Council member’s criminal past back in focus

Hollister City Council Member Rick Perez, who is running for reelection to his second term to represent District 1, has an extensive criminal record that has become the subject of renewed focus during the current political campaign season. 

Perez, 60, has a lengthy rap sheet spanning nearly 40 years, with convictions for violent and property crimes in both Santa Clara and San Benito counties. Some of the most serious cases include convictions for felony child abuse, domestic violence, weapons violations and drug use and possesion. 

His first case on record at Santa Clara County Superior Court is from 1985, when Perez was 19 years old and pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property and attempting to evade an officer. Perez was sentenced to two years in state prison for that conviction, according to court records. 

His most recent cases were in 2012 in San Benito County, including child abuse as well as assault charges. 

By Perez’s own admission, he has been arrested 79 times, a fact that was not widely publicized when he made his first successful bid for the city council in 2020. But now, Perez himself has tackled the issue in a recent opinion piece published by a local news site, claiming most of the arrests were minor infractions.

“These things occurred many years ago, and the majority of these had to do with parking tickets, and speeding tickets. I am thankful that I have grown since those days, and I am not the same person I was back then,” Perez wrote in an opinion piece published by BenitoLink on Sept. 25.

In 2012, Perez was charged in San Benito County with two counts of felony corporal injury to a child stemming from incidents in August and September 2011. Court records state that in the September incident Perez inflicted “cruel and inhuman corporal punishment and injury” upon an 11 year-old child referred to only as “Ricardo P.” in case documents. Perez served 180 days in jail and three years probation for the crime, according to San Benito County Superior Court records.

Perez referenced losing custody of his child for a time in the BenitoLink article, but it is unclear if that was in relation to the 2012 incidents.

A review of court records in San Benito and Santa Clara counties found more than a dozen cases in which Perez was convicted of numerous crimes—most of them misdemeanors and most resulting in sentences of probation or time served in jail. 

Also in 2012, Perez was convicted of two misdemeanors—assault and battery and terrorist threats—in relation to a February incident, San Benito County court records state. He was sentenced to probation. 

In June 2012, Perez pleaded guilty to another misdemeanor assault and battery charge in a separate San Benito County case, court records say. He was sentenced to probation in that case as well. 

Numerous cases for Perez dating back to 1985 are on file in Santa Clara County, where Perez once listed an address in San Jose. 

In June 1985, Perez pleaded guilty to felony possession of stolen property, Santa Clara County Superior Court records indicate.

In a case from August 1985, Perez was accused of felony pursuit resulting in injury to a police officer, reckless driving, resisting an officer, felony vehicle theft and felony possession of stolen property. Perez pleaded guilty to at least four of those charges, according to Santa Clara County Superior Court. 

In 1988, Perez pleaded guilty to misdemeanor petty theft and was sentenced to an unspecified jail term. In October 1989, he pleaded guilty and was convicted of misdemeanor being under the influence of a controlled substance in Santa Clara County, according to court records. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail. 

Also in Santa Clara County, Perez was charged in 1997 with misdemeanor corporal injury on a spouse and exhibiting a deadly weapon other than a firearm, and in 1993 he was charged with check fraud for trying to cash a check under someone else’s name. He was convicted and received probation in those cases, court records say.

In 2009, Perez pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving while his license was suspended or revoked, according to Santa Clara County court records. 

Perez has not responded to multiple attempts by this newspaper to contact him to comment for this story.

Despite his convictions, under California election law, Perez is fully eligible to serve in public office, according to San Benito County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Francisco Diaz. Perez is running against Rudy Picha in the Nov. 5 election. 

“In California, individuals with felony convictions are allowed to run for public office after they have completed their prison sentence, parole and probation. According to California Elections Code Section 201, they cannot hold office until all aspects of their sentence have been fulfilled,” Diaz wrote in an email to the Free Lance.

However, there are some felonies which would bar an individual from serving as an elected official. Under California Elections Code Section 20, an individual is ineligible for candidacy if they have been convicted of felonies “involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes.”

Perez’s past is of concern to some local officials, including current Hollister District 2 council member Rolan Resendiz, who has brought up the issue numerous times during council meetings. But Perez’s challenger in the election, Rudy Picha, is steering clear of the fray, telling the Free Lance that he does not have anything to add regarding Perez.

“I signed a document saying I was going to run a clean campaign and that’s what I am doing. Our community needs to decide between Rick and myself who has the relevant background, work experience, integrity and temperament to lead District 1. I believe in and I trust that the voters of District 1 will make the right choice,” Picha wrote in a text message.

Diaz said that his office has not received any complaints or addressed any concerns from Hollister voters regarding Perez’s background.

“The Elections Office would like to clarify that we have not received any inquiries from the public concerning (Perez’s) recent candidacy. The inquiries we have received have primarily come from City Councilman Resendiz and various media outlets,” Diaz said.