Guest view: I won’t be bullied by signs, special interests

Special interests are at it again in San Benito County.

That said, I want to address the ambiguous signs that showed up throughout the county this past week with my name on them and phrases like Recall, Censure, Unethical and Shameful on them.

To be clear, there is no recall petition challenging my role as District 2 supervisor. Most importantly, there are no accusations of anything unethical on my part or anything close to it, and there is nothing that would prompt a recall discussion from anyone who is reasonable. It’s questionable whether these obscure signs are even legal since I am not running in this year’s elections, and these unpermitted signs are showing up on numerous public properties. 

Contrary to the signs’ message, I have continued to work extremely hard for District 2 residents in my 15 months on the board. 

Every decision or discussion I have had on the board has been relayed to the public through my transparent communications like newsletters, regular social media posts and a mailer I sent in January to update residents on my activities from the prior year. I host video town halls before every regular county board meeting. This month, I am launching open office hours in Hollister and San Juan Bautista, with more details to come. 

In other words, I am extremely accessible and transparent, and there is a detailed track record of everything I’ve done as a supervisor. I encourage residents to review my decisions or watch any county board meetings if you would like to assess my performance or provide feedback.

Frankly, this effort clearly is coming from someone or a very small group of people with a personal vendetta. I can only assume who might be involved because whoever is funding this effort has not disclosed their identities, which is unethical and shameful in its own right. I actually see it as reflective that I’m doing something right as an elected official who is continually speaking out with a strong voice and standing up for residents, who is constantly standing up against developers who want to pave over this entire county, who helped to steer the board forward on historic road improvements residents will see in the coming years, who is responsive to all constituents, and who has made significant progress on a variety of important issues for the people of District 2.

Unfortunately, if an elected leader in a small community like ours has the audacity to be bold and actually represent the public’s will, he or she will inevitably create enemies. I also want constituents to know this will not change my approach whatsoever. It will not change my stance on slower housing growth. It will not deter me from speaking up against wrongdoing. Simply put, I’m not going to be bullied by anyone.

I will, on the other hand, stay the course in pursuing immense progress for San Benito County residents. 

As always, please reach me anytime here, by email at su****************@co**.us or on my cell phone at 831.207.0077.

Kollin Kosmicki represents District 2 on the San Benito County Board of Supervisors.