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Editor’s note: This article was revised at 10:37, Nov. 5, to accurately reflect the language included in 2020’s Measure K. The measure did not propose four commercial nodes on Hwy 101; it proposed specific uses at those nodes, which had been approved for development in the 2015 general plan.
San Benito County’s population expanded by 5.6 percent over the four years ending in December 2023, while California as a whole lost 1.4 percent of its residents. That’s because the relatively inexpensive county’s proximity to Bay Area jobs has brought commuters to its two incorporated cities, Hollister and San Juan Bautista.
Any weekday after 6 p.m., convoys of home-bound vehicles squeeze onto two-lane Hwy 25 heading east from the Hwy 101 offramp. The county population has increased by more than 5,000 since 2020, but new residents are not all spending that much money in the county itself.
“People are commuting so much they don’t want to go anywhere when they’re not commuting,” said Kristie Kern, owner of an arts-and-crafts coffee shop in downtown Hollister. She said she hopes to bring in more customers on weekends.
This growth and its lack of knock-on revenue are driving a contentious ballot measure that will go before voters countywide on Nov. 5.
Measure A, called the Empower Voters to Make Land Use Decisions Initiative, proposes to reverse pro-development land-use changes made along Hwy 101 over the past decade to their pre-2020 status, and would require a separate vote by the public for every conversion of agricultural, range or rural land use for commercial or housing development outside Hollister and San Juan Bautista.
The initiative would also remove the commercial status of four “nodes”—essentially highway intersections along Hwy 101: at San Juan Road, Betabel Road, Hwy 129 and Livestock 101.
About 99 percent of the 1,391-square-mile county is unincorporated.
Preserving open space by halting commercial development
Measure A’s proponents believe public votes on each potential project will help preserve San Benito’s rustic character—a tourist selling point—while protecting wildlife in the open grassland and mountains. Opponents say it would halt development on heavily trafficked Hwy 101, and throttle any effort to develop much-needed commercial activity in the county.
The measure would effectively decide what happens to future projects such as San Benito County’s most obvious Hwy 101 enterprise, Betabel RV Park. The 25-year-old RV park already pays transient occupancy tax charged on 172 sites for RVs and trailers, plus a tax on some of the sales made in its general store, manager Rachel Labas said. The park gets ample traffic.
“It is kind of a deserted section of Hwy 101, but it doesn’t seem to deter people,” she said.
Next door to the RV park, property owners Rider and Victoria McDowell have tried over the past five years to build a produce market and restaurant, income from which would eventually help fund the Cancer-A-Gogo charity, created in honor of their teenage son who died from brain cancer.
The project faced environmental lawsuits in 2022 after the couple had spent $200,000 clearing land for the project. Today it remains dormant. Rider McDowell did not answer requests for comment.
The McDowell project would be stopped from going ahead if Measure A passed, unless the owners reapplied and went to county voters for approval.
Opponents say the prospect of going before voters would deter developers of even small-scale projects such as truck stops—the likes of which would create local jobs, contribute tax revenue to the county and allow for upgrades of parks, a jail, rural roads and the library.
“The average person is not that aware of financial or growth issues—the impact of an issue like this,” said Bob Tiffany, a spokesman for the opposition.
Other rural California counties have taken different routes to limiting commercial growth, particularly in the use of agriculture or open-space preserves that act as unbending guidelines for planners.
Napa County, for example, approved an agricultural reserve in 1968, leaving 37,100 acres or 7.3 percent of the county in conservation agreements between landowners and a county trust.
Napa has witnessed acrimonious debates among some of its 500-plus wineries against other stakeholders over the past decades regarding growth and took all that time to find the right formula, said Sheli Smith, executive director of the Napa County Historical Society.
The reserve, however, has channeled growth into the city of Napa. Meanwhile, the region pulled together as a winery tourism hub through the joint work of county, city, Chamber of Commerce and visitor association officials, Smith said.
Napa’s wine sector brings in tax money from hotel stays and some of that goes back into tourism—including the county’s museums and heritage sites.
“You could put all your eggs in marketing what you got and maybe that will bring tourism to your doorstep,” she said.
Previously, San Benito County voters faced three other ballot measures asking about commercial growth—a possible source of confusion among the electorate now.
Ballot Measure K in March 2020 proposed approving specific uses of four nodes on the seven-mile stretch of Hwy 101 that runs through the county, which had been approved for commercial development in the general plan in 2015. Nearly 60 percent of voters opposed the measure.
In November 2020, about the same percentage of voters rejected Measure N, which would have allowed a project called Strada Verde Innovation Park to conduct research, test vehicles, operate hotels and house other businesses on 2,777 acres.
Measure Q Redux?
And two years later, 56 percent of county voters turned down Measure Q, which—similar to Measure A—would have required voter approval for land-use changes leading to development.
An advocacy group once called Preserve Our Rural Communities, now known as Protect San Benito County, opposed Measures K and N and led the campaign in support of Measure Q.
County officials have tried to develop spots that past ballot measures were meant to protect, meaning the public should be put in charge now, Measure A proponent Andy Hsia-Coron said.
“When you go out and talk to people, they say ‘didn’t we vote on these already?’” he said.
