City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, can Okay, so city clerk, let me know. Let me know if we're ready to go.

All right. Okay, welcome, everybody. It's good to see the chamber with many participants. Today is the regular city council meeting for the city of Hollister September 21. We're starting at 630. Can we do roll call, please?

Okay, thank you. Dr. Resendez, will you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Okay, we're gonna start with special orders of the day. We're gonna start with 4.1, National Recovery Month Proclamation. So tonight I'm pleased to proclaim September 2026 as National Recovery Month. This month recognizes that recovery is possible and celebrates the strength of individuals working to improve their health and wellbeing. It also recognizes the families and professionals and organizations that provide support along the way. Here in our community, organizations such as Sun Street Centers provide important treatment, recovery, and support services to individuals and their families.

Congratulations and thank you. Thank you for your courage to come and talk about that. It's an important topic.

Thank you. And congratulations to you too. And it's never too late. So thank you for your hard work and getting to where you're at and your courage to speak on your testimony.

Congratulations to you as well. Keep up the hard work. It's not an easy thing to do. Okay, so I'm going to ask Charisse if she will come up and accept this. And then also, if you are up for this, those of you who are here from Sun Street Center, our city manager will take a picture with me and Charisse as I hand her the proclamation. If you guys want to just stand up, you can just stand for where you're sitting and then get and be in the picture as well and just kind of look towards the podium.

Okay, so that was really, really a cool experience. And yeah, lots of hard work goes into recovery. So I'm really glad that we're able to acknowledge that. We'll move on to 4.2, receive a report on the Eagle Scout project completed by the Hollister Police Animal Shelter in August of 2026. The report will come from the Eagle Scout, Riley Wells. Riley, come to the podium.

Well, first of all, I think we should give this young man a round of applause for what an incredible project. Thank you.

I think I can speak for all of the Council and City of Hollister just to say congratulations, first of all, on becoming an Eagle Scout. No small feat. Also, that we are so proud of you for what you've done with your accomplishments, as well as this incredible project that will be So, so neat. It's so neat. And it will be so appreciated, especially by the animals and the staff at the shelter. So thank you so, so much. And congratulations. I'm going to check with my fellow council members to see if anybody has any questions or comments. Dr. Resendez.

Thank you. I don't have any questions. Amazing job, kiddo. I've been up here for eight years. I've seen lots of different projects come before us. And I think this is something that the animals desperately needed. The community has been asking for it. So kudos to you. Thank you to your family, everybody that helped you out as well. What an amazing job you've done here. Thank you.

Yes, no, just what an amazing presentation. Thank you so much. And you can feel the love and support from your parents and your grandparents, your family. And I think the totality of what you did is just amazing. And I don't think people understand the depth in terms of being able to reach out to your community for support and to be able to negotiate at cost. I think those are just the...

overall just amazing work thank you so much for your contributions to the community to the animal shelter and and to the matterment of everyone thank you yeah so impressed um i you know a lot of people have you know civic engagement and you know they're they're civically minded a lot of people do a lot of talking but you know as they say actions speak louder than words um look at you man you're doing public speaking you project management. You've organized, you know, people and companies and directed them toward a common goal and you're helping the animals. And, you know, that's something I th

That's awesome. A good solid couple of years. You've probably been thinking about it a little bit more before that even. We're all so proud of you and your accomplishments and all the people that have supported you along the way. And I'm looking at Hollister's finest. And, you know, they carry themselves well every single day, but they have a tremendous just look of pride just at your accomplishments. Thank you so much for helping out the community, helping the animals. at the animal shelter. And, uh, I'd love to see him, you know, in, you know, a couple of years, two, three years, you know, w

Another round of applause for this incredible gentleman. And thank you, Chief Reynoso and the staff at the shelter for supporting this young man. Incredible project. Okay, so we are going to move on with our next item, 4.3, Council of San Benito County Governments, and this will be executive director Binu Abraham, who will be presenting on just giving us an update on what's happening and also giving us some information about how people can stay informed and what's happening, all things roads, well, highways and public transportation in general. Okay, Bino, take it away.

