tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-282248272024-03-14T00:56:36.155-07:00Out Standing In HollisterThere's an old joke about how great farmers are because they're outstanding in their fields. Hollister is a rural community in Northern California. This blog is an attempt at commenting on our local events and politics.billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05007923913646456077noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28224827.post-70766208049060816352008-11-03T12:00:00.000-08:002008-11-03T14:14:59.133-08:00Sign WarsThis last Saturday I managed to get into a "frank and open," high-volume conversation with my pastor neighbor across the street. For the last few weeks he's had a "Yes on Prop 8" sign prominently displayed in his front yard. Just before Halloween his sign went missing (I promise I didn't take it). But on Saturday he managed to get his sign replaced at about the time I showed up with my "Vote billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05007923913646456077noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28224827.post-59223931587093913502008-10-22T11:27:00.000-07:002008-10-22T11:29:16.996-07:00Banners for Websites: No on 8Here are two no on prop 8 banners for your free use. Please feel free to include them on your blog.billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05007923913646456077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28224827.post-24243552796353098322008-10-22T10:04:00.000-07:002008-10-22T10:45:37.863-07:00Thomas Jefferson would not ApproveCalifornians are being asked by the Mormon and Catholic Churches to amend the constitution so as to eliminate same-sex marriages from California law. This disturbs me greatly on at least three fronts: (1) any law going out of its way to remove the rights of a law-abiding sub-group of the population is inherently wrong, (2) any out of state entities trying to influence the rights of Californiansbillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05007923913646456077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28224827.post-1162882707229041632006-11-06T22:41:00.000-08:002006-11-06T22:58:27.240-08:00District 4 Decision this TuesdayThis Tuesday, we get to vote on who will preside in the district 4 county supervisor's seat. Personally, I'm backing Tracie Cone. Reason being she strikes me as being a sincere advocate for controlled growth here in San Benito County and Hollister in particular. As I stated in my last entry, I have no love for Measure S on the ballot, and one of my concerns is that approximately 70% of the billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05007923913646456077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28224827.post-1161290734348031262006-10-19T13:45:00.000-07:002006-10-19T13:45:34.383-07:00NO on S!We residents of San Benito County have a chance to allow the general plan to be modified by Del Webb Communities/Pulte Homes to allow said same to build a 4000 home Sun City just to the north of our town. Keeping in mind that Hollister has around 7000 to 8000 homes already, this will create about half again our sized city between Hollister and Gilroy. Frankly, I'm not big on that kind of growthbillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05007923913646456077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28224827.post-1149058302826968492006-05-30T21:48:00.001-07:002006-05-30T23:51:42.836-07:00Grass Fix-up, Memorial Daze and Secret CodesOur Park is lovely once again. A few days after talking with the city and posting on my blog, a parks employee, his truck and really huge riding mower showed up to attend to the problem. All better now. My wife and I had a particularly peaceful Memorial Day weekend, mostly doing laundry, gardening, and watching DVDs. We also saw "The Da Vinci Code". Although the reviews of it have been iffy,billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05007923913646456077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28224827.post-1147935890051458912006-05-17T23:53:00.000-07:002006-05-30T21:48:02.810-07:00Being Kind to our Fair Weather ParksThe grass in the park down the street (Southeast Community Park, Hollister's newest park, apparently) is overgrown and rapidly drying out. I felt compelled to call this to the attention of the City of Hollister's parks department. A sympathetic voice on the other end of the phone let me know that the city's park staff had been reduced to something like three people and that their lawn mower hadbillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05007923913646456077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28224827.post-1147807910459535802006-05-16T11:53:00.000-07:002006-05-16T16:59:04.900-07:00Placing a Price on the IntangibleI recently received survey in the mail from the El Rancho San Benito construction people (DMB Associates), asking where I stand on various issues related to their new project. They would like to build a self-contained community between Hollister and Gilroy that would be a bit larger in area than the city of Hollister proper (that part of Hollister contained within the city limits). The survey'sbillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05007923913646456077noreply@blogger.com0