He believes tourism to wineries and scenic spots should bring in the needed tax dollars but resents heavy traffic. Hwy 101, he believes, gets traffic that’s “backed up for miles” on weekends.
Hsia-Coron contends that tourism including ecotourism could add to the county tax base. “This is one of the most spectacular counties in California,” he said.
But tourism development moves at a crawl in San Benito County, Tiffany said, noting that Hollister has seen two new hotels open over as many years. Tourists would need more places to stay outside the city near scenic spots such as Pinnacles National Park. “That would be a very positive thing to have a hotel or a small resort,” he said.
Pro-Measure A fliers issued this year by Protect San Benito County complain of traffic jams, unsafe roads and a loss of farmland to housing—most of which is within the city limits. The group says it’s a 501c(3) nonprofit, which does not allow political activity. Hsia-Coron has declined to address the group’s legal status.
BenitoLink has checked three fliers this election year and found that they contained errors, lacked context or reiterated flawed arguments. A group called the Hollister Guardians distributed two of the fliers.
Out-of-county support
Several Bay Area environmental groups back Measure A on environmental grounds, though none are based in San Benito County.
Jessica Wohlander, an environmental associate with Palo Alto-based group Green Foothills, said keeping Hwy 101 free of more development will let bobcats and mountain lions cross the freeway through tunnels or overpasses between mountain ranges on either side, increasing biodiversity. Green Foothills, along with the Alameda County-based Save Mount Diablo, have helped fund Measure A.
The group has also helped gather signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.
Today oak-studded mountains rim San Benito County, stretching southeast through ranches and open space to the Fresno County line. Flatlands closer to the two incorporated cities support farms that grow tomatoes and flowers for nursery use.
Former county supervisor Anthony Botehlo, an opponent of Measure A, says income from stores, restaurants, hotels and other new businesses would contribute to the tens of millions of dollars needed for public services.
San Benito ranks among four California counties where just 9% of property tax revenue went to the county government in 2022, according to the State Board of Equalization. The board logged about $142 million in property taxes for San Benito in 2022.
“It’s very uneven throughout the 58 counties,” Tiffany said. “It puts San Benito County at a real disadvantage to start with, and then on top of that, we have very few other revenue sources, like sales tax, that come in from the unincorporated areas of the county.”
Among the county’s top priorities, Botelho said a new park would cost $1 million per acre, adding that it would cost $40 million to bring the library up to current standards; road repair normally costs $1 million per mile and 450 miles of road are due for upgrades. He also noted that San Benito County Jail needs $7 million more to avoid losing a $15 million grant.
“The measure kills revenue opportunities,” Botelho said. “And that’s it, in a nutshell.”
Posted in2024 Election Coverage
Hollister City Council election funding focuses on mayoral race
Incumbent Mia Casey raises four times more than opponent Roxanne Stephens, who nevertheless outspent the mayor by more than 60%.
by Noe MagañaNovember 4, 2024
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Lea este articulo en español aquí.
Editor’s note: This article was updated at 11:07 on Nov. 5 to include expenditures from the mayoral candidates’ Form 460s.
The candidates for Hollister City Council have raised a combined $38,954 for their respective campaigns. The majority of the funds have gone to the mayoral race. Incumbent Mia Casey has reported $22,929 in contributions, while challenger Roxanne Stephens has reported $5,082.
However, Stephens has outspent Casey, reporting $23,274 in expenditures to Casey’s $13,770.
Councilmember Rick Perez reported the second highest campaign contributions with $8,113.82. Rudy Picha, vying for Perez’s District 1 seat, has raised $1,196.
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District 4 challenger Priscilla De Anda reported receiving $1,634 for her campaign. Incumbent Councilmember Tim Burns did not file a report. California law only requires candidates who receive more than $2,000 in contributions to file.
The City Council earlier this year abandoned its campaign contribution policy that limited candidates to receiving $250 per donor. They are now following the state’s policy which limits contributions to $5,500 and requires candidates to disclose contributors who donated $100 or more.
The state also requires elected officials to recuse themselves from voting on projects whose applicant contributed to their campaign within a year of the vote.
Below is a breakdown for each race.
Mayor
Casey’s largest contributors are trade unions and Hollister Fire Department union, combining for $8,000. Her largest single contributor is the Ted and Irene Davis Family Trust with $5,000. Ted Davis is the former owner of Hollister-based Teknova, a chemical reagent manufacturing company.
The source of most of Stephens’ funds have not yet been reported. She reports receiving contributions of $100 or more from individuals mostly from Hollister. She received $1,800 from out-of-county contributors, including her biggest donor, Gerardo Gonzalez from Daly City with $500. She received a total of $748 in contributions of less than $100.
District 1
Unions have also backed Perez’s campaign with $3,300 in contributions. His biggest individual contributor is Shawn Herrera with $1,000. Herrera is involved in several local nonprofits, including BenitoLink (Herrera and the rest of BenitoLink Board of Directors do not engage in editorial decisions.)
Picha reported four contributors of $100 or more. His biggest contributor was Linda Picha with $500. He also reported receiving $496 in contributions of less than $100.
District 4
$1,034 of Priscilla De Anda’s funds were from contributions of less than $100. She received two contributions of $100 from out-of-the-county residents.
Burns has not filed a contributions list.
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