This Community Opinion was contributed by Noreen Martin. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors.

Tax payers are under attack. Measure G is a money grabbing trick that will do nothing to improve Hwy. 25.  Hwy 25 is Owned by the State. The state, only the state, is responsible for maintenance and improvements to Hwy. 25. It's estimated drivers pay an average of $750 a year in transportation taxes in addition to other fees at the state and federal level. Nearly 59 percent of those funds go to highway maintenance, road repairs and public transit. In the past, the legislature has borrowed from the fuel tax fund when the state was facing a fiscal crisis. Therein lies the problem with the condition of state highways, county roads and city streets. The state now has policies in place to stop this from happening in the future.          

Over the years, locally, we've all paid enough property taxes, sales taxes and fuel taxes which should have been used to properly maintain and keep our trees trimmed, sidewalks, streets and roads in excellent condition.                                                  

Hollister is home to born and raised working poor families, seniors and disabled living in poverty. Make no mistake, those pennies add up for this group and over the course of a year they add up. Most are a vote away from homelessness. (Open your eyes.) Their Social Security doesn't increase, yet they're expected the give more. To keep these people comfortable in their current situation a No vote on Measure G is necessary.