said some of the county’s current rules and regulations are getting in the way of San Benito’s economic prosperity. Botelho said that when he was on the county planning commission, he became frustrated when regulations prevented an important project from moving forward.
“We should be evaluating our regulations to spur economic development in San Benito County,” Botelho said.
Botelho said he would like to see city and county leaders host a town hall meeting in the coming months to discuss potential solutions to the area’s gang problems.
“We definitely as a community and local government haven’t been very successful at providing alternatives,” Botelho said. “We need to be a little more aggressive in working with city leaders.”
Next week’s retreat was rescheduled from Feb. 15. Specific land-use and development issues, such as the county’s 1 percent growth cap, were on the February agenda, but Botelho said those items were taken off due in part to concerns that specific policy decisions would be better addressed in a regular meeting.
No action may be taken at board retreats, according to County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson. Instead, the retreats provide a venue for the board to meet and talk through issues. Members of the public will be able to make comments to the board before each discussion topic.
Thompson said the board will also look at some procedural and administrative issues. That includes clarifying the actual purpose of the retreats, she said. When she first joined the county, Thompson said, the retreats focused on “team-building, not policy issues.” The retreats have started drifting into specific policy issues, and Thompson said it would be a good idea to establish guidelines to distinguish what should be discussed in retreats and what should be discussed in regular meetings.
Another issue on the agenda is how board members should react when approached by one of their constituents for help. Board Chair Don Marcus said the supervisors need to make sure they’re on the same page.
“We want to make sure that we as a board are acting in a somewhat consistent fashion,” Marcus said.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
