Hollister council dissolves besieged department after public outcry
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Recent outcry from community members and business owners regarding the city’s difficulties in the building permit and inspection processes has led the Hollister City Council to dissolve the Community Development Department and eliminate three positions.
While several community members voiced their support for the move, affected employees spoke against the move at the April 6 Hollister City Council meeting.
City Manager Ana Cortez, who took over the top administrator position in February, said the department’s reorganization would bring $936,000 in annual savings to the city.
“I’m confident that as we move forward we will begin to see improvements in customer service, improvement in timelines, improvement in being able to deliver and being able to deliver consistent information,” Cortez said.
Cortez said a “vacuum of leadership” and “use of poor practices” led to a loss in trust in the department.
“The community has spoken very clearly on what is expected,” she said.
The positions being eliminated are the community development director/assistant city manager Rod Powell, building official Gabriel Martinez and the cannabis affairs manager Maria Mendez.
The positions being eliminated are the community development director/assistant city manager, a building official position and the cannabis affairs manager. These were held, respectively, by Rod Powell, Gabriel Martinez and Maria Mendez.
The three employees will be placed on a re-employment list and receive a 30-day notice, according to the staff report in the agenda.
Since November, BenitoLink has reported community members’ accusations that staff were obstructing or delaying projects in the permitting process and adding requirements after each inspection.
With the elimination of the department, the city will move its planning services under the supervision of the parks and recreation department; cannabis under the police department; the permitting desk under finance; and building inspections under public works.
To address employees’ concerns over the city’s vision, Cortez said she began holding meetings with departments in April, the same approach she took when she held a town hall with community members to express their concerns about the city’s services.
“Yes, there will be an angry table because employees will be angry,” she said. “I know that, but that comes with the job.”
Among the employees who spoke out against the plan was Mendez, who questioned whether the decision was budget-driven or a reaction to political pressure, referencing the staff report which states that the city faces “crisis of public opinion.”
Mendez, who has been with the city for 20 years, said that at the recent workshop the city hosted, community members did not bring up complaints about the cannabis affairs department.
However, Ashley McPhail, CEO of Faultline Manufacturing, accused the cannabis department of losing her documentation and being a “ghost town department” because it was difficult getting information.
Mendez said she learned the city was considering eliminating her position when the agenda was published on April 3 and that she was concerned about the lack of communication with staff.
“Decisions like these are more [than] decisions, they are about trust, integrity and most importantly the values we hold as a community,” she said.
A community member identified as “Andres” questioned Cortez’s process of eliminating the positions and said it could lead to lawsuits and severances, referencing Cortez’s employment history in Carnation, Washington, in which the Snoqualmie Valley Record reported she resigned months after a third-party arbitrator ordered the city to reinstate four unionized employees with full back pay in a wrongful termination case.
The newspaper also reported she left with a $120,000 severance package.
Before that, Cortez had resigned as the city manager for Helena, Montana, weeks after she was placed on administrative leave following staff complaints involving harassment. Although she was cleared of the allegations, an outside investigation recommended the city work on improving communications between Cortez and staff.
Community member John Coulter said he supported Cortez’s reorganization.
“It’s what has to be done. We’ve all suffered,” he said. “You hear about the employees saying ‘what about the employee,’ but they are the ones who caused the suffering that is going on and it’s through incompetence.”
Two other community members raised concerns about the qualifications of current parks and recreation and public works department directors to oversee planning and building.
Former Hollister city councilmember and planning commissioner Carol Lenoir said she had expected the city to hire new people at the embattled departments rather than shifting them to other departments.
“That’s a lot of stuff you have to know and a lot of agencies you have to work with,” she said.
Other council actions
The Hollister City Council also rescinded resolutions that named a street and park after Cesar Chavez. Both are located in the southeast area of the city.
The move followed previous discussions the council members held after allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct by the farmworker civil rights leader.
The city will conduct outreach in the community for potential replacement names before the City Council acts to remove the Avenida Cesar Chavez signs.
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