Supporters of a recall against Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz
announced they are terminating their effort to oust the supervisor
from office in the hopes of restoring peace to San Benito County’s
political environment.
Hollister – Supporters of a recall against Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz announced they are terminating their effort to oust the supervisor from office in the hopes of restoring peace to San Benito County’s political environment.
Members of recall group, Citizens for Responsible Local Government, kicked their campaign off with a bang in June with televised press conferences and promises to reinstate “responsible” government within the county. But they announced on their Web site over the weekend that they stopped gathering signatures nearly a month ago. The announcement came just days before the Monday deadline to turn in the 1,090 signatures needed to launch a recall.
The committee’s spokesman, Ruben Lopez, wouldn’t comment on how many signatures the group gathered before they stopped collecting names, and said the group didn’t officially announce it had quit gathering signatures because “it’s been on the back burner” for a month.
De La Cruz was relieved Monday the recall was officially dead and said he’s ready to get back to county business.
“I want to move forward and solve the issues before the county,” De La Cruz said. “This negative stuff needs to be put to a stop.”
Members of the committee to recall the supervisor are also ready to focus on the positive aspects of county government, stating on their Web site that members could not “continue to feed the cycle of fear, division and hate that has become a part of the community we all love.”
The Web site also stated that some members of the committee had been threatened. Lopez, who was the campaign manager for former Supervisor Bob Cruz, who De La Cruz defeated in the hotly contested March 2004 District 5 election by 10 votes, declined to comment on who was threatened or what the threats consisted of. However, he said another recall attempt could be initiated in the future.
“People don’t have confidence in this board, and why should they?” Lopez said. “(De La Cruz) is responsible for thousands of dollars in legal fees to the county because of his attempt to stuff the ballot box.”
Recall supporters claimed De La Cruz was victorious over Cruz because he illegally returned absentee ballots during the March 2004 election. Although the District Attorney’s Office charged De La Cruz with four felony counts of election forgery, the charges were dropped and De La Cruz pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer.
Recall supporters also took issue with De La Cruz’s $5 million lawsuit he filed against the county for civil rights violations, which he later dropped.
But De La Cruz attributed the recall to Cruz supporters who couldn’t put the past behind them, and said Monday he was hopeful both sides can now focus on housing issues, jobs and public safety. However, he conceded the recall has been a distraction over the past couple months.
“The March 2004 election was so close, so I understand why supporters of Bob Cruz couldn’t let go. However, the time has come to move forward,” De La Cruz said. “If I tell you it didn’t bother me I’d be telling you one, I’m a liar, and two, I’m not human. But I don’t want to talk about that anymore. I want to move forward and solve issues before the community.”
Cruz was unavailable for comment Monday.
De La Cruz said he’s not concerned about Lopez or anyone involved in the Citizens for Responsible Local Government starting another recall against him, but would like to meet with members of the group to try to put aside their differences.
The end of the De La Cruz recall follows on the heels of the failure of the second recall attempt against District Attorney John Sarsfield and a recall against two San Juan Bautista City Council members.
Both De La Cruz and Lopez believe the community must put the negativity behind it and focus on real issues instead of political disputes.
But that’s not to say that recall supporters have come to terms with De La Cruz’s position on the board.
“It is the hope of all that were involved in this effort that the community can begin to heal,” the group stated on its Web site. “We believe in due time the person we sought to recall will be brought down by his own actions and the actions of those who support and advise him, for they have been very much a part of the atmosphere of hate and division in this community for quite some time.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
