• San Benito County Grand Jury Report #2 Our Take on County Problems Identified
    Aug 22 2025

    In this episode, John, Elia, and special guest Stacie McGrady discuss more problems that the Civil Grand Jury found and reported on. We talk about the taxes that the San Benito County Water District collects. Has the reason for the tax, infrastructure built 40 years ago passed. Does operations and maintenance justify the ongoing taxes? John's answer is YES, the water district provides high-quality water to the city of Hollister and Sunnyslope Water District as well as blue valve water that supports Agriculture in our county. Stacie and Elia provide pushback on the tax issue. Later we talk about Code Enforcement and how an outside contractor does not always provide good service to the community.

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    37 mins
  • Episode 2 Change is Here; THE CIVIL GRAND JURY GIVES ITS REPORT ON THE COUNTY
    Aug 5 2025

    In this episode, Elia and John, with special guest Stacie McGrady, discuss the recent civil grand jury report. Ms. McGrady was a member of the 2024-25 San Benito County Civil Grand Jury and participated in the investigations conducted by the Grand Jury. Twelve separate investigations were published, and seven of them involve County operations and administration. In this episode, we discuss the ongoing problems with the County administration and thier inability to solve these problems.

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    31 mins
  • Episode 1 Change is Here, Overview of County Problems and Politics
    Jul 2 2025

    In our initial podcast, John Freeman and Elia Salinas discuss the problems and challenges of San Benito County. We start off with the ongoing recall of two County Supervisors, and discuss the housing crisis in both the State of California and San Benito County. We then discuss the effects of having the working population commute long hours out of town to earn a livable wage and its effects on the cultural life of San Benito County. We discuss the recent passage of AB 130 that eases the CEQA requirements on infill housing. We also discuss the economy of San Juan Bautista and the hopeful jolt that a new gas station on the corner of Hwy 156 and The Alameda may give to our beloved little town. We end on a positive note concerning the power grid of California and how the power mix of WWS (Water, Wind, & Solar) now provides a majority of our electrical power, and the good effects of that fact on our air quality and our health.

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    27 mins