Thank you so much for that. recap of what we've been working on for the last year or so appreciate it that you were able to come in and bring that presentation to us so i'm going to check to see if there's any questions or comments and questions or comments on this side. Council Member Morales, go ahead.

Yes. Thank you, Binu, for your leadership and diligence throughout the three years that you've been on COG. So lots of progress. Thank you. And I also want to recognize Commissioner Tiffany in the back for his leadership and advocacy efforts at all levels of government. We really appreciate, hopefully, a signed bill by the 30th or before it. I just wanted to make a quick comment. I'm on 3CE and we just talked about, we heard from other jurisdictions that completely changed their entire fleet to electric vehicles with the charging station. So there's opportunities for partnership. I know that y

I would just like to say thank you for all your hard work so far, Mr. Tiffany. Thank you so much for your hard work so far. That vehicle miles traveled was quite a hurdle. And I let the cat out of the bag here a little bit last meeting when we talked about, you know, I went to that San Bernardino Business Council meeting and we talked a little bit about the VMTs. So that was huge. With that hurdle potentially surmounted, depending on what happens by the end of the month, do you think it's possible that we could have a shovel-ready project? Well, we have selected, I think we had, what was it in

Okay, thank you. So there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Yeah, I see you. Go ahead, Dr. Resendez.

Thanks. There is, but I just want to preface it by something. Let's be very realistic about it. If we, meaning COG and the elected officials, continue on the current trajectory path it's on now, that will happen.

That wasn't the case before. I'm not here to point fingers or to pass blame at anybody, but that hasn't always been the case. And because other elected officials get into office and they change the trajectory, it pushes it back. So under this cog and these elected officials, there has been a tremendous amount of work that's been done. And now because of that work, The VMTs have been changed. Now, because of that work, they will have a project ready project, sorry, a shovel ready project 2027. But keep that in mind. That's if the next people who take these seats continue under that same traject

Okay, thank you for that. And then thank you for that update. We may ask you at another point to come back with some more updates. And we'll let you know, maybe in several months or something, get a little bit more project updates, especially around how we're progressing with all the studies and making sure that we're on the projected timeline. Yes, and then again, I just wanna acknowledge Commissioner Tiffany, thank you for your hard work at the state level and keeping the focus on San Bernardino County and the city of Hollister. So thank you so much for your work up there and the advocacy. o

Thank you, Mr. Tiffany. Appreciate that comment. Okay, thank you, Vino, again. Okay, so we're gonna move into the public input part of our agenda. And remember, this is a time for anyone in the audience to speak on any item that does not appear on our agenda and falls within the subject matter jurisdiction of the council. Speaker cards are available in the lobby and are to be completed and given to city clerk. The city clerk will call your name and then just come up to the podium, state your name and city for the record and speak to the council. If you're joining us via Zoom, click at the bott

Thank you, Mr. Chakran. Next speaker, please.

Thank you, Ms. Bowman. Our next speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Casey. Any other speakers? Okay, thank you for that. Let's move on to our consent agenda. So do any members of the council have any brief questions or comments on any item on the consent agenda? Council Member Morales.

I wanted to make an additional appointment to 6.3 to the Finance Task Force.

wanted to add an additional appointment. Are we able to do that?

Okay. Okay, so we'll pull that. Other than that, any other questions or comments? Okay, so let's go to public comment on the consent agenda. Any public speakers on the consent agenda? Okay, so let's bring it back, and I will call for an action on all items except the one that was pulled. So can I get a motion on that?

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, so then let's move then to the pulled item. And that is 6.3. Is that right? 6.3? Yes. Okay. Okay, go ahead.

So I have two community members that would like to be part of the Finance Committee. One, Michelle Chick, C-H-I-C-K. She's an accountant, very much interested in reviewing finances. And another one is a community member, Armando, and I can give you the last name. and contact info.

Have they submitted their applications for the appointment? Yeah, there is. It's a really short, simple one, but did you have to go through that? I don't believe we can appoint them today. Right? And you can go through the... Well, go ahead, Jessica. Go ahead.

Yeah, and it's not a super extensive one. It should be pretty simple. And then city clerk or others in the city clerk's office can help with that process as well.

