Sadly, the Scam Recall attempt of Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez never should have been on the ballot. But here we are several weeks from Election Day when District 5 voters must resoundingly reject this outrageous question.
Here are five reasons why this is a massive scam:
1. Recall planning started before Velazquez even took office
Organizers’ supporters were openly discussing a recall on social media shortly after Velazquez won his race with 57% of the vote, and before he took office, with constant calls for “Recall.” Then they waited the shortest legally allowable timeframe—a few short months—before formally launching a signature-gathering campaign.
How do you justify a recall attempt before someone even has the chance to do their job? Remember, recalls are meant as a rarely used recourse, typically if an official commits a serious crime or deceives the public. None of this was the case with Velazquez.
2. Recall based on misinformation
Organizers had to come up with false narratives to sell their scheme. So they made up the most eye-catching story they could imagine—that Velazquez somehow doesn’t support public safety—which is an outright fabrication.
Velazquez joined the board in the middle of negotiations between the county and Hollister for fire protection services. He played a key role in finalizing a deal, stabilizing fire protection services with the same service levels for another five years as jurisdictions explore long-term options.
When the public safety tale didn’t stick—especially after the fire contract approval—the recall group veered and picked varying false narratives in their attacks.
3. Signature gatherers misled voters to get recall on ballot
With the recall going nowhere in 2025, organizers hired signature gatherers from Florida and L.A. who blatantly lied to voters at their doors in order to garner the needed signatures for placement on the ballot. They needed more than 1,800 signatures and ended up with just nine more than the minimum requirement only because they lied to our residents.
Dozens upon dozens of residents have confirmed—as did video evidence—that signature gatherers told voters they were signing a petition to protect firefighter jobs or increase firefighter pay while never mentioning a recall.
This is a serious crime, but it was too late to stop the scam from being printed on the ballot.
4. Developers want to remove slow-growth supervisors
Always remember the old saying in politics: Follow the money, which was easy with the recall attempt. Developers and known development allies are listed on the group’s own campaign finance forms as donating tens of thousands of dollars to the effort.
This isn’t a coincidence, of course, as Velazquez is a staunch supporter of slower housing growth while the county works to upgrade its infrastructure, particularly roads.
5. Organizers are all supporters of massive housing growth
This isn’t a grassroots campaign as claimed. It was pushed by former candidates who lost in the 2024 elections—former Hollister Mayor Mia Casey, former City Councilman Rick Perez and former supervisor candidate Stacie McGrady—all of whom are known supporters of housing sprawl. Their motive is clear: Remove slow-growth supervisors so developers can build wherever they want again.
The real question isn’t whether to recall Velazquez. It is this: Do we really want special interests deciding our representation and future through a blatant scam? I have faith voters see through the misinformation and will send a strong message on the June ballot.
Kollin Kosmicki
San Benito County Supervisor
This is now the third opinion letter by Supervisor Kosmicki attempting to use his position as a Supervisor to influence an active election and mischaracterize the recall as a scam. And once again, his rhetoric is filled with distortions, lies and political spin.
For example, these “resident complaints” he speaks about did not organically appear out of nowhere. Kosmicki, Velazquez, and Supervisor Zanger repeatedly used their titles and social media accounts to solicit complaints from the public, telling residents they had been “tricked” and that if there was any mention of firefighters they were lied to. And it is telling that they urged residents to contact the Supervisors directly instead of properly referring concerns to the DA or election officials. In fact, Supervisor Velazquez himself gathered those complaints and delivered them to the DA.
After for all of their efforts to manufacture a petition scandal, they produced roughly 20 complaints out of more than 2,200 submitted signatures.
And this supposed “video evidence” being referenced? It consists of a very brief Ring camera clip where a petition gatherer was attempting to talk with someone through a doorbell camera. She began to speak about the defunding of public safety, but when asked who was defunding safety, she immediately identified the recall of Supervisor Velazquez and held up the recall door hanger. Calling that “hard evidence” of fraud is absurd. But they continue exaggerating and mischaracterizing it to support the political narrative being pushed.
The same goes for repeated claims that the recall was created by developers or housing interests. That is simply false.
I did not start this recall. I do support it and have served as an advisor to the committee. The committee itself was created by and made up of retirees, parents, local business owners, firefighter families, and ordinary residents frustrated by failed leadership and disastrous fire contract negotiations.
Supervisor Kosmicki has been told this directly by various members on the committee. But acknowledging that truth would undermine the political storyline they have spent months trying to create.
At some point, residents should ask why these Supervisors spend so much time attacking the people raising concerns instead of addressing the concerns themselves.