Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz accused District Attorney John
Sarsfield Tuesday of pursuing a
”
personal vendetta
”
that he claims will bankrupt San Benito County.
Hollister – Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz accused District Attorney John Sarsfield Tuesday of pursuing a “personal vendetta” that he claims will bankrupt San Benito County.
Referring to the ongoing legal slap fight between San Benito County and the anonymous group Los Valientes, during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting De La Cruz said Sarsfield is using his position as district attorney to punish his political enemies at the expense of taxpayers.
“I believe the District Attorney is out of control and will bankrupt this county if he is allowed to continue his witch hunt,” De La Cruz said during the meeting.
Before being quieted by Board Chair Pat Loe, De La Cruz, who spoke for only a minute or two, said he wanted the Board to pass a ‘no confidence’ vote against Sarsfield. However, no action was taken during the meeting because the Board is prohibited from taking action on issues not listed on the agenda for a particular meeting.
De la Cruz’s colleagues on the Board remained silent while he spoke during Tuesday’s meeting and made no comment on his call for a no confidence vote. After the meeting, De La Cruz said that he has spoken with his fellow board members and they told him they are not prepared to put consideration of a no confidence vote on a future agenda.
“They’re just not ready to go in that direction right now,” De La Cruz said.
“I have to feel that the Board of Supervisors are obligated to work with all departments. That certainly includes the District Attorney’s Office,” Supervisor Don Marcus said after the meeting. “I think it’s vitally important that the county continue trying to work with the District Attorney.”
De La Cruz said Sarsfield has wasted nearly a $1 million in taxpayer money persecuting Los Valientes. But Sarsfield said Los Valientes has forced the county to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend itself against baseless lawsuits and he is trying to recover that money from the anonymous group.
“In regards to the expenditures … that’s absolutely false,” Sarsfield said. “I’m attempting to recover a million dollars for the people of San Benito County.”
This month, the District Attorney’s Office asked the court for $930,000 in damages from Los Valientes for alleged civil rights violations and unfair business practices.
The damages include nearly $300,000 to reimburse the county for money it spent on defending itself against the Los Valientes lawsuit that has since morphed into Monteon v. Scagliotti, and $25,000 for each of the Los Valientes’ eight alleged victims, among other things, Sarsfield said.
Sarsfield is suing the group for filing lawsuits against governmental entities without proper investigation, and filing false suits against public officials and private citizens with the intent of profiting financially. The victims named in the suit include former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti, San Benito Tire owner Bob Cain, former Planning Department Director Rob Mendiola, Supervisor Pat Loe and former Supervisors Ruth Kesler and Bob Cruz. Each has been singled out for alleged wrongdoing in the Los Valientes lawsuit.
Animosity between De La Cruz and the District Attorney has been building for more than a year.
In December, 2004, Sarsfield charged De La Cruz with four felony counts of election forgery and three misdemeanor charges including threatening a police officer after De La Cruz beat incumbent Bob Cruz and won the District 5 supervisor seat by 10 votes. The charges could have landed De La Cruz in prison for up to five years and resulted in a possible lifetime ban from politics if convicted.
The District Attorney’s Office ultimately dismissed all the felony charges and De La Cruz pleaded no contest to misdemeanor obstructing or delaying a police officer. After serving 40 hours of community service and paying a fine, the charge was expunged from De La Cruz’s record last week.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at
lr****@fr***********.com
.