Great. Okay, thanks for that. Well, thanks for finding for finding a couple of other prospective applicants because it's an important company. Okay, so with that, let's move back to that item and see if anybody have any questions or comments on that particular item. No. Okay, so let me check with public comment and public comments on that particular item. No, no. Okay, so bring it back for an action, please.

I'll move to adopt as presented on the agenda by staff.

Any opposed? Okay, so then let's move on with council business. So we're going to move on to 7.1, and that is June 30th, 2026 budget to actual treasury report, building permit report, financial reports, general fund, and contracts. So can we get a staff report on that item?

And then just knowing that we have to do one action per item, but the summary of those items are their same June 30th, 2026 budget to actual financial reporting. And the other items are water fund, sewer fund, airport fund, and I think I read the other one, the airport fund, treasury report, building permits and contracts. Okay, so yeah, let's hear all of them at the same time. Thank you.

Okay, do we have any questions on any of the funds? Any questions on the side?

I have one question. So as I read through the documentation, I was reading about the storm drain and how we're, you know, it's not in a good state financially. What fund is that in? Is that in the water? I can't remember why I read it.

So there's not a section on the water bill, is there, for that? Like the streets weeping on the water bill, right? That's right? So how do we collect money for the storm, keeping our storm drains clean?

So basically we're spending general fund monies to clean out storm drains. I mean, it's kind of a service. Is it possible for us to make it a utility and make it an enterprise fund?

Right. I understand that. Thank you very much. That's all I have.

Okay. Other questions? No. Okay. Do we have any public comments on any of these items?

Okay, thank you, Mr. Casey. Appreciate that. Other speaker cards on this item? No. Any of these items? No. Okay, so I'll bring it back. And so as we go through this, first of all, let me just check. Any quick other questions?

Just a point of clarity, if I can, Mayor. So it's asking for us to receive the report and then discuss long-term financial stabilization strategies. Stabilization strategies, sorry. But I mean, we've already talked about things and I think that we probably need like a separate meeting or something to talk about what we really need to do. I mean, I don't know. What are you expecting from us as far as these items go? I would just be comfortable just receiving the report, talking about it. I don't know. What's the expectation here?

Okay, so then let me check with our city manager, maybe our city clerk. Do we need an action? Yeah, I assume that we needed an action on this, but maybe not.

Okay. Okay. Dr. Resendez, go ahead. Thank you for that. So yeah, I mean, again, I was just wondering if you wanted something from us as far as like an expectation as far as to the rule. But I will say that we've had, like you said, conversations at length. We've talked about the unions. We've asked for concessions. I feel like we have a good team in place administratively. We just need to execute a plan. And I know that my colleagues support the plan. I know that my colleagues support the employees. I know that It's complicated, but we need to face the realities. We've said this for years, I t

Okay, any other questions or comments on this? Oh, Council Member Pichet, can you just give me a sec? Council Member Morales, go ahead.

Thank you, thank you. I know a lot of my residents are asking about the audits. I know we finished 2021. We're working on 2022. Can you give us a timeline if possible? I know that there's been a lot of questions. So I'll answer them and then go to my other question.

Thank you. I think for those, I know that we've had a lot going on for a couple of years, but we did have a long-term strategy with former city manager Dave Marioni. I think it was a five-year plan where we talked about revenues, expenditures, revenue, looking at not recognizing revenue. I'm wondering... Can we review that document or is that document gone? Because I think I don't want our community to think that we didn't do a short term, long term or five year projections in terms of how do we address our needs right now and how do we kind of plan for stabilization in the next five years? Th

Yeah, it seems like we've been, you know, for the last two years, we've been, you know, faced with tough financial times and, you know, we've all, I'm sure everybody up here has been just like, Waiting for that light at the end of the tunnel. Luckily, we're having some winds on California 25. Thanks to good direction. Just in this chambers tonight, we've been asked for some increased transparency. And we've got some. Some. These monthly treasury reports. that we have. Are we publishing these on the website? I probably should know. I should probably get on the website and start pressing some bu

Because we've been doing quite a bit of self-accountability and oversight, and we just approved the appointment of Charles Tumbaga to the Financial Oversight Task Force. Council Member Morales is actually bringing two qualified candidates to that task force and invited them to the meeting coming up on the 26th. at 9 a.m. here in Chambers. So we're asking the community to come out and look over the books and make sure that they see the same things that we see. And hopefully this satisfies, you know, certain people. You know, John, appreciate you coming in and being part of the whole effort, you

So thanks for the council for doing the hard work and hopefully we can see that speck of light at the end of the tunnel.

