It happens in SBC
Have they cancelled the law of averages around here or what?
It was only the other day when first-term District 1 Supervisor
Don Marcus announced that he’d had enough fun, and did not intend
to place himself on the ballot for re-election come June.
It happens in SBC
Have they cancelled the law of averages around here or what?
It was only the other day when first-term District 1 Supervisor Don Marcus announced that he’d had enough fun, and did not intend to place himself on the ballot for re-election come June.
We can only hope he wasn’t standing in a doorway when he made the announcement, because there was an immediate rush from the room as people lined up to declare their intention to run for his seat.
Three of the five board seats are being contested in June. Any time the board majority stands to shift, things get, well, interesting.
Four years ago, Marcus, Jaime De La Cruz and Anthony Botelho were swept into office in a contentious election that included charges of voter fraud in one district, a last-minute poison pen mailer in another and the arrest of one candidate in the third.
Politics outside of San Benito County are so boring in comparison.
But Marcus, who makes his living as a builder and dabbles in ranching, never participated in the mud wrestling. His candidacy characterized his term in office. Refreshing for a politician, he watched and waited to speak until he had something to say.
Four candidates emerged, hoping to fill Marcus’ cowboy boots.
First among them was Bob Davies, who retired as top cop at the Gilroy Highway Patrol office. Having talked with him while munching on burgers at Davies’ home during Haybaler track and field banquets, it’s easy to see whiy he would be hard to beat.
Tall and handsome, Davies relates well to kids and adults. Everything from his successful law enforcement career to his immaculate home conveys a squeaky-clean image.
Right behind Davies was Don Kelly, whose work on both Hollister and county parks commissions brought him less notoriety than his role as a bit player in the county’s long, unfortunate Los Valientes silliness.
In case you’ve forgotten, Los Valientes were a group of anonymous litigants who harnessed courthouse gadfly Mike Pekin to go after their political enemies on a laundry list of shaky charges. The effort atrophied and appears to have met its well-deserved demise.
Kelly was ticked off because he thought his tire shop should have gotten the nod as the county’s go-to source for vehicular shoes. When it didn’t, he suspected the worst, and Los Valientes were only too happy to link it to some kind of widespread corruption.
Next up was Nants Foley. If the name’s familiar, it should be. Her husband, Tim, is the county superintendent of schools. But she’s hardly Mrs. Tim Foley. A real estate agent, she also writes a weekly column about all things property in this newspaper. She comes across every bit as a strong-willed, independent thinker with a fierce intellect.
The last to emerge was Margie Barrios, a longtime Hollister School District trustee with a track record and local credentials that most candidates would gladly sacrifice their thumbs for.
With four candidates and counting, let’s just hope there are some people left to vote in District 1 whose names are not on the ballot.
Back to that law of averages thing. While the District 1 line forms at the courthouse for candidacy papers, over in District 2, the one encompassing San Juan Bautista, Aromas and a wedge of Hollister, first term incumbent Anthony Botelho is still waiting for someone to emerge to challenge his bid for a return to the job. Not that he’d mind not having to spend a few thousand keeping his seat, however.
And in District 5, Jaime De La Cruz faces Marian Cruz. If the last names don’t confuse you enough, the history should.
De La Cruz got the job by beating Cruz’s husband and the incumbent, Bob, four years ago. The election was won by fewer votes than it would take to get a good flag football game going, and it was marked by charges of election improprieties. Since then, De La Cruz has emerged as the hardest working supervisor, and one with a laser-like focus on his district. His sometimes fractured public oratories not withstanding, he’s a worker. But so is Cruz. Her record on the Hollister City Council is ample proof that she shares her opponent’s passion for the community. A dynamic, forceful speaker, it only takes a few minutes to determine that Marian and her husband are two very different politicians.
Who has the edge in the two contested elections and why should we care? It’s been said all politics is local, and the politics that happens at the county level over the next four years will profoundly affect us all. Will Rancho San Benito get the nod for almost 7,000 homes on the Bolsa? Will warming relations with Hollister officials result in some tangible efficiencies? What will the county’s general plan look like? Pick your own questions and the answers are likely to emerge from ballot boxes next June.
Who has the edge? Since the Harris Poll puts San Benito County near the bottom of its to-do list, who knows?
Observing another San Benito County tradition, I’ll meet you all at one of the many, many candidates’ forums we’re sure to see between now and then.
