Come Monday night, it’s out with the old and in with the
new.
Hollister – Come Monday night, it’s out with the old and in with the new.
At 6pm Brian Conroy, Tony LoBue, and Mayor Tony Bruscia will give up their seats on the City Council to the three newly-elected representatives for Dists. 1, 4 and 5.
The rookie council members – Brad Pike of Dist. 1, Doug Emerson of Dist. 4 and Monica Johnson of Dist. 5 – will make up the majority of the five-person council as soon as they take office.
But Robert Scattini said he wasn’t worried about the new majority not having the experience on the council he and fellow council member Pauline Valdivia do.
“I’m anxious to work with them,” he said. “We’re going to have to work together, and they’re going to have to prepare themselves. But I’m happy and I’m excited to work with them.”
Emerson said he felt the same way, and admitted things probably wouldn’t all come together right off the bat.
“I’m looking forward to a new challenge and I’m excited about (taking office),” Emerson said Friday. “When I got started, I had a lot of second thoughts, but now I think its going to be exciting and it’s going to be fun. But I’m not going to go in there with big agendas and make some big changes right away; there’s going to be a learning curve.”
Brad Pike, a Saratoga fire captain, said he was also excited about Monday night but was taking the responsibility of the job very seriously. Even though, or perhaps because, he is a newcomer, Pike said he is ready to hit the ground running.
“They’ll probably actually have to pull me back on the reins a little bit sometimes,” he said. “I’m not intimidated by being a rookie; everyone has to be one at some point. But I’d like to have the mold broken a little bit. Yeah, there’s going to be procedures to learn, but for me government has always been about people. It’s just people wanting to get out there and help.”
Monica Johnson said she was also the “hit the road running type.” While she said she is a bit nervous about being a newcomer, she is more excited and ready to roll than anything else.
“From having been at the last few council meetings, it looks like the big things that are going to be awaiting us (the new council members) are the General Plan and the Vision of San Benito, so I think there are going to be a lot of things already on our plate when we get there. But I’m as ready as I’m going to be, and I’m looking forward to it,” she said.
The new council will be seated Monday, Dec. 13 at 6pm in the council chambers in City Hall.
