Hollister city officials change approach to fire service negotiations

Update: On March 24, the Hollister City Council unanimously approved issuing the 270-day termination notice.Lea este artículo en español aquí.

Following community pushback over the proposed fire service contract with San Benito County and San Juan Bautista, the Hollister City Council proposed changes at its March 21 special meeting that requires the three jurisdictions to negotiate together. 

The City Council unanimously agreed to increase the required minimum staffing at two stations from two to three and added city and county managers, Fire Chief Jonathan Goulding and Fire Union President Josh Buzetta to the contract discussions. It also directed negotiators to offer the same terms to San Juan Bautista and the county. 

The City Council also directed staff to issue a 270-day termination notice for the current fire service contract. The direction came 60 days after it rescinded the original notice as a way to amend the relationship with the county and provide more time to negotiate new terms. The current contract expires December 31, 2025. 

The City Council said re-issuing the notice was done to prevent the current contract from automatically renewing for an additional year. In order to negate the contract from automatically extending, the city has to issue the notice before April 5. Hollister City Manager David Mirrione clarified that even if the contract renews, the city could issue the notice any time.

The previous council, three members of which were voted out of office in November, had issued the notice as a strategy to force San Benito County and San Juan Bautista to renegotiate terms, saying the two jurisdictions were not paying enough to cover the costs of the services. 

In five public meetings held by the three jurisdictions between March 17 and March 21, members of the public questioned why the fire chief and city and county administration were not involved in the contract negotiations with the county, a “brown out” clause that allowed the city to temporarily close or reduce operations at Station 3, located at the Hollister Municipal Airport, and the minimum required staffing at the airport and San Juan Bautista stations. 

The San Juan Bautista City Council unanimously rejected Hollister’s offer to increase its rate by $150,000 retroactive to July 1, 2024 with an annual increase of 11%. The primary reason members said they rejected it was because of the reduced minimum requirement of firefighters at the city’s station. In October, the City Council had approved terms that included three firefighters but it was dropped to two by the Hollister ad-hoc committee, made up of Mayor Roxanne Stephens and Councilmember Rolan Resendiz, when they took over negotiations for services. 

The majority of the San Benito County Board of Supervisors favored its contract, which increased its rate by $1.1 million annually retroactive to July 1, 2024 with a 3% increase. The county also agreed to reimburse the city up to $400,000 in eligible expenses incurred by the city for services, plus costs of ambulance service dating back to January 2019. Hollister Fire Chief Jonathan Goulding said at the San Benito County meeting that the city was awaiting Santa Cruz Regional 911, which provides dispatch services, to supply the incurred costs during that time period, which he said could be zero to $200,000 annually.

The only way to terminate the proposed contracts through July 2028 is for a lack of payment. 

Meanwhile, San Juan Bautista, Hollister and San Benito County are conducting a feasibility study on creating a fire district. Voters will decide if they want to fund a special district. 

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