Monaco touts tough decisions, rips state
For the past eight years, Supervisor Reb Monaco said he has
helped to serve San Benito County by making tough decisions,
creating new departments such as parks and recreation, and
surviving the economic downturn that has ravaged through so many
counties.
The former Hollister School District teacher of 32 years said he
thinks he has played a part in helping the county survive the rough
times with money still in reserves despite the state capital
becoming the county’s main enemy, he said.
Monaco touts tough decisions, rips state
For the past eight years, Supervisor Reb Monaco said he has helped to serve San Benito County by making tough decisions, creating new departments such as parks and recreation, and surviving the economic downturn that has ravaged through so many counties.
The former Hollister School District teacher of 32 years said he thinks he has played a part in helping the county survive the rough times with money still in reserves despite the state capital becoming the county’s main enemy, he said.
“One concern that has hit us recently with the economic downturn is that Sacramento is no longer our ally,” Monaco said. “We have to be very cautious of the state taking moneys from us and still expecting us to provide services without any funding.”
But the county is still strong, thanks in part to its “mean and lean” departments, Monaco said.
“We haven’t had to cut back services – we haven’t had to lay off people,” Monaco said. “I like to say we are a lean and mean machine. We have a county that has a small staff that works hard.”
San Benito County has about 450 employees, while the budget problems at the state level continue to slow down any plans for the county, Monaco said.
“We are in this fluid situation where we are trying to react to what the state does,” he said.
Money is still coming to the state but the state doesn’t know what to do with it, Monaco said.
“California doesn’t have a financial problem – we are still one of the financial powers of the world and we still have economic vitality. The problem we have is a budget problem at a state level,” he said.
So the county always has to keep an eye on the state government and the budget, he said. Still, the county does have other problems, including attracting new businesses and jobs.
“We need to position ourselves to attract some of the satellite industries from the larger business in the Bay Area,” Monaco said.
To do so, Monaco hopes the board starts streamlining its departments making it easier to create businesses in the area, he said.
“It’s interrelated – we need to streamline planning to make it more business friendly. Countywide, we need to get our general plan up to date and that governs where we’ll have economic development,” Monaco said. “But we need to keep in mind our agriculture background.”
An example of a possible incoming business with jobs is Solargen, which hopes to install a solar farm in southern San Benito County.
“We have potentially realized a way to bring in money that doesn’t usually gain a lot of income,” Monaco said. “Also, it gives us an opportunity to gain some jobs. It’s only 20 jobs, but jobs are jobs.”
But first, the county must make some changes to its old “draconian” ordinances, to help push new-business creation.
“There still is some criticism – some criticism that the planning process isn’t where it should be,” Monaco said. “We are in the process of looking at how to streamline our process.”
Bringing jobs into the area is important, but so is bringing in money and recreational activities, he said.
To bring in more money to the county, the board needs to look at all alternatives for the Clear Creek Management Area, Monaco said.
“I think there should be some peer review done, but the problem is that the testing was very expensive and I don’t know if anyone would want to pay that,” Monaco said.
But the dangers in the area might prevent it from being reopened.
“I certainly support public access to public lands at some level and in this situation, if there is evidence of health risk in the area, how can we let people in there, especially young people?” he said.
The money lost from the closure is noticeable throughout the county, Monaco said.
“When I go to Tres Pinos and I talk to some people, they have noticed a significant drop in their business and they can tell when the people are going to Clear Creek because of what they wear,” he said. “When they tell me they’ve lost 20 percent of their business, that’s significant.”
To alleviate the loss, the county needs to look at giving more publicity to its other recreational activities, including the multiple golf courses and wineries in the area, Monaco said.
“We are missing the boat by not capitalizing on the other places throughout the county,” he said.
Reb Monaco
Age: 65
Occupation: retired San Benito School District teacher Elected Politcal Experience: San Benito County Supervisor 2003-present
