Hollister
– Nearly everyone involved in San Benito County’s most
controversial and divisive legal battle has been hurt – some had
their reputations and livelihood damaged, while others have simply
lost faith.
Hollister – Nearly everyone involved in San Benito County’s most controversial and divisive legal battle has been hurt – some had their reputations and livelihood damaged, while others have simply lost faith.
The battle began in 2003 when Salinas attorney Mike Pekin and an anonymous group called Los Valientes brought suit against then-Supervisor Richard Scagliotti and the county alleging corruption. A year later, District Attorney John Sarsfield filed a civil suit against Pekin and Los Valientes for allegedly violating the rights of eight elected officials and local business owners through extortion and filing false lawsuits. The impact of both lawsuits, which are still pending, has been far reaching. The two lawsuits have spawned dozens of allegations that have never been proven in court, yet have rendered repercussions felt by numerous local residents.
“I wish it would have never happened,” said Tracie Cone, former publisher of the Pinnacle newspaper. Cone, a veteran journalist, was accused by Los Valientes of accepting a cash bribe to print anti-growth stories in the Pinnacle during the height of debate over the county’s 2004 growth ordinance called Measure G. The issue ultimately was defeated by voters.
“It hurt me. I didn’t earn a stellar reputation as a journalist to come to Hollister and screw it up,” she said. “It was traumatic and it’s still this allegation that’s going around.”
Cone, a named victim in Sarsfield’s civil rights suit against the anonymous group, is not the only person who believes their reputation has been tarnished during the nasty three-year legal battle.
Arguably the biggest target of allegations in Pekin’s suit, Scagliotti did not return phone calls from the Free Lance by press time on Tuesday. Scagliotti was accused of using his position on the board to profit financially in a land deal – the heart of the Los Valientes’ suit against the county. Mandy Rose, who claimed in a declaration that Los Valientes impugned her professional abilities as head of the Integrated Waste Management Department and accessed her private financial records, also did not return phone calls Tuesday.
Pekin, who filed the suit in an effort to expose corruption, has been indicted, arrested and reported to the California State Bar Association for unethical business practices and filing false lawsuits. None of the allegations have been proven and he was later cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but the stigma remains, he said. In essence, Pekin said, his life has become a nightmare.
“It’s been devastating to my family and my personal life. This case literally took over my (law) practice,” he said. “It’s been hard for my wife who has to see her husband attacked in the press, on television, in front of the state bar. The amount of pain and suffering this case has caused is unbelievable.”
Pekin’s former legal aide, Amanda Hernandez, was also a casualty of the legal battle. Sarsfield charged her criminally for practicing law without a license. The misdemeanor charge delayed her admission to the California Bar Association for nearly a year.
Sarsfield declined to comment on how the case has impacted his personal life, but said he knows it has “destroyed lives.”
“I don’t understand why more people aren’t upset,” he said. “What the Los Valientes are doing is the verbal equivalent of a drive-by shooting. They’re not good, they just know how to hide. They hide and make false allegations.”
Hollister business owner Ignacio Velazquez, who has been repeatedly accused by Sarsfield of being a Los Valientes member, agreed the saga had long-ranging effects, but he places the blame on the allegations stemming from Sarsfield’s civil suit.
“The whole concept behind this case is smearing other people,” he said. “(The district attorney’s) allegations are designed to cause harm.”
Supervisor candidate Richard Place, who Sarsfield publicly accused of being the ring leader of the Los Valientes alleged “extortion racket,” said the allegations hurt him even at home.
“I had a lot of questions from friend’s and even from my daughter,” he said. “It’s extremely frustrating. Here you are running for a position of public trust and you have a public official accusing you of wrongdoing. It’s hurt my reputation.”
Supervisor Reb Monaco, also up for re-election this year in the same district as Cone, has been deposed by Sarsfield twice during the prosecutor’s investigation into Los Valientes. Monaco said the allegations that he has information about the anonymous group have taken a toll on both his reputation and pocket book. Earlier this year, Monaco had to retain an attorney to represent him during the deposition.
“It’s unclear if I will ever be able to recoup my losses,” he said. “And I don’t even know anything about the Los Valientes.”
While the financial costs and personal casualties continue to mount on both sides of the case, neither party is willing to back down or stop pointing the finger at their opponent. Both Sarsfield and Pekin have publicly vowed that they will fight to the end. And there is no end in site to the myriad legal filings, lawsuits, counter-suits and complaints that Sarsfield and Pekin continue to file against each other, the county and named victims on both sides of the battle.
However, some victims are calling for an end to the fight. Supervisor Pat Loe, a named victim in Sarsfield’s suit against Pekin and Los Valientes, is tired of the legal wrangling.
“Somehow this needs to be settled. Both sides have to compromise,” she said. “I think it’s affected the taxpayers more than anyone else. This has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Loe, along with former supervisors Bob Cruz and Ruth Kesler, had been accused of violating the Brown Act in connection with drafting Measure G. Kesler said that allegation and another charge claiming that she had committed extortion didn’t impact her life or reputation. However, in January, Kesler signed a sworn legal declaration under penalty of perjury to the contrary. In her declaration, Kesler said the allegations had “caused me to suffer harm.” Cruz called the Brown Act allegation “disgraceful.”
The two original lawsuits, Sarsfield’s People v. Pekin and Pekin’s Monteon v. Scagliotti, have merged and morphed during the last two years and also spawned additional lawsuits against San Benito County. In 2004, Pekin sued the county for retaliatory prosecution for allegedly encouraging Sarsfield to file a false lawsuit against him. And earlier this year, Sarsfield filed suit against the county alleging the Board of Supervisors tried to interfere in his prosecution of Los Valientes by cutting off his funding. Both of those cases are also pending.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or
br******@fr***********.com
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