Councilman Rick Perez, Councilwoman Dolores Morales, Mayor Mia Casey, Councilman Tim Burns & Vice-Mayor Rolan Resendiz
Who Do They Serve?
Hollister Guardians and our supporters attended many City Council and Planning Commission meetings from 2023 to 2024. Sadly, Hollister's former Mayor Casey & City Council majority kept ignoring our concerns, even when we brought 30 to 80 residents to meetings and gave public comments. Their votes showed that they consistently listen to the handful of developers and large landowners who attend their meetings. See details below or download a summary here.
Rewrite the General Plan for Developers
Residents oppose the City Council cutting affordable housing from 20% to 15%
Developers were unhappy with an earlier version of the Hollister 2040 General Plan that a citizens committee had worked on for three years. This "people's General Plan" reflected Hollister residents' wish for modest growth. It was completed in January 2023 and was ready to be approved by the Hollister City Council.
Unfortunately, Mayor Casey & her City Council majority voted to rewrite the 2040 General Plan and give developers their wish list, including:
Expanding the city's "Sphere of Influence" to allow thousands of new houses on 3,000 acres of farmland along Fairview, Buena Vista, Union, and San Juan Hollister Roads,
Cutting the amount of affordable housing that developers are required to build, from 20% to 15%,
Reducing the acres of farmland that developers are required to protect when they develop (2:1 changed to 1:1), and
Making Hollister residents pay $762,822 to rewrite the General Plan for the benefit of developers.
Learn more here. (See Nov. 6, 2023, City Council Video & Minutes, Agenda item F3.)
On December 3, 2024, the outgoing Mayor Casey and City Council majority voted to approve this terrible 2040 General Plan.
On December 6, 2024, several Hollister residents submitted paperwork to launch a referendum to overturn this December 3 vote that's essentially a slap in the face of voters who clearly stated their wish to slow growth in the November 2024 election.
Sewer Service Give-Away
In the summer of 2023, the Mayor & City Council majority voted to double the city's sewer capacity so that they can extend sewer service to thousands of houses outside of Hollister city limits (San Juan Oaks, San Juan Bautista, Fairview, Cielo Vista, Ridgemark). Developers have long lobbied for sewer service because it makes it profitable for them to build large housing developments. Westside residents protested at several City Council meetings and spoke of the stench from the sewer plant in their neighborhood. Residents warned that more houses would bring more sewage, more traffic, and more overcrowded schools. Learn more here. (See June 20, 2023, City Council Minutes & Video, Agenda item F1. And Aug. 7, 2023, City Council Minutes & Video, Agenda item F1.)
Friend of Developers
Sewer Service to Lee Subdivision
Developer of Lee Subdivision asks for sewer service
On August 7, 2023, Mayor Casey & her City Council majority voted to give the developer of Lee subdivision sewer service. This 141-unit residential subdivision on Fairview Road is outside Hollister city limits. (See Aug. 7, 2023 City Council Minutes, Agenda item 1.)
Several months earlier, in February 2023, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors had rejected Mr. Lee's project because of its impact on traffic, roads and other infrastructure. The Mayor & City Council simply ignored the Supervisors' decision to reject the Lee subdivision located on County land. (See Feb. 7, 2023 County Supervisors Minutes & Video, Agenda item 4.1.)
$4.5 Million Discount to San Juan Oaks
San Juan Oaks Developer asks for sewer service
When Mayor Casey & her City Council majority gave sewer service to 1,084 houses at the San Juan Oaks (SJO) golf community, the developer also got a 53% discount because San Juan Oaks is for seniors (55 years & older). This is a total discount of $4.5 million that the Mayor & City Council gave to the San Juan Oaks developer. The discount was intended for low-income, senior housing in Hollister, not for luxury houses in golf communities outside of Hollister. Only Councilman Resendiz voted against extending sewer service to San Juan Oaks. (See June 20, 2023, City Council Minutes and Video, Agenda item G2; Resolution 2023-133 of Agenda Packet.)
Secret Meetings
Violating the Brown Act (Transparency)
For some time, Mayor Casey & her City Council majority kept discussions about city sewer services for developments in closed meetings. They probably didn't want the public to know, until shortly before the vote, that the sewer extensions include a $4.5 million discount to San Juan Oaks & require Hollister to pay $2.5 million to double sewer capacity. The CA Brown Act requires public participation in this kind of City Council deliberation. They violated the spirit of the Brown Act. (See June 5, 2023 City Council Video, report of Councilman Resendiz, at 7:48:34 of Video.)
Suppress Free Speech
Silencing the Voice of West Side Residents
Mayor Casey & her City Council majority have tried to silence Councilman Rolan Resendiz by censuring him twice because he strongly objected to the expansion of the city's sewer facility for new housing developments due to the impact on his Westside constituents. Large groups of Westside residents attended City Council meetings in May - November of 2023 to defend Rolan's freedom of speech. Councilman Resendiz's supporters objected to the censures and urged the Mayor & City Councill to stop bullying Mr. Resendiz with threats of removal from committees, fines, and other punishment. During public comment, Westside residents said, "Rolan is our Voice", and "When you silence Rolan, you silence Us". Several spoke in Spanish with the help of translators. Many brought signs with messages like "Free Speech for Rolan". On Aug. 7, the Mayor & City Council had their fire marshall expel 12 Westside residents for standing in the back of the room, but they let the supporters of developers stand in the back. Residents told the KSBW News reporter: "They won't listen to us" and "We're tired of being ignored!". See KSBW News reports here.