Seven months have passed since the March primary. Three weeks
remain until the Nov. 2 election. And still, District 5
Supervisor-elect Jaime De La Cruz doesn’t know whether to celebrate
a 10-vote victory or continue worrying about possible felony
indictments.
Hollister – Seven months have passed since the March primary. Three weeks remain until the Nov. 2 election. And still, District 5 Supervisor-elect Jaime De La Cruz doesn’t know whether to celebrate a 10-vote victory or continue worrying about possible felony indictments.
District Attorney John Sarsfield has yet to indicate if his office will follow an inspector’s recommendations for felony charges against De La Cruz and his campaign adviser, Ignacio Velazquez. They’re accused of various elections violations, including illegal handling of ballots and coercing a voter, all of which they deny. Both De La Cruz and his opponent in the March race, Supervisor Bob Cruz, are growing increasingly anxious as the new election approaches.
In late August, Sarsfield said he had
wanted the matter fully resolved within four to six weeks. At the time, he said he was awaiting findings from the Secretary of State’s Office, which canvassed the November election results, including the District 5 race.
Sarsfield has not responded to repeated inquiries during the past week from the Free Lance about the District 5 probe, including e-mails and calls to his office and cell phone. The Secretary of State’s Office was closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.
Now, as they have for the past seven months, De La Cruz and others in the county’s ranks know very little about the probe’s direction – except they must continue waiting for the district attorney’s decision.
Sarsfield has indicated he has three options: press charges against the two men, reconvene the grand jury to consider indictments or drop the matter altogether.
Both De La Cruz and his opponent, Cruz, have expressed frustration with the district attorney for not resolving the investigation. De La Cruz also has said the Board of Supervisors, which commissioned the probe in March, is responsible for the uncertainty. He reiterated that stance Monday.
“I look at it as individuals who refuse to let go of political power,” De La Cruz said. “The people voted for new direction and they should acknowledge that. They should provide a smooth transition and they’re not doing that.”
Cruz hasn’t been as vocal as De La Cruz, but he too has shown signs of frustration. He says the inspector’s report shows De La Cruz broke elections laws.
“There’s something rotten in Denmark,” Cruz said Monday. “What I don’t know – did our DA get (the Secretary of State’s findings) back? I’m just waiting. That’s all I’m doing.”
Although the most recent holdup was spurred by an elections office snafu – a staffer lost track of an e-mail from the state office requesting documents – it came after several other delays.
One of those was Sarsfield’s decision in May to schedule and then cancel a criminal grand jury probe of the two men.
Sarsfield called off the proceedings after Velazquez alleged in court documents the prosecutor was having an affair that created a conflict of interest. Sarsfield had asked the attorney general’s office if he could handle the case without the appearance of being biased. And he had to wait several weeks for authorization from the state agency to move forward.
Since approving the investigation in March, Supervisors say they haven’t been involved in the matter. Supervisor Reb Monaco said he’s concerned about the prospect of having a new board take office without a conclusion to the District 5 probe.
“Because it would be disruptive,” Monaco said Monday. “The new board coming in is facing enough issues already.”
District 1 Supervisor-elect Don Marcus on Monday declined to comment on the issue – because he simply doesn’t know where it stands.
“I’m just waiting to see what occurs, as well as the general public is,” Marcus said.
Head elections official John Hodges – whose office was criticized after the March primary for allowing the De La Cruz camp to improperly return ballots for voters – also hasn’t heard any new information about the probe.
He remains confident De La Cruz and Velazquez will be cleared of the allegations.
“He’s not going to do anything because there’s nothing to do, as far as I’m concerned,” Hodges said.
Kollin Kosmicki covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach him at 637-5566, ext. 331 or [email protected].
