Members Present:
City Council of the City of Hollister
Minutes of the Special Meeting
June 22, 2026, 5:30 p.m.
City Council Chamber, City Hall
375 Fifth Street, Hollister, CA 95023
Roxanne Stephens, Mayor
Rudy Picha, District 1
Rolan Resendiz, District 2
Dolores Morales, District 3
Priscilla de Anda, District 4
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Stephens called the special meeting of the City Council of the City of Hollister to order at 5:39 p.m.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Councilmember Resendiz led the Pledge of Allegiance.
3 ROLL CALL
Acting City Clerk Gonzalez called the roll.
4. CONSENT AGENDA
City Manager Cortez pulled Item 4.3 from the consent calendar.
Vice Mayor de Anda opened public comment at 5:44 p.m.
There were no speakers for the consent agenda items.
Vice Mayor de Anda closed public comment at 5:44 p.m.
Vice Mayor de Anda opened Public Comment for items not on the agenda at 5:46 p.m.
Jaymie Salinas spoke in support of House of Hope & Healing Hearts.
Vice Mayor de Anda closed public comment at 5:49 p.m.
Mayor Stephens joined the meeting remotely and announced her remote participation under Just Cause Section 54953.8.3 (c)(2). Mayor Stephens announced there was no one in the room with her under the age of eighteen. 1 Moved by: Council Member Resendiz
Seconded by: Council Member Picha
Adopting consent items 4.1 and 4.2 and moving item 4.3 to a regular business item.
Ayes (5): Mayor Stephens, Council Member Picha, Council Member Resendiz, Council Member Morales, and Council Member de Anda
Carried via roll call vote (5 to 0)
Moved by: Council Member Resendiz
Seconded by: Council Member Picha
Opening public comment for non-agendized items.
Ayes (5): Mayor Stephens, Council Member Picha, Council Member Resendiz, Council Member Morales, and Council Member de Anda
Carried via roll call vote (5 to 0)
4.1 A RESOLUTION APPROVING AMENDED BYLAWS FOR THE
BUSINESS ADVISORY COMMISSION
Moved by: Council Member Resendiz
Seconded by: Council Member Picha
Adopt a resolution approving amended bylaws for the Business Advisory Commission.
Carried via roll call vote
4.2 RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT TO FILL A VACANCY ON THE
BUSINESS ADVISORY COMMISSION
Moved by: Council Member Resendiz
Seconded by: Council Member Picha
Ratify the appointment of Steven Ricketts to fill a vacancy on the Business Advisory Commission.
Carried via roll call vote
4.3 A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE APPOINTMENT OF AN INTERIM
FIRE CHIEF AND AN INTERIM PARKS DIRECTOR PURSUANT TO
GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 21221(h)
City Manager Cortez provided the staff report.
Mayor Stephens opened public comment at 5:51 p.m.
2 There were no speakers for this item.
Mayor Stephens closed public comment at 5:52 p.m.
Moved by: Council Member Picha
Seconded by: Council Member Morales
Adopt a resolution approving the appointment of an interim Fire Chief and an interim Parks Director.
Ayes (5): Mayor Stephens, Council Member Picha, Council Member Resendiz, Council Member Morales, and Council Member de Anda Carried via roll call vote (5 to 0)
5. PUBLIC HEARINGS
5.1 CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING AND ADOPTION OF THE FY2026- 2027 RECOMMENDED BUDGET, THE FY2026-2027 AUTHORIZED
POSITION SUMMARY, AND THE FISCAL YEAR 2026-27
APPROPRIATIONS LIMIT
City Manager Cortez and Finance Director O'Connell provided the staff presentation.
Council Member Morales suggested creating a committee to review the financials, ballot initiatives, and city funds. She would like a study to evaluate the staffing needs in the water department.
Dr. Resendiz recommended bringing an item for the creation of the committee at the August 3, 2026 Council Meeting.
Mayor Stephens opened the public hearing at 6:34 p.m.
Jon Casey stated that for the Interfund loan, there should be a formal loan structure, Council approval for the use of the funds, and a path for repayment structural balance. He encouraged Council to focus on the borrowing framework for the loan.
Mia Casey stated that the budget seems not to be fully developed. She asked for consideration of an interim budget adoption rather than a full budget adoption at this time.
Brendon Coye thanked the council for meeting with the union and expressed concerns regarding cuts. He stated that the planning team is at a skeleton crew, yet staff has worked hard to improve efficiencies. He asked council to consider what impact these cuts will have.
Daniel Perez expressed his concerns with contracting services and stated that contractors may not have the same level of experience that long-term employees can provide.
