In a closely contested race, retired educator Reb Monaco
defeated two-term Supervisor Ron Rodrigues to win the District Four
seat on the Board of Supervisors.
In a closely contested race, retired educator Reb Monaco defeated two-term Supervisor Ron Rodrigues to win the District Four seat on the Board of Supervisors.
Monaco, a respected and longtime educator, received 58.1 percent of the vote – 1,491 votes – while Rodrigues earned 41.6 percent of the vote – 1,069 votes.
“I’m glad it turned out the way it did. I really feel good and I’d like to thank all the supporters I have,” Monaco said. “I had a lot of people who walked for me, and SEIU really came through for me.”
He also thanked Rodrigues for his efforts.
“I want to express my appreciation to Ron Rodrigues for serving this county for eight years,” Monaco said. “I think he did a good job for us and I hope I can do as good a job for us. I hope I can do as good a job as he did.”
Monaco, who held the lead throughout the election, said he ran against Rodrigues because he saw the need for new and fresh ideas on the Board to help the county prepare for the challenges it will face in the future.
“I’m looking forward to when I get sworn in to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work, that’s what I ran for,” Monaco said.
Rodrigues, one the authors of the county’s 1-percent growth cap took the loss in stride.
“I told people that by midnight I’d know and that one way or another I would be smiling. Smiling if I won or smiling if I lost,”
However, after eight years of being at the center of county politics, Rodrigues said he looks at the loss a little more philosophically.
“In politics you can’t please everybody. It’s very difficult to do that,” he said. “I tried hard and I tried to meet the challenges before me. So I guess it’s time to retire again.”
Unlike several other races this election where the rhetoric became heated, Rodrigues said neither he nor Monaco made their campaigns personal.
“No, there are no hard feelings,” Rodrigues said. “It wasn’t really a dirty campaign, but there were a few shenanigans they pulled with the signs that concerned me.”
Monaco echoed the same sentiments.
Rodrigues said he will find other causes to get behind and continue to work for the community he was lived all his life.
“Oh, I’ll be doing other things. I’m definitely not going to be fading away into the sunset,” Rodrigues said.
