The community is invited to a meeting of the Fire Advisory Committee on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 8:30 a.m. at Hollister City Hall, 375 Fifth St. Public officials will be on hand to discuss fire safety concerns and related budget issues in the county of San Benito and cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista.

Juli Vieira, president and CEO of the San Benito County Chamber and Visitors' Bureau, told BenitoLink that she feels "it is important that members of the community become more involved in what is going on. It is very disheartening that so few people attend the City Council meetings and the Board of Supervisors' meetings unless there is a hot topic like medical marijuana or the homeless shelter. Many times, there are less than 10 people in the audience. Is it always exciting? No, but my philosophy is if you don’t voice your concerns then you should not complain after decisions are made that you do not agree with."

Vieira said the Chamber "is concerned about the discussion" that will take place Thursday as "these decisions will affect our entire community, which includes all the businesses. So please, if you can become involved, attend meetings when you can. Against popular belief, your city council members and supervisors do want to hear from you."

"I hope to see new faces at City Hall in the morning supporting our firefighters and elected officials as they have some tough discussions and decisions ahead," Vieira said.