Though the county’s primary election is still more than nine
months away, three people have already stepped forward to say they
plan on running for two seats on the Board of Supervisors.
Hollister – Though the county’s primary election is still more than nine months away, three people have already stepped forward to say they plan on running for two seats on the Board of Supervisors.
Incumbent Pat Loe said she will seek to retain her District 3 seat in the June, 2006 election, which she will defend against former Supervisor Richard Place, who announced Thursday that he intends to run. District 4 incumbent Reb Monaco said that he will run for a second term. So far no one has come forward to challenge Monaco.
Place, 64, who was a supervisor for District 2 from 1997 to 2000, when he lost the seat to Ruth Kessler, said he’s been considering making another run for the board for some time.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” he said. “People kept asking me if I would run. People were hoping I would run.”
Issues that Place said he finds important include economic development, cooperation between the county and the city of Hollister.
“We need joint planning between Hollister and the county as to where we’re going in the future,” he said. “Economic development has to be a joint development.”
One way to boost the county’s economy, according to Place, is to re-zone agricultural land along railroads so it can be used for industrial purposes.
“We don’t have any area to build major property along the railroad,” he said.
Loe, 59, who was mayor of Hollister in the 1970s and spent more than a decade on the county planning commission before winning a seat on the board in 2002, said she wants to insure that future county growth is well-planned and orderly.
“I think San Benito County is basically at a cross roads right now,” she said. “It’s important to me that we grow in an orderly direction and continue having an open and fair government for the citizens in San Benito County.”
Loe said she does not believe her support of 2004’s Measure G – a growth control measure that split the county before it was handily defeated by voters – will affect her chances for the election.
“I feel that everybody wants leaders in government to basically be truthful about how they feel about issues,” she said.
She said she is not against the county growing, but she is concerned that development is planned in such a way that the county can support it with services.
“I think each development has to stand on its own merits and be judged by its merits,” she said.
During her time as a supervisor, Loe added, she has worked with her colleagues on the board to be responsible with taxpayer money.
District 1 Supervisor Don Marcus, who is not up for reelection, speculated that Hollister’s sewer situation, and the building moratorium that was placed on the city after a 15 million gallon sewage spill in 2002, will likely become a big issue in the race for District 3, which encompasses much of the city.
So far unopposed in District 4, Monaco, 61, said he hopes to win a second term so he can keep working on uncompleted projects, such as the reorganization of county departments and making San Benito County Historical Park, which is in his district, a more vital part of county recreation.
“There are things I started that I’d like to see through to completion,” he said.
Monaco said he is proud of the board being able to adopt a balanced county budget that didn’t cut any jobs.
“I think we have been a part of seeing the county through some very tough times,” he said.
A county-wide primary election will be held in June, 2006. At that time the two candidates that get the most votes for any office will go onto the November general election. However, if a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote during the primary, they automatically win the office they are seeking.
Following Place’s announcement that he would be a candidate, he and the Free lance mutually agreed to end his membership on the newspaper’s editorial board.
Luke Roney covers politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
