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Hollister City Council is considering policy changes that will set harsher penalties to council members who are found to violate the council’s code of conduct.
A consensus among the council members, with the exception of Councilmember Rolan Resendiz, approved possible changes to the city’s code of conduct ordinance during the Nov. 20 City Council meeting. The changes will be brought back to the council for a public hearing at a later date, which was not determined by the council or staff.
Changes in sanctions include:
- The loss of the ability to be appointed Mayor Pro Tempore, the member that would run the meeting if the mayor is absent
- The loss of travel funds and discretionary funds
- The escalation of financial penalties
There would still be a process to enforce penalties, including fines, the staff report said. The council did not discuss a specific process during the meeting.
Among the proposed changes to the code is adding a description of willful disruptive actions that reads, “addressing council without first being recognized; repetitiously addressing the same subject; failing to relinquish the podium and/or dais when directed to do so; unruly applause, whistles, yelling, or raucous demonstrations; repeated and intentional disregard of calls to order by the presiding officer, and intentionally encouraging or inciting disruptive behavior by other council members or attendees at a council meeting.”
In addition, there would be a fine for any councilmember who violates the code of conduct.
Within a 12-month period beginning from the date of the first offense, an offending council member would be fined $100 for the first infraction; $200 for the second; $500 for the third and $500 for any additional infractions.
Mayor Mia Casey told BenitoLink that the fines would likely go to the city’s general fund.
Though the item did not name a specific council member, many who gave public comments spoke in support of Resendiz, who received his second censure in September for violating the council’s code of conduct. He was first censured during the Jan. 21, 2020, council meeting.
Of the 20 public speakers, 14 spoke in favor of Resendiz.
Many of the speakers supporting Resendiz said he was the voice for Latinos in the community.
John Robles, a Hollister resident, said: “I have publicly stated on record that any move to censure or bully Mr. Resendiz would serve as a validation of a perverse agenda to silence a voice of nearly one-third of Hollister.”
Any move to censure Resendiz is a “slap in the collective face of the Latino population,” he added.
One speaker, Doni Bee, commented about the number of speakers in support of Resendiz.
“It’s interesting that the vast majority of the speakers tonight have correctly read it [the proposed changes] as an attack on Rolan Resendiz, even though nothing has been discussed specifically saying this is targeting Rolan,” Bee said.
Two other speakers Julio Rodriguez and Mary Hsia-Coron said any punishment of Resendiz was considered racist.
Six speakers voiced support for the code of conduct changes.
“Rolan does a good job. He goes door to door and comes through our neighborhood, but I do believe in the code of conduct, Rolan,” Hollister resident Nate Morris said. “I think you need to hold yourself to a higher standard.”
One speaker disagreed with the previous comments about Resendiz being the voice for all Latinos in the community.
“It’s very shameful to hear that you hide behind Latinos and try to represent us with this poor behavior,” Jose Rivera said. “So I would recommend not using our name because this is a shame for myself to hear that we have somebody representing us with low quality and respect to the rest of the people here.”
He added he represented over 90 unionized painters, gravel finishers and flooring workers in the community.
Before the consensus vote, Councilmember Tim Burns said a code of conduct was signed by all council members, including Resendiz.
“So why do this? Well apparently what we’ve got is broken, it isn’t working and we need to make it more consequential when people violate it consistently,” Burns said.
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