3 Christina Camarillo stated that we are not only looking at saving jobs, but we are looking at providing a good service to the community. She stated that street sweeping cost is about $2 per household and asked that we evaluate if this is truly covering the cost of the service. She spoke is support of staff and their expertise.
Tania Gonzalez expressed her concern for upcoming layoffs and restructuring. She shared the scope of her role and expressed support for support services staff. She asked that the council ensure transparency in layoff plans and that the Council consider the long-term consequences on staff and city services if these layoffs take place.
Jacob Gomer spoke regarding the needs of current water department infrastructure and the workload the water department currently deals with.
He asked the Council to consider the long-term effects of layoffs.
Carolynne questioned the positions added to the positions list provided and if adoption of the budget means approval of these positions that do not currently exist on the salary schedule.
Frank Garcia spoke regarding the resignation of Public Works Director Javier Hernandez and shared that employees presented a letter of recognition to him for improving communication and work practices within the department. He shared that Mr. Hernandez expressed a difference in leadership direction that he could not support.
Arthur Hernandez shared that Mr. Hernandez stated that the bare -bones staffing exercises were never intended to evaluate all service levels and warned of the consequences that staff reduction will cause.
Denise Quintana asked council to approve a budget that keeps union jobs.
Liz Castillo, spoke regarding staffing operations at the Airport and her scope of work in supporting airport services. She asked the City Council to recognize the value of city employees.
Rodrigo Aguilera questioned why we are not hiring more auditing staff to complete the outstanding audits. He expressed that SEIU is the backbone of the organization and that reduction of staff will delay the response time to service. He asked the Council to really consider their decision tonight.
Mayor Stephens closed the public hearing at 7:10 p.m.
Council Member Morales asked to clarify if we are focusing on voluntary separation and placement/re-placement of staff into vacant positions at this time and not moving forward with layoffs at this point. City Manager Cortez confirmed that at this moment the focus is on voluntary separations.
Council Member Picha stated that the intent is to retain as many employees as possible. City Manager Cortez stated that at this time they 4 are offering incentives in lieu of pink slips, then we will evaluate the situation within a few months. Council Member Picha asked that we exhaust all options before issuing pink slips and losing any employees.
Mayor Stephens thanked staff for their work and for finding a middle - ground approach to the budget.
Moved by: Council Member Morales
Seconded by: Council Member Picha
1. Receive the Finance Department's presentation of two Fiscal Year 2026-2027 appropriation scenario; and
2. Continue the public hearing and accept public testimony; and
3. Close the public hearing; and
4. Adopt a resolution approving the preferred approach for final appropriation adoption, and the FY2026-2027 Preliminary Authorized Positions Summary; and
5. Adopt a resolution approving the FY2026-2027 appropriations limit.
August 3, meeting
Ayes (3): Mayor Stephens, Council Member Picha, and Council Member Morales
Noes (2): Council Member Resendiz, and Council Member de Anda Carried via roll call vote (3 to 2)
6. COUNCIL BUSINESS
6.1 WATER RATE DISCUSSION AND ADJUSTMENTS TO WATER RATES City Manager Cortez provided the staff report.
Mayor Stephens opened public comment at 7:27 p.m.
There were no speakers for this item.
Mayor Stephens closed public comment at 7:27 p.m.
Moved by: Council Member Resendiz
Seconded by: Council Member Picha
Adopt a resolution increasing the City's water rates.
Ayes (5): Mayor Stephens, Council Member Picha, Council Member Resendiz, Council Member Morales, and Council Member de Anda Carried via roll call vote (5 to 0)
5 6.2 A RESOLUTION CONFIRMING AND APPROVING THE HOUSING TRUST GUIDELINES AND A FY2026-27 BUDGET ADJUSTMENT OF
$300,000 FROM GENERAL FUND 101 TO THE HOME PROGRAM
REVOLVING LOAN FUND 809
Accounting Manager Pichardo provided the staff report.
Mayor Stephens opened public comment at 7:36 p.m.
There were no speakers for this item.
Mayor Stephens closed public comment at 7:37 p.m.
Moved by: Council Member Resendiz
Seconded by: Council Member Picha
Adopt a resolution approving the Housing Trust Guidelines with the Budget Adjustment and submit to Housing Community Development (HCD) for review.
Ayes (5): Mayor Stephens, Council Member Picha, Council Member Resendiz, Council Member Morales, and Council Member de Anda Carried via roll call vote (5 to 0)
7. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Stephens adjourned the meeting at 7:37 p.m.
Arlie oizilez, Acting CityClerk
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