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In a 4-1 vote the Hollister City Council on June 18 agreed to terminate the city’s fire services contracts with San Benito County and San Juan Bautista. According to council members, this is a move to raise the fees it charges for those services.
“The city can’t afford to pay the county and San Juan Bautista’s bills,” Councilmember Dolores Morales said. “We’re looking to address that by providing a little fire under those cities.”
Terminating the contracts would force the county and San Juan Bautista to pay a larger sum or obtain alternative fire services. The termination of services would be effective March 17, 2025.
San Benito County Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki, who sits on the Fire Protection Committee, said he is not open to negotiating with the city, and called its attempt to raise costs “extraordinarily inappropriate.”
“The problem here is the current City Council has allowed the budget to go out of control,” Kosmiski told BenitoLink. “They say ‘yes’ to everything before them and they’re basically going broke.”
BenitoLink reached out to San Juan Bautista City Manager Don Reynolds on June 21 for comment but he has not responded.
In 2014, Hollister City Council voted to approve a contract for $228,000 with San Juan Bautista to cover the city’s fire needs.
The county’s 2022-23 Grand Jury Report found that the Hollister Fire Department’s resources were stretched thin due to staff shortages and equipment issues. Hollister Mayor Mia Casey said the council supported hiring more firefighters after the grand jury findings were released.
The council received a presentation on the fire department’s annual report during a May 6 meeting. It showed that in 2023, the city accounted for 59% of fire calls, while 37% of calls went to the county and 4% to San Juan Bautista.
For those services, the county paid $2.2 million, or 21% of the fire department’s budget, while San Juan Bautista paid $260,465, or 1.8%.
Kosmicki said the county will look to CalFire and other agencies to provide fire services.
“This is the city of Hollister attempting to extort millions of dollars from the county,” he said. “We don’t have the money they’re asking for.”
City Councilmember Rolan Resendiz, who was the lone council vote against the move, claimed that the council mismanaged funds and is now looking to lay off firefighters.
Morales, Casey and Councilmember Rick Perez said the move would not result in any staff reduction in the fire department. Councilmember Tim Burns concurred.
“I just want to reiterate that there has never been one word discussed about laying off a firefighter [or] anybody from the fire department,” Burns said. “I would never support that. But I do support financial stability.
“We’re just asking for it to be equitable and it’s time to have that conversation. And I find it unusual how the politics has shifted on this and how there’s been an incorrect message that has been pushed out.”
Firefighter and Hollister Firefighters Union Local 3395 Vice President Vince Grewohl expressed frustration with the city’s move to terminate fire services in the county.
“The safety of our citizens is not a bargaining chip,” Grewohl said. “We have protected the citizens of Hollister, San Benito County, San Juan Bautista with great resolve since 2013 and now we’re being threatened with budget cuts and layoffs.”
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