Hol1830

Page 1

GARLIC FESTIVAL VISITOR GUIDE

Festival Co-Founder & Head Chef Val Filice

Garlic Festival 40 Guide

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

4 DECADES OF CELEBRATING GARLIC

HOLLISTER • SAN BENITO COUNTY

A New SV Media publication

Friday, July 27, 2018

sanbenito.com • Vol. 145, No. 30 • $1

Gavilan will ask voters to pass bonds $248M SOUGHT TO IMPROVE ALL CAMPUSES Scott Forstner Reporter

➝ Gavilan Bond, 13

Robert Eliason

A measure asking the voters for $248 million worth of bonds to upgrade Gavilan College's main campus, as well as its Coyote Valley and San Benito County satellite sites, will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. The measure will require 55 percent voter approval to pass. Gavilan Joint College District Board President Jonathan Brusco confirmed a unanimous vote among the five trustees in attendance at the July 10 meeting, with two members absent from the proceedings. “If this were to pass, this would line the college up for the next decade,” said Brusco, who stressed that the potential funds would impact all three Gavilan sites. “When you

PRETTY PERFORMER Navene Cardenas of San Benito Dance Academy shows off her ballet moves in front of a 1939 Chevy.

Crowds love cars HOLLISTER STREET FAIR AND CAR SHOW DRAWS MORE THAN 8,000 By Debra Eskinazi Magazine and Features Editor

More than 200 contemporary and vintage vehicles rolled into downtown

Hollister for the Hollister Downtown Association’s (HDA) annual Street Festival and Car Show. The event, in its 32nd year, was the most successful the town has seen yet, said board president Daniel Recht. “We maxed out on cars this time,” said Recht of the 250 cars on display for the show. “We

had to turn people away this year.” The one-day event drew large crowds this year, exceeding last year’s 8,000 attendees. “The event was wellattended,” Recht said. “It was more people than we had last year. They spent more time downtown, that’s definitely a win and certainly what we want.”

In years past the Hollister Fire Department has hosted a chili cook-off, but HDA executive director Jeana Arnold said “there was no chili cook-off due to the fires in California.” Despite the chili changer, the event kept families entertained with live bands, a kids’ area, and a variety of vendors lined up along Fifth Street.

Recht said much of the credit is due to local support and people power. “My hats of to the volunteers who really support the event,” he said. “The community and the volunteers are really what this event is about. Seeing the families and all those kids. Without the community and volunteers, none of this is possible.”

Supervisors OK sales tax vote HIGHWAY 25 IS PRIORITY FOR 1 PERCENT TAX ON NOV. BALLOT By Jacqueline McCool Reporter

San Benito County voters will be asked to approve an additional 1 percent countywide transportation sales tax on the Nov. 6 ballot, following actions

by the county Board of Supervisors on July 24 and the San Benito County Council of Governments on July 19. The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved a referendum on a sales tax increase in a unanimous vote. Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez, chair of the Council of Governments, did not attend last week’s

meeting. The other four representatives of local governments on the council endorsed the new tax. Now voters will decide whether to increase the sales tax on all purchases in Hollister from 8.25 to 9.25 percent, from 8 to 9 percent in San Juan Bautista, and purchases in unincorporated areas from 7.25 to 8.25 percent in 2019.

The tax is estimated to produce $16 million annually, according to Mary Gilbert, executive director for the council of governments. The 1 percent sales tax would be in place for 30 years and would help fund the widening of state Highway 25, upgrading of county roads and enhancing bus and paratransit services. f San Benito’s paved roads

OPEN HOUSE Saturday, August 4 10:00 a.m. – Noon

Register today! StratfordSchools.com/NorCalOH Morgan Hill Campus

| 410 Llagas Road | (408) 776-8801

are rated “poor” with an estimated $350 million needed for pavement repairs. San Benito County Council of Governments is a regional transportation planning agency responsible for developing the plan for allocation of state transportation funds and coordinates social service ➝ Road Tax, 7


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.