County of San Benito Government News

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.

Mallory Schmitt, San Benito County’s deputy director of public health services, said the general public is not at a high risk from the bird flu outbreak that led Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency on Dec. 18.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren has secured seven provisions relating to local water issues, which could bring as much as $15 million to San Benito County to pay for the San Juan Bautista Water and Hollister Downtown Water Line Replacement Projects.

In 2017, President Donald Trump created a program called Opportunity Zones to spur economic growth in low-income communities—two of these are located in San Benito County.

Homeless residents have built elaborate living arrangements along the San Benito River, and some of them include underground dwellings and walled communities, according to a recent census conducted by the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office.

At its last meeting of the year, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to postpone voting on amendments to the rules governing the county Planning Commission. The proposal modifies the commission’s duties and scope of authority, which has been the source of tensions between planners and supervisors in recent months.

The California Department of Justice found no criminal wrongdoing by San Benito County Jail staff in the case of an inmate who escaped on May 28, according to San Benito County Sheriff Eric Taylor. He said the escape was a result of lazy or sloppy work by staff. 

According to a San Benito County planner, Measure A will not immediately stall the plan to build a visitor center, gas station, fruit stand and motel at the corner of Hwy 101 and Betabel Road. The Betabel Road Project was approved by the San Benito County Board of Supervisors in November 2022 and that approval cannot be retroactively revoked, said Johnathan Olivas, associate planner for the county.

At a Dec. 2 special meeting, the San Juan Bautista City Council voted to approve the final wording of a memorandum of understanding that will be submitted to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors. If accepted by the board, the MOU would give the city a greater voice in decisions regarding proposed developments in the area immediately outside the city limits.

The San Benito County Elections Department released its final results for the Nov. 5 election on Dec. 4. Overall, a total 28,017 county residents voted in more than 30 national, state, and local races.

In a Nov. 26 meeting, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors tabled a series of amendments to a number of zoning ordinances listed in the County Code. The amendments, which were introduced by county staff, aimed to change substantial parts of the county’s land use policies, including allowing commercial development on land zoned for agricultural use.

In separate meetings in English and Spanish, officials from San Benito County and the state of California heard public comments regarding the long-awaited expansion of Hwy 25, which connects the cities of Gilroy and Hollister.

After winning a state grant, San Benito County officials began the process of creating the Agricultural Element to include in the 2035 General Plan—the document that by law guides all county land use decisions. 

In a 10-hour meeting on Nov. 12, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors decided on projects and policies that have been in the spotlight for the past several months.

Open letter to San Benito County residents, Nov. 8:

San Benito County voters on Nov. 5 were presented with local measures that could have lasting impacts in the community in land use, education, and healthcare. With some measures still too close to call, the controversial Measure A appears to be on its way to approval by voters.

The Public Defender Oversight Committee under the approval of the Board of Supervisors has four vacancies available to be filled by community members. The role of the Committee is to provide recommendations to the Board of Supervisors concerning public defense services in the County.

Measure A, which would put land use designation decisions in the hands of San Benito County voters, is projected to pass with 54.08% of the vote as of Nov. 6. The No on A campaign garnered 45.92% with 40.71% of the votes counted.

Traffic barrier demanded in the wake of the head-on collision that killed Priscilla Jones.

Residents of San Benito County proudly showed up at the Community Foundation “Epicenter” on election day to vote in person.

PUBLIC REVIEW PERIOD: November 4, 2024, to November 11, 2024. The County of San Benito has given notice of the availability of the 6th Cycle (2023-2031) San Benito County Housing Element Public Review Draft. This update of the Housing Element constitutes an amendment of the General Plan and, pursuant to Government Code §65585, a 7-day review and comment period is provided.

The deadlock over what will replace a canceled regional fire protection contract continues, as the City of Hollister and San Benito County are still trading barbs over alleged bad faith bargaining.

Under pressure from City Manager Don Reynolds and the San Juan Bautista City Council to complete its work, the city’s Urban Growth Boundary Committee voted Oct. 28 to submit the finished draft of its final project, a memorandum of understanding, to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors that would give the city a measure of input into developments on county property near its boundaries.

Measure A, the initiative that would change the way land use decisions are made in San Benito County, is one of the crucial items on the Nov. 5 ballot. BenitoLink reviewed the funding statements that the “Yes” and “No” sides filed with the county’s Election Department.

Ana De Castro Maquiz wasn’t irate over an Oct. 18 article in the Hollister Free Lance that opponents of San Benito County’s Measure A had misreported $189,000 in campaign contributions.The San Jose Mercury News also recently reported that opponents of the measure, which could dramatically impact all commercial development in the county, had raised substantially more than what appeared in a public campaign finance portal for Measure A’s opposition, Neighbors to Preserve San Benito. This is because $189,000 of the group’s $270,000 in donations were filed under its 2022 No on Measure Q campaign.But De Castro Maquiz, who is chief deputy clerk-recorder-elections for the county, told BenitoLink on Oct. 25 that she didn’t believe Measure A’s opposition had been deliberately misleading.

Expanding California’s unprecedented support for local efforts to create long-term solutions to address homelessness, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that 37 regional grantees representing 100 local communities and organizations statewide will receive more than $827 million in new state investments to create new housing, shelter and support for those experiencing homelessness.