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Incumbent councilmember Dolores Morales will face a challenge from retired city administrator William Avera for the Hollister City Council District 3 seat.
District 3 encompasses the neighborhoods north and east of Hollister High School, south of the Veterans Memorial Park and those surrounding Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital.
The Hollister council District 3 race will be among those featured at BenitoLink’s 2026 General Election Forum set for Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Granada Theater.
Dolores Morales, 51, is a probation program manager and was elected to the city council in 2021. She has lived in the district since 2013.
In addition to serving in the city council, she has been elected to the California League of Cities Monterey Region as president and vice president.
BenitoLink: Residents are split on whether the city should continue to organize the biker rally, and when it should be held. If elected, would you support it? Why or why not?
Morales: The Hollister Independence Rally is one of the most recognizable events in our city’s history, but the question should not be whether I support it or not. The question is whether we can host it in a way that is financially responsible, safe, and beneficial to residents.
In 2022, Hollister voters were asked through an advisory measure whether they supported the return of the historic motorcycle rally. Approximately 63% voted in favor and 37% opposed it. While the measure was nonbinding, it demonstrated significant community support for bringing the event back. In a significant structural deficit, one has to evaluate the data.
On one hand, local restaurants, bars, gas stations, and downtown businesses reported some of their strongest sales during the 2025 and 2026 rallies. Business owners described record weekends, increased tips for employees, and significant customer traffic. Attendance was estimated at more than 20,000 visitors in 2026 and more than 26,000 visits were reported in 2025. A decrease in attendance by 6,000 visitors.
On the other hand, the financial reports indicate that the event has not yet achieved the city’s goal of being cost-neutral. In 2025, the city reported approximately $458,000 in revenue against roughly $654,000 in operating expenses not including staff time, leaving taxpayers with a cost of about $360,000 or more. Concerns have also been raised regarding public safety and law enforcement staffing. The city of Hollister has a structural budget deficit, and $300,000 to $600,000 is an impact to jobs and services to our residents.
Our community’s history and businesses benefit from the event, yet residents also expect fiscal responsibility and public safety. My vote will be based on data, transparency, and accountability, ensuring that the rally serves all of Hollister.
Residential growth is a contentious issue in the community and several housing projects are in the pipeline. How do you think the city should approach growth?
Residential growth is an important issue facing Hollister because it affects housing affordability, traffic, public safety, water resources, schools, parks, and the overall character of our community. Growth is occurring; the question is whether we will manage that growth responsibly.
I believe Hollister should pursue smart, balanced, and sustainable growth.
Growth cannot outpace our infrastructure. New development should pay its fair share toward roads, public safety, water and wastewater systems, parks, and other community facilities. Residents should not be asked to shoulder the financial burden or declining service levels.
Preserving Hollister’s quality of life must remain a priority. Growth should be well planned and consistent with the community’s vision. We should encourage development that complements existing neighborhoods, protects open space, and maintains the small-town character we value.
Traffic is another major concern. The city must evaluate roadway impacts and ensure that transportation improvements keep pace with growth. Residents should not sit in worsening traffic because of infrastructure planning.
I believe that transparency and community engagement are essential. Residents deserve opportunities to participate in decisions that affect their neighborhoods. The city should communicate early, provide accurate information, and consider community feedback before major growth decisions are made.
Responsible growth is about making thoughtful decisions that strengthen Hollister for current residents and future generations.
Among the biggest challenges the City Council faces is maintaining its aging infrastructure. What projects or issues do you think should be at the forefront?
One of the City Council’s most important responsibilities is ensuring that our infrastructure keeps pace with the needs of our residents. While new projects often receive the most attention, maintaining and upgrading the systems we already have is essential to public safety, economic development, and quality of life. My focus would be on protecting and improving the infrastructure residents rely on every day: water, wastewater, roads, drainage, public safety facilities, and community assets.
My top infrastructure priorities would be:
Water and wastewater systems
Reliable water and wastewater infrastructure is the backbone of any community. As Hollister continues to grow, we must ensure our systems have the capacity to serve existing residents while accommodating future development. Investing in these facilities protects public health, supports housing and business growth, and helps avoid costly emergency repairs.
