Former Pinnacle publisher vies for District 4 supervisor seat,
Caballero seeks Assembly
Tracie L. Cone, the former co-publisher and editor of The Sunday
Pinnacle newspaper, pulled papers this week to run against
incumbent Supervisor Reb Monaco of District 4 in San Benito
County.
The move surprised many county political watchers. Rumors
flourished last summer and into the fall hinting that a platoon of
challengers were gearing up to take on Monaco
– and Cone was not among those contemplating a run. But since
the declaration of candidacy process opened last month, no one else
has stepped up to run against the incumbent.
Former Pinnacle publisher vies for District 4 supervisor seat, Caballero seeks Assembly
Tracie L. Cone, the former co-publisher and editor of The Sunday Pinnacle newspaper, pulled papers this week to run against incumbent Supervisor Reb Monaco of District 4 in San Benito County.
The move surprised many county political watchers. Rumors flourished last summer and into the fall hinting that a platoon of challengers were gearing up to take on Monaco – and Cone was not among those contemplating a run. But since the declaration of candidacy process opened last month, no one else has stepped up to run against the incumbent.
Cone said she will make every attempt to finance her own campaign so voters can be assured she will be an independent voice representing only their best interests.
“I am thrilled to announce that I am seeking to represent my neighbors in District 4,” Cone said in a prepared statement. “I want to use the business and leadership skills that I honed building The Pinnacle into one of the best community newspapers in California to restore common-sense government to San Benito County.”
Former Hollister Mayor Brian Conroy announced his decision not to run last week.
Once Cone retired from The Pinnacle in August, she had made plans to spend more time with her father in North Carolina, who is stricken with cancer. But Cone said that after realizing Monaco was going unchallenged, her family – including her father – urged her to run.
Monaco declined to be interviewed, saying only, “Tracie very cordially called me to say she’s running.”
He added, “I don’t know if I have a lot to say about it.”
In her capacity as publisher and co-owner of The Pinnacle, Cone was critical of the new board last year for the way it handed unprecedented power to hired consultant Sally Reed and then-interim County Administrative Officer Susan Lyons, as well as the firing of former planning director Rob Mendiola, who was perceived as a stickler for rules and an advocate for controlled growth. Following the recommendations of Reed and Lyons, the board spent $30,000 on an outside investigation of Mendiola and his department. The investigation, conducted by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, exonerated Mendiola of any wrongdoing, but the new supervisors – with the exception of District 3’s Pat Loe – fired Mendiola anyway.
During her last year at the paper, Cone wrote numerous editorials questioning decisions made by the board, which seemed to be out of touch with the wishes of constituents. She disagreed with the supervisors who voted to kill a plan to create an ethics commission on political campaigns, a hilltop housing ordinance and their many attempts to pass resolutions undoing anything that the previous board had enacted. The board reversed its decision on the ethics commission, but after two years of occasionally discussing it, the board still has not established the watchdog group, despite vain attempts to revive the concept from the board’s odd-man-out, Loe.
As the editor of The Pinnacle, Cone warned two years before Hollister’s sewer ponds busted that unchecked growth would create wastewater and traffic problems.
“Hollister officials did not listen then and now economic growth has stalled until a new plant is built,” she said, adding “Hollister’s issues are the county’s issues and I will continue to build on relationships I already have developed to make sure each government entity is working toward a common goal.”
Cone also advocated for safety improvements on Hwy. 25, fostering public pressure that secured the road and shoulder widening that transportation officials say have saved lives. Early on, she pushed for addressing a growing gang presence and helped establish the Gang Task Force. She also advocated for the cleanup of the acid mine drainage seeping out of the New Idria mines, which continues to foul San Carlos Creek – and subsequently the Central Valley and the Delta – with byproducts associated with mercury mining.
“We built support for the condor recovery project at Pinnacles National Monument and worked to increase tourism there and at the local wineries,” she added.
Plans for facing new issues
Cone was direct about what she believes are some of the issues that need attention in the county.
“We must solve our housing crisis while using cutting-edge ideas that preserve the rural character that will enhance the county’s tourism draw today and in the future,” she stated. “We must stimulate economic growth by cutting the planning red tape that frustrates rural homeowners trying to make a living off their land. We must pressure law enforcement to make fighting gangs the No. 1 priority and provide the resources do to it. We must show our children that we understand the value of literacy by returning the county bookmobile to the road.”
Cone also said that if she’s elected, she wants to forge relationships with leaders of neighboring counties in order to know early in the planning stages how their plans might affect the quality of life for local residents.
“We can’t afford anymore surprises, such as the unfavorable design of the highway 156-152 flyover,” she said.
Cone calls herself “the county’s No. 1 advocate for openness in government.”
“There will be no secrets and we will err on the side of making the county’s business public,” Cone said, “so we won’t be hiding things from the public as has been done in the past.”
Loe, who is more politically aligned with the journalist-turned-politico than she is with her fellow board members, said she believes Cone will make the elections interesting this year.
“I think that it’s important that people have a choice,” Loe said.
Monaco, who is in the fourth year of his first term, was the Chairman of the Board last year. He recently turned the gavel over to Supervisor Pat Loe who was nominated as the new Chair last week and won the approval of her fellow board members 4-1, with Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz voting against her.
In other election news, restaurateur IgnacioVelazquez will have more stiff competition on the campaign trail in his run for the 28th Assembly seat. Salinas Mayor Anna Caballero announced this week her candidacy for the spot, and she’ll be running against Democrat Ana Ventura Phares, the Mayor of Watsonville, in the June primary.
Caballero has been elected to four terms as Mayor of Salinas, and is a well-known defense attorney in the area. As she made the announcement at the Steinbeck Center in Salinas, many prominent Democrats were in attendance, including former San Benito Supervisor Bob Cruz and his wife Marian Cruz, and Supervisor Loe.
“She’s been a local leader since 1998 and has a proven track record of helping people,” said Rick Rivas, campaign manager for Caballero. “Anna thinks California was once a great place for innovation and hope, and that’s kind of faded out over the years. She believes it can be that way again.”
Rivas said Caballero wants to bring back accountability to Sacramento, push for better education and a balanced budget, among other issues.
“She’ll tell it like it is,” Rivas added. “She can make a difference. She’s had a long career as an attorney, as the director of a nonprofit (Partners for Peace), she’s run a business, and she’s willing to put all that aside.”
Velazquez will face Republican Bob Perkins of Salinas for the Republican nod. Perkins is head of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. Assemblyman Simon Salinas of Salinas has termed out and will be leaving that elected position in 2007. Meanwhile, Salinas, also a Democrat, has announced his candidacy for state Senate District 12 against freshman incumbent Jeff Denham, a Republican.
