This community opinion was contributed by Hollister Mayor Mia Casey. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors. BenitoLink invites all community members to share their ideas and opinions. You can write counter opinions or share your insights on current issues by emailing Noe Magaña at noemagana@benitolink.com and following our Terms of Use.  Lea este articulo en español aquí. 

Political Graffiti in the old days was typically wall art with cartoons and political messages. But if you think about it, aren’t the printed materials created today with their political images and messages just a modern version of political graffiti?

There have been a lot of political flyers papering our mailboxes lately. The strange thing is, it is not election season yet. So why is this? Some are easier to figure out than others. But most of us have busy lives and jobs and kids that don’t allow us to spend a lot of time playing detective. You get a flyer that tries to get you to support or oppose something and it plays on your emotions and uses pain points to sway you to support a cause. Our biggest pain point in San Benito County is traffic, and it is closely tied to housing growth. Anyone commuting for hours to work on what used to be a 40-minute drive knows this pain. Which is why so many local campaigns use these two pain points to sway you. It makes sense–if you get a flyer claiming something is going to cause more traffic or housing, you react to that pain point and support their cause. But what if you are being manipulated? What if the information is skewed or you are being misinformed? How can you tell? Let’s consider a few recent political flyers.

Stop Strada Verde:

Most of us have received at least a half dozen or so mailers against the Strada Verde project. And the traffic pain point is a main feature of this advertising. A massive media campaign has been going on which, as a former graphic designer, I can tell you could cost upwards of $100,000. What is odd though–the Strada Verde project is on hold. Why this huge media blitz? Who is behind all this big money? Other than one local spokesperson, we have no idea who is involved, or where the money is coming from. Is another developer behind this effort because he wants to take that property? There are many questions that come up when considering this barrage of political graffiti.

20,000 Homes?

A week or so ago, the whole county received a flyer regarding Hollister, claiming the City Council is trying to build 20,000 homes and convert 2000 acres of farmland to residential. That’s pretty triggering isn’t it? It focuses on both housing and traffic pain points. But are these things true? As Mayor I can tell you, no they are not. Let’s put this into perspective–the entire geographical area of Hollister has less than 12,000 homes–but suddenly 20,000 homes are planned? This is a political hitpiece thinly disguised as ‘news’ with no one identified as the sender. It is important though to take a moment and clarify the expansion of the Sphere of Influence that is mentioned. The Sphere is part of our Hollister 2040 General Plan that will guide community development for the next 20 years. It is a planning tool that identifies areas of the county where development is already taking place or planned near our borders and which impacts or influences the city–but let’s be clear–that land remains county land. The city has no power to change county zoning from farmland to residential. At some point over the next 20 years a development within the Sphere might request to be annexed into the city, but there is a whole separate process for that to happen, which also involves approval by a separate agency, the San Benito LAFCO Commission.

So once again, regarding the worst of this misinformation flyer:

  • No, the City has no plans to build 20,000 homes
  • No, the City Council is not converting 2000 acres of farmland
  • No, I am not funded by developers–Benitolink investigated this allegation months ago and found most of my support came from retirees and local business professionals. The few donations that came in from a couple of local developers were returned last December when I was taking office–which is exactly what the California FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) says to do with any donation that might have a conflict of interest. I’ve been very transparent about this.

Don’t Dump on San Benito:

If you have been paying attention, you probably already know this began as a small grassroots group of locals with a single focus about an issue before county supervisors–the expansion of the John Smith Landfill. You can see it in their handpainted signs, and personal advocacy at county meetings. The flyer they sent out recently provides specific information and comparisons to other landfills, it doesn’t just focus on a traffic pain point to sway you. I don’t always agree with everything this group says, but I do respect the way they have analyzed and broken down their concerns for consideration–they even held a town hall style meetings to review the EIR report with residents. While I see both sides of this complex issue, I respect this group for their honest efforts and transparency about who they are and their mission.

So How Do You Protect Yourself From Being Manipulated?:

In a nutshell, be wary of political graffiti that may be filled with layers of misinformation and have hidden agendas. You can avoid being taken in and manipulated by not allowing yourself to be triggered, and instead taking a moment to ponder some questions.  Ask yourself who, what and why. Who is behind this information? What do they gain from my support? And why are they doing it? Look the piece over–does it clearly indicate who sent it with contact information? If it is election season, does it identify who funded the cost of the piece? Does it provide facts that you can verify, or make vague claims and try to trigger you with pain points? One of the best ways to seek more information before deciding is to take a minute and Google it or check in on social media to see what others are saying on both sides of the issue. If it is a county or city issue, you can also go to their website and do some searching through official meeting agendas and minutes.

The reason I first got involved in local politics was out of anger over misinformation being widely spread about a local ballot measure. Misinformation doesn’t just manipulate people, it can divide our community. My focus over the years has been to educate, share facts and point people to resources so they can help themselves become better informed and avoid being controlled by others. As your Mayor, I am still doing this, sharing facts and pointing people to resources. I hope this information is helpful as we approach election season and try to sift through mountains of political graffiti!

As always, if you have any questions related to Hollister, please feel free to contact me.

–Mayor M