Roads, streets, and traffic improvements
Residents consistently identify road conditions and traffic congestion as major concerns. Maintaining existing streets is often far less expensive than rebuilding roads that have been allowed to deteriorate. I would prioritize pavement rehabilitation, intersection improvements, traffic signal upgrades, sidewalk repairs, and safer pedestrian and bicycle connections throughout the city.
Storm drainage and flood protection
Aging stormwater infrastructure can lead to flooding, property damage, and public safety concerns. The city should continue investing in drainage improvements, creek maintenance, and flood mitigation projects to ensure our infrastructure is resilient during severe weather events.
Public safety infrastructure
As the community grows, our police, fire, and emergency response systems must keep pace. This includes maintaining public safety facilities, replacing aging vehicles and equipment, improving emergency communications, and ensuring first responders have the resources necessary to serve residents effectively.
Parks and community facilities
Parks, recreation facilities, and community buildings are important assets that contribute to residents’ quality of life. Deferred maintenance often results in higher costs later. We should invest strategically in maintaining and modernizing these facilities so they remain safe and accessible for future generations.
Funding and long-term planning
Perhaps most importantly, the city must take a proactive approach to infrastructure management. That means maintaining a long-term Capital Improvement Program, aggressively pursuing state and federal grant opportunities, and ensuring that new development contributes its fair share toward infrastructure needs.
William Avera, 58, served as Hollister city manager until he retired in 2019. Before being the top administrator, he was Hollister’s redevelopment program manager and development service director.
He has lived in Hollister since 1994. Though he has not been in an elected office, he was a member of the technical board for the Council of San Benito County Governments.
BenitoLink: Residents are split on whether the city should continue to organize the biker rally, and when it should be held. If elected, would you support it? Why or why not?
Avera: With regards to the Independence Rally, I had the opportunity to work intimately on every single sanctioned and unofficial rally since 1996. Unfortunately, I cannot continue to support an event that just doesn’t make economic sense for a community that doesn’t have unlimited resources.
The city can and has received information from HDL consulting related to sales tax generation in the third quarter of our fiscal year and it never showed enough revenue to justify making the investment. I also know that when the city was having large events, public safety was always a concern.
I also don’t understand how the city went from charging Road Shows to promote the event to paying them $200,000 plus to manage the rally.
Finally, I’m very well aware that there was a ballot question on whether to continue with the rally and the voters responded with support. However, I believe the language was a little misleading. I wonder if the community understood it was costing the city money and potential other services would be cut if the vote would have been positive.
Residential growth is a contentious issue in the community and several housing projects are in the pipeline. How do you think the city should approach growth?
Residential growth is necessary in order to have a healthy community. I started my career in planning and obviously spent many years in the field of planning with the city. I don’t believe in sprawl but projects can be approved with various types of housing types that will absolutely benefit Hollister. We need growth to obtain new commercial businesses. I know we always say we need rooftops with high annual incomes to attract new stores. That is what site selectors are looking for.
The city also needs to support development projects that provide opportunity for young adults and young families to obtain housing that is more affordable. The city should develop a strategy to seek employers that pay higher wages to meet a jobs-housing balance. Hollister can be the perfect place to live and work.
Among the biggest challenges the City Council faces is maintaining its aging infrastructure. What projects or issues do you think should be at the forefront?
The city has state-of-the-art water and waste water treatment facilities that the community spent approximately $150 million on. It is true that our distribution and collection system is aging, but the foundation of services is in place. The city needs to stay updated with projects identified in the master plans that clearly identify projects that should be implemented.
The issues at the wastewater plant are unacceptable, we should be replacing the (membrane bioreactor) trains to increase capacity without modifying the size of the plant.
If well head treatment for potable water becomes a feasible option to improve water quality, the city should consider it. I also think that a new well on the north side of the city is necessary for redundancy and adequate flows for fire protection.
I want to implement recommendations of a pavement management system to increase the life of our residential streets.
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