Politics

This story was published Dec. 17 by CalMatters. For three years, the fate of poor people accused of crimes in San Benito County lay in the hands of attorneys who barely spoke with their clients and seldom filed legal motions on their behalf.  While defendants...

Voters in San Benito County Supervisorial District 5 will have a chance to vote whether to recall their incumbent in the June 2 election.  The local registrar of voters’ office has consolidated the recall election of Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez onto the statewide 2026 gubernatorial primary...

San Benito County and the First Amendment Coalition reached a settlement in a case involving a social media page that posted content that was allegedly threatening toward local officials and their families.  Under the settlement, which was announced Dec. 5, the county agreed to withdraw...

Anonymous Facebook users who run what they describe as a “satirical” social media page have sued San Benito County over its recent efforts to name them as the page’s owners.  At a Nov. 26 online hearing before the California Northern District Court, after receiving arguments...

The San Benito County Board of Supervisors narrowly rejected a petition to recall one of its members and labeled the effort “illegal” due to allegations that signature gatherers misled local voters.  Some of those voters said during a public hearing at the Nov. 18 board...

San Benito County has recovered nearly $700,000 stolen from a recent vendor payment fraud scheme, according to the county Auditor-Controller’s Office.  The recovery of the funds will allow the county to “issue proper payment to the legitimate vendor,” Auditor-Controller Joe Paul Gonzalez said in a...

The San Benito County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a social media page that recently posted a political cartoon that allegedly encouraged violence against public officials and their families, according to authorities.  The Facebook page known as “Benito Beet Beat” published the post on Nov. 3....

With thousands of San Benito County residents set to lose their CalFresh benefits due to a suspension of federal funding, local organizations and service providers are preparing for a surge in the need for food assistance this month.  On Nov. 4, the board of supervisors...

Two minutes after the polls closed in California, CNN called the Prop 50 race at the starting gate, predicting that voters had approved the change in the state’s Congressional Districts. At 8:15pm Nov. 4, with nearly 4,000 of the state's 18,399 precincts counted, about 21%,...

San Benito County officials have requested an audit and investigation services from the state controller’s office after a recent fraud incident brought the county’s total known loss of public funds to theft or embezzlement to more than $1.1 million in recent years.  Concerned that there...