Hollister council members Monday agreed to take a legislative recess in July, meaning there won’t be any council or committee meetings that month.
Council members were unanimous in the decision. The council in recent years has taken off in July to allow for vacations and time off. The mayor has pointed out how oftentimes, there otherwise aren’t enough attendees for meetings that month due to absences.
The decision came weeks after the members agreed to add a third monthly council meeting to the city’s slate in order to catch up on issues. The extra meeting was an idea from Councilman Marty Richman, who supported the July recess Monday.
“I do appreciate the fact that the council was willing to take on the extra burden of an extra meeting,” Richman said.
Councilwoman Carol Lenoir said she came around on the idea due to the amount of work and research that’s necessary for council members and staff officials to prepare for the meetings.
“I just want to say I wasn’t for this until I got on the council,” Lenoir said.
Mayor Ignacio Velazquez has been a proponent of the recess, though he reminded officials it will equate to relatively busy meetings before and after the time off.
