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City of Hollister · Statewide General Election

Hollister City Council, District 3

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person would represent Hollister's District 3 on the City Council for a 4-year term: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under the same council-manager government as the rest of the Council.

Incumbent Dolores Morales, who has represented District 3 since 2021, is being challenged by William "Bill" Avera, who served as Hollister's City Manager for six years before retiring in 2019.

This person would represent Hollister's District 3 on the City Council for a 4-year term: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under the city's council-manager government, where an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. Unlike Mayor and District 2, District 3's incumbent filed for reelection during the regular filing period, which closed Aug. 7.

Both candidates here have a real, independently confirmed biographical anchor -- Morales' Council incumbency and Avera's six years as City Manager -- but neither has a locatable platform or specific policy position for this campaign. The profiles below describe what's confirmable about each, not a full comparison of their views.

Dolores Morales

Dolores Morales is the incumbent District 3 Councilmember, first elected in 2021 and reelected in 2022, per the City's own Council roster. BenitoLink's race preview confirms she is being challenged by Bill Avera in her bid for another term. No further independent record of her occupation, platform, or voting record was found in this pass beyond her confirmed incumbency.

Strengths

Sitting incumbent with current Council experience, confirmed by the City's own official roster and independently by BenitoLink's race coverage.

Trade-offs

No independent record of her specific votes, platform, or occupation beyond her incumbency was found in this pass.

Keep in mind

The City's own roster lists her as "Elected November 2021; Reelected November 2022" -- consistent with an initial election to fill a vacancy followed by a win of a full term, though this dataset did not independently confirm the nature of the 2021 election.

William B. Avera

Bill Avera served as Hollister's City Manager -- the city's top appointed administrator -- for six years before retiring in November 2019, per BenitoLink's reporting. He is now seeking to return to city government as an elected official, challenging Morales for the District 3 seat. No further independent record of a specific platform or civic activity since his 2019 retirement was found in this pass.

Strengths

Direct institutional experience with Hollister city government -- six years as its top appointed administrator, confirmed by BenitoLink -- distinct background for the elected role he now seeks.

Trade-offs

No independent record of his platform or activity since retiring in 2019 was found. Seeking authority over the office he once ran is a distinct step voters may weigh differently.

Keep in mind

A City Manager role is appointed and administrative, not elected or policymaking -- voters weighing this candidacy are evaluating a very different kind of prior city experience than an elected official's.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • sanbenitocounty-ca-cre.gov (opens in a new tab)San Benito County Department of Elections -- "Final Qualified Candidate List" for the November 3, 2026 General Election (all 75 qualified candidates countywide; retrieved via a real browser session since the county site 403s non-browser clients).
  • hollister.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Hollister -- City Clerk, "Elections" page: the November 3, 2026 election timeline, the four offices on the ballot, each candidate's nomination filing dates, the extended-filing notice for Mayor and District 2, and the city's own statement of its Council-City Manager structure and term lengths.
  • hollister.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Hollister -- "City Council" page: current Mayor, District 1-4 Councilmembers, and City Treasurer, with each one's election/reelection date and term-expiration date.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Hollister, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population (41,678), the Aug. 6, 1872 incorporation date, and the city's 2012 shift to a directly elected Mayor (Ignacio Velazquez, its first).
  • benitolink.com (opens in a new tab)BenitoLink -- "Familiar faces seek to return to Hollister city council chambers in general election" (by Noe Magaña): a dedicated preview of Hollister's Nov. 2026 races naming and describing Tim Burns, Christina/Tina Garza, Scott McPhail, Bill Avera, and Dolores Morales, plus the countywide qualified-candidate roster as of Aug. 7-8, 2026.
  • benitolink.com (opens in a new tab)BenitoLink -- "Judge approves release of Hollister council member's police records" (by Noe Magaña): Tim Burns' Oct. 2024 public-records request for Councilmember Rolan Resendiz's police records, the resulting nearly-two-year court fight, the judge's Aug. 27, 2026 release order, and on-the-record quotes from both Burns and Resendiz.
  • public.netfile.com (opens in a new tab)City of Hollister's public campaign-finance portal (NetFile, agency code HOL), queried directly via its public filer-list API: shows a 2026 campaign committee registered for Burns, Avera, Morales, Benjamin, Garza, McPhail, and Chavez (all "Pending" state FPPC IDs except Chavez's, already assigned), a long-standing local filer record for Machado, and no 2026 committee of any kind for Jonathan Casey.

Last updated September 2, 2026.