Betsy Dirks was appointed to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors by Gov. Gavin Newsom to fill the District 1 seat left vacant when Mark Medina resigned. She represents northeast Hollister and the north end of the county. Dirks is an independent education consultant and has also taught at Christopher High School (2020-2021), Gilroy High School (2001-2005). She previously ran for the District 1 seat against Medina but lost to the incumbent in the March 2020 primary election with 42.4% of the votes. “I’m excited and honored for the opportunity to serve San Benito County and the residents of District 1,” Dirks told BenitoLink. “I know there is work to be done and I look forward to making sure that all voices are heard and represented.”
Notable quote: “At the heart of why I wanted to run is to make sure the county is a place where families can make sure kids have somewhere to put down roots.” (Source: BenitoLink.com)
At a Jan. 14 meeting, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors discussed the future of Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. By a unanimous vote, they decided to approach the San Benito Health Care District in an effort to stymie the potential lease-sale of the hospital to the Michigan-based Insight Health.
Construction of Riverview Regional Park, the 46-acre recreation zone planned for the area between the Hollister High School campus and the San Benito River, will begin this fall, a year later than originally expected.
For the second time, San Benito County has canceled a town hall meeting to discuss the future of the county’s fire protection services. The meeting—which was supposed to take place in December but was then rescheduled for Jan. 9—has been indefinitely postponed.
On Jan. 6 the San Benito County Board of Supervisors unanimously chose Kollin Kosmicki to be its chair for 2025. Among his duties, he will preside over board meetings, rule on questions of procedure and appoint committees to study issues.
In many elections, voters will cast a ballot selecting candidates at the top of the ticket but skip voting on “down-ballot” races—resulting in what election officials call “undervotes.” In the Nov. 5 election, a number of San Benito County races had more undervotes tallied than the margin between the top two choices, which means the undervotes may have determined the outcomes of those races.
