Cheers for Red Cross; jeers for daycare woes
The following events, organizations and people deserve either a Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down this week.
THUMBS UP: For the San Benito-Monterey Red Cross, which is trying to make a new start after it was hit by a financial scandal. Former Director Charron Contival recently plead no contest to misusing chapter funds. But the local chapter has merged with the Monterey chapter, has a new headquarters on Fifth Street near the YMCA and has established policies to ensure that donations will only go to legitimate Red Cross activities. It’s also working on implementing new CPR classes, bilingual First Aid courses and HIV/AIDS awareness classes. Those are all worthwhile endeavors and we encourage people to give the rebuilt organization that does so much good in our community a second chance.
THUMBS UP: For Gavilan College, which has begun the search for a new campus in Hollister. More than 2,000 students at the community college are from Hollister – 30 percent of the student body. College officials say they will have a site, up to 100 acres, selected within 18 months and that it could grow to be a full-service campus over the next 20 to 30 years. Having a satellite campus that serves the specific needs of our students and industries will be a fantastic step forward for Hollister.
THUMBS UP: For the news that the city of Hollister and the San Benito County Government will be getting an unexpected cash windfall from the state this year. Hollister will get $660,000 in Vehicle License Fee reimbursements and the county will get $1.5 million. The timing for the two governments, which both are facing budget deficits, couldn’t be better. We would give credit to the state for including the reimbursements in this year’s budget, but the state reneged on its promises not to touch the money in the first place and took away these crucial funds causing severe fiscal pain for local governments across California. We hope that the county and city invest this money wisely.
THUMBS UP: For the drop in crime and accidents during this year’s Hollister Independence Rally. Specific incidents such as traffic collisions and auto thefts were down by 60 percent this year. “Since the Rally started, we’d seen an increase in crime,” Police Chief Jeff Miller said. “But luckily we’ve had a drop over the past two years. Our numbers are way down.” That’s good news for the future of the event that puts our fair city on the map
THUMBS DOWN: For the news Gavilan College may cut it’s infant/toddler program that provides daycare for students with infants. Better-educated parents can provide a better quality of life for their families. That’s important to the community, as better-educated citizens are more likely to be taxpayers instead of social services beneficiaries. The program cost $197,858 to run but brought in revenue of $168,968, a difference of less than $29,000. Trustees have held off on cutting the program, and we hope they find a creative solution to keep it in place and give the students who need it the most a leg up in the job market by removing some obstacles to getting an education.
