THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance
JULY 5, 2019
Sticking their neck out
Ostrich farm opens to the public
SAN BENITO MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Ostrich farm debuts to the community
SBHS RANKED HIGH P2 | KITCHENS CHARGED WITH FRAUD P10 | RODEO ACTION P12 CALENDAR OF EVENTS P8 | WILDFIRE PREPARATION P14 | REAL ESTATE P19
HOLLISTER • SAN BENITO COUNTY
A New SV Media publication
Friday, July 5, 2019
sanbenito.com • Vol. 147, No. 27 • $1
SB County supervisors approve a new budget ADDITION OF 22 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES Jacqueline McCool Reporter
➝ County Budget, 4
Robert Eliason
San Benito County Supervisors unanimously approved an amended 2019-2020 county budget June 25. The new budget allocates $143.4 million in total spending for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Edgar Nolasco, deputy county administrative officer, told the Free Lance that total spending is approximately $87 million less compared to last fiscal year because the new jail expansion is nearing completion. He also said the new budget includes a more “realistic” list of road projects in the coming year. According to the budget’s executive summary the decrease, “is primarily a result of a decrease in capital funds for the anticipated completion of the Adult Detention Facility Expansion [jail] project and a decrease in anticipated road fund expenditures to realign the budget with actual road project projections.”
DIGGING IN Barrel racer Sydney Petty shows top form as she leans into a turn in barrel race at the San Benito County Rodeo in Tres Pinos.
It’s wrangler time Robert Eliason
The dust flew and stirrups strained as riders and horses teamed up for some great action and beautiful displays at the 86th annual San Benito County Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo June 28-30 at Bolado Park and Event Center in Tres Pinos. The Saddle Horse Parade kicked things off a week earlier in Hollister, where marching bands, scouts, long-horned cattle, floats, tractors and, of course, horsemen and horsewomen and other groups celebrated the region’s western heritage. On the next weekend, it was all down to business, as wranglers pushed the limits for trophies and bragging rights. More photos on Page 12.
RIDING HIGH Zane Andrade sits tall in the saddle at the county
Saddle Horse Show at the fairgrounds in Tres Pinos.
Hollister salaries rank high in CA SAN BENITO COUNTY PAY LAGS BEHIND Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor
Hollister’s cost of living may be relatively low compared to its northern neighbors, but wages and benefits for its city workers place it among the top
20 percent in the entire state, according to a new report. In her annual report of Government Compensation in California, 2018, State Comptroller Betty Yee reported that the average salary of Hollister city employees last year was $68,749, higher than neighboring Gilroy, at $67,016, and even higher
than affluent Los Altos, at $68,488. An estimate of Hollister’s median pay for full-time employees, the midpoint in a list of all full-time salaries, is nearly $88,000. Hollister has a fairly lean staff, in terms of its size, given its population. San Benito County’s biggest city, with
40,149 residents, has a full- and part-time workforce of 236, far below Morgan Hill’s 513-person staff, with a population of 45,742, according to Yee. Morgan Hill staff totals to not include firefighters, because it contracts with Cal Fire for city fire service. Hollister’s fire department also provides fire protection
for San Juan Bautista and the rest of sprawling San Benito County. Los Altos, which Hollister matches in average pay, has a similar-sized staff, of 232, but a smaller population, at 31,190, according to the report released June 25. Yee’s report also ➝ Salaries, 4
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