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The Hollister City Council on Oct. 2 unanimously approved its responses to the 2022-23 San Benito County Civil Grand Jury Final Report concerning issues within the Hollister Fire Department, the Hollister Animal Shelter and the city’s Traffic Calming Measures.
Councilmembers did not ask questions, and public comments were not made about the responses.
Every year, 19 people are appointed to serve one-year terms to investigate the county and city government, special districts and school districts. Released July 14, the Civil Grand Jury’s final report requires a response by the governing body that has been reviewed within 60 to 90 days.
This year’s Civil Grand Jury reported on leadership problems within the fire department, a lack of training for animal control officers and lack of policy for creating traffic calming measures.
Hollister Fire Department
The grand jury found that changes to the roads to soothe traffic, including speed bumps and roundabouts, may impact emergency response time and may increase damage and maintenance for emergency vehicles. The report recommended that the city, county and Hollister Fire Department work together to reduce negative impacts to emergency and fire personnel.
The city agreed to review existing road changes and ease concerns before the end of the year. City engineers and the fire department met in August to discuss the report’s findings. The engineers have begun providing plans about existing and proposed road changes to the fire department, the city’s response states.
A second finding was that the fire department union members voted to apply the 48/95 schedule plan, which consists of two 24-hour shifts followed by four consecutive days off, in lieu of the existing 4/6 schedule, which consists of six working days and four off days over a 30-day cycle.
In its response, the city stated the change in scheduling might encourage firefighters to move outside the city’s existing 90-minute response area and would increase response time. It said additional analysis is needed to determine whether the fire department should change its scheduling.
A third finding was that mental health services for peer support should be the highest priority, and that mental health professionals should be incorporated into regular stress management debriefing – putting an end to ranking staff conducting stress management debriefs.
The city stated that as of Aug. 1, the city holds an active collaboration with the Monterey Bay Area Self Insurance Authority (MBASIA), which provides an employee assistance program for an all-in-one mental health dedicated to first responders.
The fourth was that policy and procedure manuals are not maintained, updated and available to all personnel; there is a lack of training and mentoring for newly promoted employees and a lack of continuity between shifts from management, which causes conflict within personnel.
The city said that the fire department is in the midst of replacing the current version of its policies and procedures, but that it takes time. It added that collaboration between the command staff, Firefighters Association and human resources is needed.
The city agreed that management lacks continuity between shifts and that there is a lack of mentorship and guidance for newly promoted employees.
Traffic Calming Measures
The report found that the city did not comply with the California Fire Code when it did not seek input from the fire chief before installing the traffic calming measures. The report also found that the previous City Council did not have a formal policy for establishing traffic calming measures.
The city agreed and said it adopted policies and procedures on traffic calming and speed cushions on Aug. 21 to address community input.
The report also found that the City Council took steps to plan community outreach to address traffic concerns on Avenida Cesar Chavez and Memorial Drive and requested that the city continue to engage with the community about traffic issues.
The city agreed to continue its outreach efforts.
The third finding was that Ladd Lane, Buena Vista Road and Sally Street received an excess of traffic calming measures, according to the fire department.
The city agreed and said the fire department, City Council and traffic engineers will work together to review existing and proposed traffic calming measures to mitigate any concerns before the end of the year.
Hollister Animal Shelter
The first finding was that the city’s animal shelter remains understaffed, which limits the services offered to the community. It takes three to six months to complete hiring requirements and background checks for new hires, the report found.
The city disagreed, saying “the animal shelter has the most funded positions in the history of the shelter at this time.”
One supervisor, three animal control officers, two animal control officer assistants, one part-time kennel assistant and one support services assistant are budgeted for the animal shelter.
Animal Control Supervisor Alyssa Bautista said the positions for a part-time kennel assistant and one animal control officer assistant have not yet been filled, but the shelter is actively working on filling the positions.
In response the city said the shelter is adding a clinic and hiring a veterinarian and veterinary tech. Thus the shelter cannot add more staff until the open positions are filled and the current staff workload is evaluated.
Regarding the time it takes to complete a background check, the city said shelter staff have access to sensitive information about residents and that it should only be accessed by persons who don’t pose a liability to the city.
The grand jury also found a lack of formal training for animal control officers, supervisors and managers limited the ability of the District Attorney’s Office to prosecute criminal cases.
The city said that shelter staff are offered adequate training, mentoring, ride-alongs and resource sharing with local shelters. It added there were training delays during the COVID-19 pandemic, but training has continued since then and is offered more frequently.
The city and the police department disagree that a lack of training has impacted the ability of the District Attorney’s Office to prosecute cases and stated that there are many reasons why the District Attorney’s Office may decide not to continue with a case, such as a lack of evidence, but that this did not mean the officer who wrote the report lacked training.
The third finding was that feral cats suffer from a lack of care and vaccinations, early death and environmental hazards because the shelter refuses to accept feral cats.
The report recommended that the shelter spay or neuter all feral cats and should accept all animals regardless of the possibility of adoption, fostering or rehoming the animal.
The city and police department disagreed with the recommendation.
The city cited the National Animal Care & Control Association’s standing on accepting free-roaming cats: “It is the position of NACA that indiscriminate pickup or admission of healthy, free-roaming cats, regardless of temperament, for any purpose other than TNR/SNR, fails to serve commonly held goals of community animal management and protection programs and, as such, is a misuse of time and public funds and should be avoided.”
Councilmember Tim Burns urged the public to volunteer for the next Civil Grand Jury.
“Their reports make us better and so thank you to the members of the current or past Civil Grand Jury because we’re gonna get better as a result of it and we’re already doing some amazing things as well,” he said.
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