Hollister City Council members approved reinstatement of parking
enforcement downtown in a 3-2 vote Monday with debate revolving
around the risk of whether projections
– showing a slight revenue gain – would hold up. Council members
Doug Emerson, Victor Gomez and Eugenia Sanchez supported the
resolution, while members Pauline Valdivia and Ray Friend voted
against it.
Hollister City Council members approved reinstatement of parking enforcement downtown in a 3-2 vote Monday after supporters touted its positive impact on businesses and detractors criticized the proposal’s timing and whether it might be a financial risk.
Council members’ votes came after each shared views and two business owners spoke in favor of reviving parking enforcement, while hiring a part-time community services officer and purchasing a Jeep Wrangler as the employee’s vehicle. Council members Doug Emerson, Victor Gomez and Eugenia Sanchez supported the changes, while members Pauline Valdivia and Ray Friend voted against it.
“I know if you have that movement downtown, it will have an effect on businesses,” Councilman Victor Gomez said.
Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia, however, noted how there were just two business owners supporting the two measures at the meeting while pronouncing, “Where are the merchants?” She said just one person “came forward” prior to the decision to show support for reviving the fines.
A bigger concern in her district, she said, is the rise of gang violence.
“That’s one of the things we really promised the folks in the community (with Measure T’s passage) is for us to have more patrol officers so we can prevent some of this stuff,” Valdivia said.
Officials estimate the city will lose about $12,700 in the first year, but that Hollister will net $15,270 in the second year – which amounts to a total of $2,600 in additional income during that time, according to a staff report. Police Chief Jeff Miller also noted how the new Jeep Wrangler should last at least five years, which means the projected net gain would increase in years three through five.
City Manager Clint Quilter estimated parking enforcement would start again no earlier than July 1 – when the new fiscal year begins – and said his “best guess” is sometime in August.
As part of the reinstatement, the fines would increase for various violations. The fine for the most common one, parking too long in a spot with a two-hour time limit, would go from $20 to $35.
The two council members opposing the fines expressed concern about the budget – noting how the figures are mere projections – and requested the city wait until officials examine the larger slate of finances in upcoming hearings.
“I just have a problem with revenue that we don’t know if we’re going to capture,” Councilman Ray Friend said at the meeting, “and we know we’re going to have to spend the hard dollars to even try and capture it. It’s money we could have spent somewhere else better.”
Gomez criticized opponents who cite the risk factor by saying “some people don’t understand the concept.”
“Yes, it’s definitely risky,” Gomez said. “There’s things that are more risky. There’s things are going to come before the board and are going to be even more risky, and some of us are going to say, ‘Go ahead and do it.'”
He believes it will pay for itself in two years.
“In two years, if you want to give me a call and laugh at me, do it,” he said. “I’ll give you my phone number.”
Look for an expanded version of this story in The Weekend Pinnacle on Friday.
