It is understandable that the San Benito County Board of
Supervisors is quite distracted these days.
The state Fair Political Practices Commission is snooping around
the county after an investigation and subsequent report alleged an
array of bad political behavior.
It is understandable that the San Benito County Board of Supervisors is quite distracted these days.
The state Fair Political Practices Commission is snooping around the county after an investigation and subsequent report alleged an array of bad political behavior.
There are also two recent lawsuits to contend with – one linked to the report from an anonymous group of local citizens – that could knock the highly controversial Slow Growth Initiative off next March’s ballot box showdown.
That’s on top of the usual parade of county issues the supervisors contend with at their planned and specially called meetings.
One off-shoot of the stack of charges from the “Los Valientes” anonymous group claims a county contract with San Benito Tire for maintenance of Sheriff’s Department vehicles is a shaky one.
The report claims County Supervisor Richard Scagliotti let a separate potential business deal with San Benito Tire owner Bob Cain help sway the decision to award the deal to that company.
Now, former contract bidder and Autoworks owner Don Kelley wants the maintenance contract revoked and re-bid upon.
Kelley wanted to get on the agenda to make his case for Tuesday morning’s Board of Supervisors meeting and the request was denied.
He still plans on trying to make his points during the open session part of the meeting, which has a three-minute time restraint built in.
We feel it is wrong for the Board of Supervisors and its counsel to keep Kelley off the agenda. He and his right to speak on a valid issue shouldn’t be penalized over a separate lawsuit.
This isn’t saying his request for the contract to be revoked or re-bid on is right or wrong.
But he should have the right to make his case to the county where he has his business and not have it relegated to the three-minute limit or further discretion of the board members, especially Scagliotti.
Solutions come from open discussion of the issue at hand, not by trying to discourage it from being brought to the table in a fair and open manner.
If county counsel strongly feels the need to keep Kelley off of the official agenda, we at least hope he gets more than three minutes to present his side of the story.
This is no time for the County Board of Supervisors or its counsel to even appear to be manipulating or hindering genuine public input on a valid concern.
