Honor Spencer is a San Benito High School employee who’s lived here for 23 years. She stressed how her kids and grandchildren are here and she wants to leave a legacy for future generations.
“I want to do something for the people of this town. I want to do something for our children,” she said in a recent interview with San Benito Live.
Spencer is running for the District 3 Hollister City Council seat against Elia Salinas and Raul Escareno in a bid to succeed Karson Klauer, who declined to run again.
She’s especially concerned about local youths and believes younger generations would like to return home to Hollister and raise their own families here.
“There’s nothing here for our kids,” she said. “They go to school. They go home. They sit. There’s nothing. My biggest goal for this town is to fund a community center for them, and not just for them but for generations to come.”
She said youth options are limited to a movie theater and rundown skate park.
“I’m sorry — I don’t even let my grand-kids go because it’s not acceptable,” she said. “If we’re going to be a community, we need stuff.”
See the full video interview with Spencer here. Story continues below.
She went on in reference to the housing growth issue: “This is probably a really sore thumb with everybody: But to do these things, we need growth. If we don’t have growth, we’re not going to have businesses. We’re not going to have families coming in. So it’s hand in hand and we all need to understand that. I’m not talking about building 5,000 homes in a month or a year. Slow, steady growth is what Hollister needs. You know that old saying from the movie Field of Dreams. ‘If you build it, they will come.’ And that’s how I feel.”
Aside from a community center, Spencer said she wants to get the local roads fixed and revitalize downtown.
“You go to Morgan Hill. You go to Gilroy. Go to Salinas, and the cute, little, quaint downtown areas are where people want to go downtown and walk. They want to go to the ice cream parlor. I know this sounds old, but it’s what is new now.”
As for her motivation to run, Spencer said she wanted to run four years ago but stayed out of the race since Klauer decided to put his hat in the ring.
“I have the utmost respect for him. When I found out he wasn’t going to run again, I thought, ‘You know what. It’s time.’ We all talk about getting involved but we don’t do it. I might not be the best candidate. I might not know everything. But I’ll learn. I’ll fight for this community.”
See the video interviews with Escareno and Salinas below:
