Fire service negotiations stall

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265 days. That is how long San Benito County and San Juan Bautista were given until their fire service contract with the city of Hollister ends—unless they agree on new terms. Not only are the services in San Juan Bautista and unincorporated areas in limbo, so is a feasibility study to form a county-wide fire district.

For the county, the possibility of continuing its relationship with Hollister appears to be fading. On March 26, the board of supervisors decided to analyze a plan to create its own fire department or contract with Cal Fire. Until it signed up with Hollister for fire protection services in 2013, the county had a longstanding contracted with Cal Fire. 

Supervisors Mindy Sotelo and Angela Curro opposed the proposal.

Until recent weeks, Hollister had agreements in principle with both jurisdictions. San Juan Bautista rejected Hollister’s latest proposal, citing as a reason the reduction to the numbers of minimum required staff at its fire station. San Benito County had agreed to Hollister’s terms, with a request to remove a clause that would allow the temporary closure of Station 3, located at the Hollister Municipal Airport. 

However, Hollister, following community pushback over the terms and the negotiation process, took a step back and opted to change its approach. Rather than negotiating separately, the City Council agreed to discuss the terms with San Juan and the county as a group.

The San Benito County Board of Supervisors, on a 3-2 vote, responded by directing staff to analyze different service options.

Supervisor Dom Zanger said the county cannot afford to pay what Hollister demands. “At the end of the day, if it’s not going to work out it’s not going to work out,” he said.

The supervisors were given a presentation in October outlining pros and cons of seven options. According to the presentation, contracting with Cal Fire may cost about $6 million per fire station. Cal Fire currently serves the state responsibility areas, which covers the majority of the county.

Hollister argues that the county is not paying enough to cover the cost of the service the city provides. The county’s shortfall, the city says, is about $4 million per year. The county is set to pay Hollister $2.3 million for the calendar year 2025. 

A temporary fix

The contract between the three jurisdictions is viewed by the elected officials as a temporary solution. A county-wide fire district has long been touted as the goal. 

With the county pulling from negotiations with Hollister, it may also back away from participating in the study, of which 45% is funded by the county.

Supervisors Ignacio Velazquez and Kollin Kosmicki, members of the ad hoc committee that directly negotiated with Hollister’s ad hoc members, Mayor Roxanne Stephens and Councilmember Rolan Resendiz, hinted as much at the Fire Protection Advisory Committee. 

“To be quite frank, I don’t think spending much more time trying to work towards a district is going to be fruitful to any of us because there’s too much disagreement,” Velazquez said. “On something like that you need a united team to make it work.”

Kosmicki echoed Velazquez and said they needed to go back to the Board of Supervisors to get direction on next steps. He also said the county was still agreeable to the latest terms. 

The Fire Protection Advisory Committee—made up of two elected representatives from each jurisdiction—was split on whether to move forward with the study, with Stephens saying it can only work if all three jurisdictions work together. Committee member and San Juan Bautista City Councilmember Scott Freels said the best thing to do was to continue with the study.

“To stop now is a complete failure to the residents of this county,” he said.

The creation of a fire district would require voter approval.  

With the 270-day termination notice issued by Hollister on March 25, the contract ends Dec. 20. 

Long standing issue

California as a whole is struggling to adequately fund fire departments and districts. According to the Fire Districts Association of California, labor, equipment and service costs have surged because of national standards, regulations and climate change.

According to a presentation to the Hollister City Council in May 2024, the fire department’s budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year was $14 million. San Benito County contributed $2.2 million (16%) and San Juan Bautista $260,465 (2%) while the city of Hollister provided $10.4 million (74%). The majority of calls to the fire department originated from Hollister (59%) followed by the unincorporated areas of the county (37%) and San Juan Bautista (4%). 

The shared services contract has been a point of contention for several years, and cost the city a $2.59 million grant in 2018. 

Velazquez, then Hollister mayor, on March 18, 2019, told the City Council, “We’re carrying the burden and we are subsidizing the county by quite a bit of dollars.” He went on to say, “I’m raising the flag here, a warning flag. We’re headed for trouble—big financial trouble.”

The county’s 2022-23 Grand Jury Report found that Hollister Fire Department’s resources were stretched thin due to staff shortages and equipment issues. Goulding told the county supervisors he had 41 firefighters including “quite a bit” on long term disability. He said two firefighters on disability are not expected to return.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, most fire departments have between 1.5-1.8 firefighters per 1,000 residents. San Benito County’s rate is 0.6.

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