An anonymous group identifying itself only as The Committee to
Recall San Benito County Supervisor James De La Cruz announced
Monday it will begin a recall campaign against the embattled
District 5 supervisor beginning early next month.
Hollister – An anonymous group identifying itself only as The Committee to Recall San Benito County Supervisor James De La Cruz announced Monday it will begin a recall campaign against the embattled District 5 supervisor beginning early next month.
The campaign will focus on the organizers’ allegations that De La Cruz committed election fraud, continued a frivolous lawsuit against the county and former Supervisor Ruth Kesler, and kept his medical problems a secret to the community in order to deceive voters. The committee, which contacted the Free Lance through an anonymous e-mail Sunday, indicated if De La Cruz did not issue an apology and resign from his supervisor seat, they would seek to recall him from office.
“Good,” De La Cruz said Monday after hearing a recall effort was being planned against him. “That’s your constitutional right; and by all means you should exercise your constitutional right. If the people want me out of office, I’ll comply. But the people should really look at the corruption that’s going on in the community first.”
The anonymous group, which has set up a hotline and Web site at www.recallcriminal.com, said in its e-mailed statement it is legally required to wait until De La Cruz has been in office for 90 days before beginning the campaign.
“In reality, they can’t do anything until April 5,” said Ignacio Velazquez, De La Cruz’s campaign adviser.
When contacted by e-mail, the group said they are remaining anonymous until the committee is fully created because they are afraid of retaliation.
San Benito County’s Head Elections Official John Hodges said Monday he had not been contacted about the recall, although the committee members will be required to fill out paperwork with his office before the campaign can begin. In order for the recall effort to succeed, the committee would have to gather about 1,100 signatures from roughly 5,000 voters in District 5, Hodges said.
Though the group is anonymous, Velazquez and others said they have their own ideas as to who’s behind the recall.
“They’re all the same people from before. They’re just trying to distract people from the Sarsfield recall,” Velazquez said. Velazquez and De La Cruz are currently spearheading their own effort to recall District Attorney John Sarsfield.
Sarsfield said Monday he was not involved in the effort to recall De La Cruz and was not glad it was happening.
Rick Rivas, a Hollister resident working on his master’s degree in public policy in Michigan, said while he was not on the De La Cruz recall committee, he had been contacted by people who were and could vouch for the group’s legitimacy.
“There’s a couple of very prominent people on there; there’s a former city councilman. So this is real,” he said. The committee confirmed in an e-mail the former councilman was Brian Conroy, but when contacted earlier that day Conroy said he was not yet involved.
“I just think that they are being professional about it, they want to take their time on it,” Rivas said. “I think the reason they’re doing that is that they don’t want to create any problems until it’s time for them to do so.”
Rivas publicly called for De La Cruz’s resignation recently, and said Monday he would join the recall committee if asked.
“If I have to come home to help the effort myself, I will,” he said.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
