Editorials

Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz did not merely accept donations and active campaign support from Lombardo & Gilles, the law firm representing DMB-El Rancho San Benito.

The district attorney's office from the beginning may have

Economics: I've finally found a way to get the economy

San Benito County's Board of Supervisors recently increased traffic impact fees for developers from $20,400 per residential building permit to $23,853 – a hefty raise that should have been phased in over several years rather than dumped on builders' laps all at once.

THUMBS UP: Supervisor Anthony Botelho last week received a unanimous and expected approval as this year's board chairman. The San Benito County Board of Supervisors routinely elects the prior year's vice chairman, who was Botelho, to the chairman role, held in 2008 by Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz. We expect Botelho to handle himself professionally and allow for fair opportunities for varying voices to be heard as the county moves forward. We also encourage Botelho to push aggressively for a serious examination of potentially cost-cutting measures and to foster a cautious approach to budgeting in the years to come. San Benito County not only faces a likely hit from necessary state cuts, but officials also, and most imminently, must deal with a declined property tax base that is sure to strike a blow to the county budget.