How to show up in San Benito County
Surveillance is approved by people who hold public meetings any resident can attend. This page lists the bodies that do that in San Benito County, what we have confirmed about attending each one, and where each publishes its agendas.
We do not publish meeting dates. A schedule we cannot check often enough would eventually send someone to the wrong place on the wrong night. Each body below links to wherever it publishes its own agendas and schedule, and that is the copy to trust.
Bodies in this county
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San Benito County Board of Supervisors
Watch this oneThe county's documented camera decision was made by Hollister's council, not here. What this Board has decided on surveillance is an open question; no agenda of its own has been read.
- When
- Tuesdays at 9:00 AM.
- Where
- Board Chambers, County Administration Building, 481 4th Street, Hollister, CA 95023
- Remote
- A Zoom webinar, with the link and password on each agenda, and a dial-in on 1-408-638-0968 where star 9 raises a hand. The livestream also runs on the county's Facebook page, its YouTube channel and the agenda portal. The county says Zoom is a courtesy: if it fails and no board member is attending remotely, the meeting carries on in the chamber without it.
- Public comment
- Three minutes per speaker, or whatever the Chair sets. If more than ten people want to speak on an item, everyone gets two minutes instead. Someone on Zoom gives their first name, last name and the county they live in when they are unmuted. To comment on the consent agenda, which is otherwise approved as a block without discussion, a speaker fills in a card and gives it to the Clerk before the consent agenda is taken up.
- Written comment
- By email to the Clerk of the Board by 5:00 PM on the Monday before the meeting. The address is printed on every agenda.
- Who to ask
- Clerk of the Board, 831-636-4000 ext. 13 (checked )
Earlier research recorded this body as blocked, with its meeting time carried only as an unconfirmed search result. The county's own agenda portal and the agendas themselves are readable in a browser and are the source used here. The Clerk's published email address is an individual's rather than an office one, so it is on the agenda rather than on this page. Agendas and minutes from before the current portal are in a separate archive.
Confirmed ·
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Hollister City Council
Watch this oneOn 21 August 2023 this council adopted Resolution 2023-163 on a 4-0 vote, the decision that brought cameras and gunshot detection to Hollister. Public comment on the item opened and closed in the same minute, at 9:20 PM, with nobody speaking.
- When
- The first and third Monday of each month at 6:30 PM.
- Where
- City Hall Council Chambers, 375 Fifth Street, Hollister, CA 95023
- Remote
- A Zoom webinar that has to be registered for in advance, using the link on the city's agendas page. Recent agendas have said teleconferencing is offered subject to availability and that using it is at the participant's own risk. Archived video is on the city's YouTube channel.
- Public comment
- A speaker fills in a card, available in the lobby, and gives it to the City Clerk before speaking. Comment on matters not on the agenda is taken under public input. Comment on an agenda item is taken when the presiding officer calls for it.
- Written comment
- — not confirmed
- Who to ask
- City of Hollister, 831-636-4300, 375 Fifth Street, Hollister, CA 95023 (checked )
The city keeps two systems. Current agendas, packets and minutes are on eScribe. Older council and former redevelopment agency records are in a separate public document portal that allows only 25 people signed in at once and limits downloads to 75 pages at a time. Agendas are also posted on a bulletin board in the west alleyway outside City Hall. The city does not publish a per-speaker time limit or an address for written comment.
Confirmed ·
What this list does not cover yet
These are the bodies we have confirmed, not every body in the county. San Benito County has other commissions and committees, and other school and special districts, that we have not documented yet. Several of the county's own committees publish on the same county portal linked above.
Before you go, and after
Civic action
Read what is already on the record for San Benito County first. A resident who has read the contract changes the room.
What is documented in San Benito County →Personal protection
Knowing which systems operate near you also tells you where your own choices still matter.
EFF Surveillance Self-Defense ↗