Not mincing words at the June 2 San Benito County Board of Supervisors’ meeting, District 3 Supervisor Robert Rivas declared, “I am not an advocate for tiny homes,” referring to Holllister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez’s proposed project for the homeless.
Rivas explained, “It won’t work for San Benito but maybe (it will in) Sacramento. It is not the solution. Our vision is the (homeless) Center for San Benito. We need resources to improve the health and housing of the needy. Tiny homes is a distraction. I don’t want to be a part of it.”
District 5 Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz agreed that the county should continue building the center for the homeless while board chairwoman and District 1 Supervisor Margie Barrios took the middle ground, “We are working as a county to address this issue. Tiny Homes is just a facet. I have visited the (San Benito) River and I have seen that that the garbage has been there for a long time. The access road allows anyone to dump trash there. It is not being ignored.”
District 2 Supervisor Anthony Botelho reiterated the sanitation and safety concerns related to the homeless encampment along the river off of Fourth Street. “I am not worried about tiny homes. Let’s just get the center up and operate it.” Botelho said the encampment along the river also poses environmental and security issues because “they’re within city limits. I’ve heard concerns from some property owners.” He recommended that the need for portable toilets at the shantytown be put on the board’s next agenda.
This turn of discussion occurred even before the board got to its consent and regular agendas, meaning it was not noted as a discussion item on the agenda, raising questions about its permissibility within the Brown Act — which requires deliberations by elected bodies to be properly noticed. The issue Tuesday was ignited by the unresolved issue over the potential closure of Nash Road through San Benito High School’s campus. Botelho agreed with Rivas that “it’s just sour grapes from council members” while De La Cruz said, “What do (the school, the county and the council) bring to this? They should put things on paper.”
The Board honored the Rotary Club on its 90th year and declared June as Alzheimer’s (Disease) and Brain Awareness month in San Benito County before moving to the regular agenda, during which the Board approved a fee increase for the Mosquito Abatement Program from $10.90 to $11.22 per single-family equivalent. The matter will now be subject to a public hearing on July 21 before potential final approval.
Organic waste recycling exemption approved
County Administrative Officer Ray Espinosa urged the Board to seek an exemption from AB 1826, the mandatory organic waste recycling program legislation that takes effect in 2016. Espinosa said, “It will be a burden to business. San Benito qualifies for the exemption. We are not sound economically and we have no facility. We need to report to state that we’re not ready.”
The California Air Resources Board had previously indicated that it would consider adopting regulations that would restrict or ban the disposal of organic mateial in landfills in order to reduce greenhouse gasses if legislation requiring businesses that generate organic waste to arrange for recycling services was not enacted in 2014. Following much legislative wrangling at the state level, AB 1826 was signed into law last September to phase in the organic waste recycling requirements over a five-year period.
One of the primary concerns in the development of the legislation, according to a county report on the matter, was the recognition that local jurisdictions — such as a rural county like San Benito — may not have facilities to process organic waste, lack sufficient organic waste processing infrastructure, have budgetary constraints and has made a “good faith effort” to implement organic waste recycling. AB 1826 provides a potential exemption that allows counties of fewer than 70,000 residents (San Benito County has 55,269) to not be subject to the organic recycling mandates until Jan. 1, 2020, at which time CalRecycle can choose to extend or terminate the exemption.
Local supervisors on Tuesday adopted a resolution that exempts the county from implementing a mandatory organic waste recycling program while remaining “committed to continue to pursue economically feasible alternatives for organics management and to encourage businesses to reeduce and reuse organics materials.”
In other action
- County Clerk Joe Paul Gonzales urged the Board to change its asset allocation strategy for a conservative long-term expected rate of return. Rivas agreed but Botelho and De La Cruz opted for a middle-ground strategy. Barrios agreed saying, “We need to put money in the general fund.”
- The Board authorized the implementation of AB 1522, a sick leave law. Gina Cochran from the county’s human resources said that “the new law expands qualifications even to relatives, temp workers, and leave due to domestic violence. One hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked is earned by the temp worker beginning July 1.” The challenge for the county, Cochran said, “is that we need to track this manually.” The new law affects “82 temps, 50 who are not in the budget and 21 retirees.” Botelho said, “It’s a difficult state law that pays people not to work. Somebody thoughtless came up with this.” Cochran said it was written in a vacuum “with neither the private nor public sector being asked for advice.”
- The Board then recessed for closed session to discuss labor negotiations. They reconvened after lunch to hear land division issues from the Assessor’s Office. A mock budget report was presented to prepare for the hearings on the county’s spending plan on June 15 and 16.