Let's talk Hollister

09/27/2025

🚨 Hollister’s Future Is on the Line — This is your chance to Give input — Speak Up before Oct. 13 🚨

The County is pushing through a Housing Element plan that will forever change the city of Hollister from a small farming town into a crowded urban center.

Here’s what’s happening in plain terms:

* The state told the County to plan for 800 new homes over the next 8 years in planning it's County Housing Element plan.

* Instead, the County zoned for over 4,000 homes — five times more than what is required.

* Rather than planning this growth in the county where it belonged, at the edges of the city, they’re cramming almost all of it inside Hollister city limits, in small “pockets” or islands of county land.

* These pockets are being zoned for high-density housing — meaning tall apartment buildings in neighborhoods that were never designed for that kind of street traffic or crowding.

* This could mean multi-story complexes in the center of single-family home neighborhoods.

* Meanwhile, Hollister itself is also required to plan for over 4,000 new housing units as part of the Hollister Housing Element. If the County’s Housing Element plan goes forward, that number will double — 8,000+ units, all packed into Hollister city limits.

Supervisors Kosmicki, Velazquez, and Zanger pushed this. They are also planning to eliminate single-family zoning. This County Housing Element plan means our city could lose its small-town character and look more like San Jose — with high-rises and congested neighborhoods.

Despite their claims about slow-growth, these supervisors have done exactly the opposite. This isn’t careful planning. It’s overbuilding. And their poor planning will change Hollister forever.

To review the housing element plan online:
https://files.ceqanet.lci.ca.gov/323049-1/attachment/1wX922pY4BgoQ9cajn_KbnMkN5GoKalhxV0kPmfrNzqcomawPAPQOCkWtM5hhKuNAsMXsRGJR61cmxYN0

You can also read the San Benito Blueprint blogpost about the Housing Element:
https://thesanbenitoblueprint.com/2025/07/23/unincorporated-countys-housing-element-unlocks-potential-4400-homes-in-and-around-hollister/

👉 You can stop this. The state must review the County’s plan, but they need to hear from residents during this public comment period.

You can submit comments to the county, as well as an email directly to the California Department of Housing and Community Development by October 13 explaining your concerns. This is your chance to help protect Hollister’s future. Once these changes are approved, we can’t go back. Be sure to identify the comments are about the San Benito County Housing Element.

You can email the county at: [email protected]
You can email the state at: [email protected]

https://sanbenito.com/sb-county-housing-element-out-for-public-review/

San Benito County has released its draft of the 2023-2031 housing element and is seeking input from county residents during the month-long public review period

09/23/2025

Just wanted to share that another Board of Supervisors ‘budget workshop’ has been scheduled for Wednesday morning and again it is being held at the Sheriffs Conference room and they are not doing any recording or CMAP/zoom for people to watch. **𝘾𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉: 𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙕𝙤𝙤𝙢/𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙙 … 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙣-𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠!!**

Here is a link with info on the date and time and place.

As of January 1, 2023, the Levine Act (Government Code Section 84308) applies to Board of Supervisors proceedings involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use.Pursuant to Government Code Section 84308, no Board Member shall accept, solicit, or direct a contribution of more than $500 fro...

09/06/2025

Looks like I made it onto Ignacio Velazquez’s latest smear flyer—I guess those Beet Beat cartoons are right–I really am behind everything, lol. I had no idea I was so powerful.

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮: 𝙄𝙜𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙤'𝙨 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨.

He is trying to discredit volunteers of a grass roots committee who are working hard to hold him accountable—claiming the recall is a “scam” and pretending that using paid canvassers is some kind of scandal. 𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙮, 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙈𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝘼 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙋𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙮.

Worse, Ignacio literally followed a canvasser in his car, pulled over, and began questioning and filming him, then posted it on his website trying to create drama. See it here: https://thehollisterenchilada.com/hollister-petition-scam/

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙗𝙚, 𝙄𝙜𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙤.

This is exactly why Ignacio Velazquez needs to go. And while I am not actually leading this committee, I will do everything I can to support these folks and help them be successful!! If you reside in either District 2 or 5 visit:
www.safersanbenito.org
and request to sign their petition. Donate if you can!!

𝙇𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙤𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙮𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

08/31/2025

𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗗!

This 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁. 𝟮 𝗮𝘁 𝟲:𝟯𝟬 𝗽𝗺, the Hollister City Council will discuss the 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆. The city spent over half a million dollars on this event — even while cutting budgets across departments and canceling family events like the fireworks show. The city will be presenting 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.

Even though they do not have a final accounting of costs, the Council is still planning to give direction on whether to continue with the rally — or even make it permanent through the ballot.

𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨? Please come share your voice and priorities at Tuesday’s meeting.

CITY OF HOLLISTERCITY COUNCIL AGENDAREGULAR MEETINGTuesday, September 02, 2025 at 6:30 P.m. - 10:00 P.m.City Council Chamber, City Hall375 Fifth Street, Hollister, CA 95023                                                                                     ...

08/24/2025

This article about the Fire District states that the County is pushing to include EMS costs into the fire study, and 𝙙𝙤 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮. This is not ok.

🚨 𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗗𝗢𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗘-𝗧𝗔𝗫 𝗨𝗦!

