What a colossal waste of time. What a colossal waste of energy,
resources and the public’s good will.
What a colossal waste of time. What a colossal waste of energy, resources and the public’s good will.
After all smoke cleared in the 10-month District 5 election scandal, Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz took a “deal” offered by District Attorney John Sarsfield and pleaded no contest Tuesday to a misdemeanor of delaying a police officer in his investigation which can be wiped off his record if he performs 40 hours of community service.
There were no legal findings that De La Cruz deliberately manipulated the March election to win the seat occupied by former Supervisor Bob Cruz – the public reason for pursuing a high-profile election investigation so many months ago. There was no criminal grand jury investigation of elections fraud. There was no prosecution for coercing a voter. There won’t be any more mention of affairs, blackmail or extortion.
All the dirty laundry aired ends with a slap on the wrist. It’s not that the destination is wrong – it’s what should have happened months ago. It’s that the journey so tarnished the good name of San Benito County.
Don’t forget how bad this whole saga got. The FBI, the state’s Attorney General, the Secretary of State all were contacted while wild accusations were flying over the summer. The whole 10-month election investigation, and all the political battles that were waged with it, clearly was a farce.
There is little conclusion to draw other than the district attorney went way overboard and failed to judiciously wield his power. Just weeks ago, Sarsfield promised to bring the full brunt of the San Benito County justice system against De La Cruz and filed four felony charges of perjury against the supervisor for signing off on a document that claimed he illegally collected three signatures. Sarsfield then gave De La Cruz an ultimatum: leave all your political offices or face a potential lifetime ban from politics and five years in jail.
In the end all of it turned out to be hollow threats and hot air.
De La Cruz called the prosecutor’s bluff and the two men worked out the plea for community service to the lesser charge that had nothing to do with election fraud.
It’s enough to make one wonder what Sarsfield’s true motives were. Was he pursuing justice in the 10 months he spent on the case, or was he simply trying to keep De La Cruz from taking a seat on the board for some other reason?
De La Cruz said Tuesday this has been a witch hunt since the beginning. It’s hard to see any proof in this verdict that shows otherwise.
De La Cruz should feel vindicated. The final verdict shows he won the election without cheating. It also shows that the politics of personal destruction in this county must end.
This is no way to use the taxpayer’s dollars or squander their resources.
