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Four years after San Benito County secured a $10 million state grant to expand its library, officials held a public hearing on March 17 to gather input on the project, along with two social programs. More than a dozen people spoke, calling for the county to consider programs including the arts, youth, seniors and the unhoused.
The hearing was a required step in the county’s application for a new $3.6 million grant that would help ensure the library expansion moves forward, County Executive Officer Esperanza Colio Warren said.
“It is important that your voices are heard about what programs or projects you believe are needed in the community,” Colio Warren told the public.
The new grant, Colio Warren said, would help protect the library expansion against rising construction costs. While its final cost remains uncertain, she argued that costs have risen amid years of inflation and an unpredictable economy.
“Even though they did an escalation percentage, the economy has changed very much lately, especially under the current circumstances,” Colio Warren said.
The library expansion—which requires a $5 million county match on top of the $10 million state grant—has been delayed as county officials grappled with a tight budget and scrambled to decide where to place it. A few weeks ago, officials determined they would expand the library at its current location rather than move it elsewhere.
Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki urged county staff to look for ways to control the costs and, if the grant is won, try to spend less than the $3 million, in order to invest more in social programs.
“I’m frankly concerned about the escalation of the library budget and the fact that we’re not reining that in,” Kosmicki said. “We’re not building a 25,000-square-foot, 40,000-square-foot building. We’re renovating a relatively small building.”
“Our library is more than just a place for books,” County Librarian Austin Curtis said. “It’s a community hub for the residents of San Benito County. It’s one of the only meeting places that provides an accessible space and essential services where members can gather, connect, learn and access resources that support their lives.”
The application requires public hearings as part of the process. More than a dozen speakers addressed the board and those who spoke, as well as other attendees, were asked to sign a sheet documenting public input that will be submitted to the state. The final application will be presented to the public and the supervisors on March 31, and county officials must submit it by April 3.
Of the $3.6 million grant, the county has proposed directing $3 million to the library and $600,000 to two social programs.
The first proposal was to fund after-school and summer activities for low-income children and youth. Deputy Director of Community Services and Workforce Development Enrique Arreola told the board the program is expected to serve more than 120 young people.
The remaining $300,000 would support operations at the H.O.M.E. Resource Center, the county’s only homeless shelter. The shelter, which can house up to 56 people, operates around the clock during the winter months and is open from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. in the summer. Operations costs are between $500,000 and $600,000 a year, Arreola said.
“It’s been quite a struggle securing funding on an annual basis,” Arreola said. “There are operations, utilities and repairs. So, the worst-case scenario is that if we don’t apply for and secure these funds, the operations of the shelter could look different.”
Community members at the meeting urged the supervisors to broaden the scope of social programs. Former Hollister councilmember Mickie Solorio Luna and former San Juan Bautista councilmember Cesar Flores asked that arts and music be included in the youth programs.
Wayne Norton, vice president of the Board of Directors for the Seniors Council of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, asked for seniors to be included. He noted that their Meals on Wheels program served 145 seniors in January alone, delivering nearly 3,000 meals. Still, 47 San Benito County seniors remain on the waitlist for food assistance.
“By addressing this waiting list, we are not just providing food,” Norton said. “We are preventing malnutrition and reducing the likelihood of costly emergency room visits.”
Seniors Council Executive Director Clay Klempf suggested the county reframe the application to cover food and shelter broadly, rather than limiting it to youth and the unhoused, which he argued would allow seniors to qualify.
“That will give us the flexibility to meet the greatest need for all the populations,” Klempf said.
He also recommended the application should reference Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Master Plan for Aging to earn additional points with the state. “If we put in references to feeding older adults and tying it with the state’s Master Plan for Aging, I think that will boost everything for all of us,” Klempf said.
The board concurred with the public speakers on broadening the scope of the social programs. “Food and shelter are going to be No. 1,” said Supervisor Mindy Sotelo.
Colio Warren told the supervisors she would work with the county’s Health and Human Services Agency in the coming weeks to complete the application and present a final version in two weeks.
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