Vision San Benito is still seeking three new Advisory Committee
members and funding for a facilitator to help the group put
together a report on the future of the community.
Hollister – Vision San Benito is still seeking three new Advisory Committee members and funding for a facilitator to help the group put together a report on the future of the community.
Vision San Benito is a group of concerned citizens and community leaders working together as a community to create a plan for the future of the county with the common good of its residents in mind. The committee began in September and hopes to have a finished plan in 12-18 months, Morris said.
The advisory group currently has 27 members and has raised about $15,000 in funding, according to co-chair Julie Morris. The group received $5,000 each from Milgard Windows and Gavilan College, $1,000 from the San Benito County Office of Education and $2,500 from the Granite Rock Company. Vision San Benito has also applied for a grant of $9,000 over the next three years from the Community Foundation, and should find out whether they will get the grant some time in January, according to committee member Scott Fuller.
By February, Morris said she hopes the group will have appointed three new “at-large” members to help draft the report.
“We’re really looking for (at-large members) who would represent areas that are not already represented on the committee. For example, someone who is in tune with commuters’ issues. We still don’t have anyone representing the Native American community. And there’s been talk about having someone from the airport. Newcomers is another category I’ve heard rumblings about; someone to represent people who just moved here and aren’t necessarily involved yet,” Morris said.
Once the full board is chosen, the group hopes to hire a private consultant, Morris said. The consultant would help “direct the group” in drafting a final report to present to the Board of Supervisors, city and county planners and other city officials, she said. The consultant’s services would include teaching group members how to work in the community to build consensus and outreach and get community input, according to the minutes from Vision San Benito’s November meeting. Consultant fees could cost the group as much as $16,000 – $18,000, according to minutes from a committee meeting, so the group is still looking for more funding.
“I think the beginning process these first months moved pretty slowly, but once we do have a facilitator and we have our members seated, we think it will move much more quickly,” she said.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at
jq*****@fr***********.com
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