The County has shown a pattern: 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀. They did it with the recent fire contract, forcing Hollister taxpayers to continue to cover millions in county fire costs.

Now, they want to do it again — 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗺𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲/𝗘𝗠𝗦 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀.

Here’s the truth:

* 𝗘𝗠𝗦 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. It is their responsibility to pay for this program for all residents. And the quote talking about it being ‘unfair’ because the majority of the patients served are from Hollister is ridiculous and wrongheaded thinking—all Hollister residents are residents of the county.

Most other counties (including Santa Clara, Monterey, Merced, Fresno) don’t try to make cities pay for this.

* 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀. Every Hollister and San Juan Bautista resident is a county taxpayer. 11 cents of every property tax dollar from city properties already goes directly to the county for these kind of programs—In fact, 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆’𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲.

* Asking cities to chip in again is 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — paying twice for the same service.

👉 𝙋𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙. When the budget is tight the Board must focus on essential services. Public safety is an essential service. First responders like Fire, Sheriff and EMS should be prioritized and funded, before anything else.

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿: Stop dumping county costs on city taxpayers. 𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙀𝙈𝙎 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙋𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙎𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙮.

County revives regional fire district study

08/07/2025

I’m deeply saddened to hear that 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 — a visionary development that would have supported agritourism, generated significant gas tax and transient occupancy tax (TOT) dollars for the County, and honored the memory of a young man lost to cancer — is officially dead after 10 long years of struggle.

For over a decade, the project’s owners faced opposition by Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki as well as 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗖/𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗦𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼, an anti-growth group closely aligned with both Supervisors Kosmicki and Velazquez. This group has repeatedly sued both the County and local businesses to block progress. Unfortunately, their efforts have now succeeded in killing yet another job-creating, revenue-generating project in our community.

With the passage of 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗔 — which this same political group championed — it will effectively 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 in San Benito County. We have seen both the cities and the county in financial turmoil this year, and with Measure A it is going to get worse. This Measure basically puts out a clear message that new business is not welcome here.

What makes this loss even more tragic is the 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁'𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: the owners had committed to donating profits to pediatric cancer research in honor of their late son, who passed away from brain cancer at 18. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲. And instead of celebrating a project that would have served both economic and humanitarian goals, we’re left with nothing.

After losing substantial time and money,and enduring years of obstruction, it seems they have given up and the owners have turned to 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗱𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀 — not by choice, but because it's their only pathway forward to use the land that they have invested huge amounts of money into.

As a result, we’re 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝟮𝟱𝟴-𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 — not the agritourism/commercial site we planned for — a direct outcome of 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 by the County.

𝗟𝗘𝗧'𝗦 𝗕𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥 – 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗗.

𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙧 𝙆𝙤𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝟱 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨: 𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙟𝙤𝙗𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮’𝙨 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚-𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.

This 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 triggered Builders Remedy law provisions—which has stripped the County of local control and 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲-𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀. We now have 7 Builder’s Remedy projects in San Benito County.

Frankly it is frustrating to hear Kosmicki claim to be this great slow-growth leader when he has 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 and is accountable for these Builders Remedy housing projects.

𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 — lost economic opportunity, lost charitable impact, and a project that could have been 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 — leaders who will act responsibly, take care of business and defend local control, while supporting balanced, sustainable growth and especially, promoting and supporting business growth and jobs for our community.

San Juan Planning Commission hears about new county projects

07/16/2025

Just one more example of Public Safety being ignored and not considered a priority by the County. We need leaders who recognize that essential services like our FIrefighters and Sheriffs should be at the top of their priority list, not an afterthought.

SAN BENITO COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) - San Benito County Civil Grand Jury's newest report finds that the communications systems for the county's Sheriff's Office require an upgrade. According to the Civil Grand Jury, an authorization of the California Radio Interoperability System has been stalled fo...

07/12/2025

Hi, Folks have been asking me about how they can sign the recall petitions for Supervisors Velazquez and Kosmicki. My understanding is you can contact the PUBLIC SAFETY FIRST committee and request to sign on their website at:

They promised leadership–but betrayed the public’s trust. Instead, we got political agendas, backroom deals, and a dangerous disregard for public safety.

07/03/2025

I support this group's recall effort. Things have to change. These two supervisors have betrayed our community and seem to be working on their personal political agendas. They have ignored the public, or worse yet belittled or dismissed them. In a small community like San Benito County, we find strength in unity–and these two have demonstrated an inability to work with city and state leaders, and cannot even treat their own colleagues on the Board with Respect. San Benito County deserves better.

No amount of Town Hall campaigns or videos change the fact: Supervisors Velazquez and Kosmicki have betrayed the public trust.

Their pattern of dismissing community voices, distorting facts, backroom dealing and avoiding accountability reveals not just failed leadership—but unethical leadership.

This recall is not about growth; it’s about integrity. They’ve ignored urgent calls for public safety, silenced dissent with accusations of “misinformation,” and prioritized their personal political agendas over the community’s wellbeing. Leadership requires transparency, courage, and service. The people of San Benito deserve better—and it’s time to take our community back.

www.safersanbenito.org

07/01/2025

COMMUNITY OPINION: What really happened to our fire contract?

06/25/2025