Hollister City Council Member Rolan Resendiz issued “written reprimand” by fellow council members

HOLLISTER, CALIF. (KION-TV) -- Hollister City Council members voted in a 3-1 vote to issue a written reprimand to Rolan Resendiz for violating the city's code of conduct.

It's the second time Resendiz has faced formal scrutiny from his fellow council members.

This time he's accused of being disruptive during meetings and being disrespectful by saying other council members, including Mayor Mia Casey, are catering to the needs of property developers when voting on city issues.

Resendiz abstained from voting on the disciplinary action taken by council but says he will continue to be vocal about any perceived wrongdoings by council members.

"If you find it to be disruptive then you find facts, transparency and democracy to be disruptive," said Resendiz.

Other council members spoke about their concerns moving forward, especially with Resendiz being censured previously by the council.

"I don't wanna see the city of Hollister continuing to be the laughing stock of California," said councilmember Dolores Morales.

The city wasn't without any drama prior to this outside of remarks from Resendiz either, as councilmember Rick Perez also faced a censure not too long ago.

He, however, is hoping the city can move on from this and felt it was unfair to compare the two incidents.

"Hopefully we don't have to go through this again," said Perez. "We can all get along if we just tone back the drama a little bit."

Hollister City Council Member Rolan Resendiz Could Face Disciplinary Action

For the second time in less than a month, a member of the Hollister City Council could face disciplinary action for violating the city’s code of conduct.

This time it’s Rolan Resendiz.

“The mayor pulled me into a back room with the City Attorney,” Resendiz said. “And she told me if I were to mention the fact that she's being supported by developers in public again, she finds it to be very disruptive that she would hit me with a code of conduct.”

During the council meeting on May 5th when talking about inclusionary housing, Resendiz didn’t back down and brought up the subject anyway. 

Because Resendiz didn’t comply with what Mayor Casey asked, the meeting was cut short to defuse the situation.

Resendiz believes council members have an agenda favorable to developers, including city Mayor Mia Casey.

“On the flip side, the mayor was funded,” Resendiz said. “Her campaigns were funded by Anderson Homes, the Lee family, and a number of well-known developers.”

When asked about this Mayor Casey says that the only reason Resendiz could face discipline is because of his lack of cooperation during the meetings.  

“That has not been the case,” Casey said. “And over a period of three different meetings, it's gotten considerably worse. And the behavior towards me as chair has also become very disrespectful.”

As far as his accusations of funding…

“Yes, as a part of the hundreds of campaign contributions that came in, I did get some contributions from Anderson Homes, but my commitment was I didn't want to be seen as funded in that way at all,” Casey said. “And I returned those funds last December.”

We checked on if the funds were returned by Mia Casey and according to city records a total of $495 was returned to Anderson Homes.

The Hollister City Council meeting will begin at 6:30 P.M.. Discussion about Resendiz’s actions will be the first thing talked about during the meeting.