Hollister council members Monday decided to wait until the upcoming deadline for candidates to declare before appointing the District 2 member set to temporarily succeed Robert Scattini, who resigned from his seat last week.
District 2 Councilman Robert Scattini has resigned from his elected role following the Hollister School District’s decision to raise rent on a home from which he lived and oversaw Calaveras School security for a quarter-century.
Scattini officially resigned last Thursday and attributed the decision to his move into another home – in District 3 – which he already owned. Scattini in an interview with the Free Lance last Friday said he had planned to move over this past weekend to his property in District 3, where he intends to run for an open council seat in November.
Council members Monday decided to wait until the upcoming deadline for candidates to declare before appointing the District 2 member set to temporarily succeed Scattini, whose term ends this year.
Through last Friday, Mickie Luna has pulled papers to run in District 2, and Victoria Montoya has qualified signatures to run in that district as well. In District 3, Karson Klauer has qualified signatures to run, and Scattini has pulled papers, according to City Clerk Geri Johnson.
Although the school district expressed intent to raise Scattini’s rent from $450 to $1,750 monthly – as part of the agreement, he has watched over the campus security – Scattini said his resignation is due to a desire to run in District 3 instead of District 2. He filed candidacy papers last week to run in his new district.
“Not really,” he said of the school district’s decision. “I have to be in this district to run in 3.”
Scattini has paid $450 plus utilities and assessed taxes. He said the district has increased his rent through the years, but he did pay the same rent in 2007 when the Free Lance did a story on the arrangement. According to the deal, he had been assigned to two patrol inspections during school days and four on non-school days. The home is in the middle of a city park next to the school.
“I did that for 26 years and I never had a break-in in that place,” said Scattini, who has overseen security there since 1989.”
Hollister School District Superintendent Gary McIntire responded regarding the decision by stressing that Scattini paid “very favorable” rent with a “couple” of increases through the years. He mentioned that Scattini, 74, is no longer county marshal, an elected position he held through the end of 2010.
“He actually was a sworn officer and is not in that capacity any longer,” McIntire said.
Instead of Scattini’s services, the district has contracted for services with First Alarm Security & Patrol since the early months of 2013 at an initial cost of $1,713 for the first six-week period of services, according to the contract information provided by the district.
“And so, it seemed kind of redundant,” the superintendent said of Scattini’s deal.
McIntire said the district did not want to “upset” city leadership by forcing Scattini to move, so it offered the $1,750 monthly rent price instead of moving forward on an initial 30-day notice.
Scattini had another reason to move, though, as he hopes to stay on the city council after his second term expires in December. He said he “tried everything” to stay on the council through the election, but noted that state law requires people to resign if they move from an elected district.
As for the future of Scattini’s former home, McIntire said the district needed to get the house cleaned and prepared for another use, likely with a commercial rate.