Okay, thank you for that. Are there any other?

Thank you. Yeah, I agree. I don't think you'll get any disagreement from the diets, Jessica and Matt. We've been wanting that for a bit. Yeah. So thank you for the hard work that you're doing to make that happen. And we do look forward to when we can get them a little quicker. But thank you so much for all the hard work you're doing. okay we're gonna then move on uh to our committee assignments does anybody have anything to report but in this side this side excuse me madam mayor um we need to go back to 7.5 is that correct madam oh yeah we have one more oh we had some oh i thought we had done

Oh, I apologize. I thought 7-5 was also included in there. Okay, well, I'm sorry. Go ahead. So 7-5, July. Oh, right. Different date. July 31st, 2026 financial reporting, general fund, water, sewer, and airport fund, treasury report, building permits and contracts. I apologize for that. Thank you for that. I thought it was included as well. Thank you.

Okay, but I will check to see if there's any questions. Go ahead, Council Member Morales.

Is that a question? I know that when the reorganization was done that a lot of people had concerns and there was a comment that the community was not going to see an impact and I think this financial report reflects that prediction and so I just want to say thank you for that. I see a lot of work here. So in terms of efficiency and outcomes, I think this reflects the outcome of that. So thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Okay. I think that's it then. So we're going to move on from that since we... Actually, let me do a public comment on this one, right? Because I did add them all together, but I didn't realize now that 7-5 is separate. So public comment, any speakers?

Thank you, Mr. Casey. Any other speakers?

I really just want to celebrate a little bit of a win because the last couple of years has been a bit of a knockdown drag out fight when it comes to finances and it's been rough. The building and permitting department, I spoke at a Chamber of Commerce function on Saturday with David, one of an amazing trio of business owners, got a permit for their cafecito. I don't know if you've been to it, the Buenos Dias on Main Street. They also opened Micheladas. They want to open an ice cream shop on 4th Street going out of town there on the west side. Um, but a positive ray of hope to mirror a dovetail

Okay, thanks for that, thanks for that comment. Okay, any other? Okay, not seeing any, so we're gonna move on to committee reports. I didn't see any from either one of you. From this side, go ahead, Council Member Morales.

Yes, I attended 3CE with our Community Action Council. City Manager also attended. We had great presentations in terms of clean energy and the future. There's a lot of discussion about what various jurisdictions need. Looking at the property we have, we learned that there's funding for things that we may want to do, like converting a fleet to green energy cars, charging stations. having solar. So being able to be environmentally sustainable and be able to get financial support from 3CE. So there's microgrids was another area of discussion. So there's a lot of opportunities for us to save money

Thanks for that report. Go ahead, Council Member Pichet.

So this isn't exactly an assignment, but on Wednesday, September, what was it, the 16th, I met with Sean Tenenbaum of Hollister High School with Carson Clower. We discussed Nash Road and, you know, with me specifically, they addressed some of the concerns that we had brought up in our previous session. with regard to nash road they demonstrated that the little clicker that we were talking about as far as like opening and closing the gate doesn't function the way we thought nothing different for the first responders to do in order to get that gate open just activating lights and sirens and appr

Okay, great. Thanks for that report. And the only thing I had to report on is cog and I won't since we had been new come and get that more comprehensive report. So that was the only thing that I had to report on. So I'm going to turn it over then to city manager for her report.

Okay, not seeing any, so thank you for that report. So we're gonna go into closed session. So city manager, do you wanna read the items that are in closed session?

Okay. Okay. Thank you. So we're going to move into side room for the closed session, then we'll come back to adjourn.