The San Benito County board of supervisors wants Registrar John
Hodges’ authority over local elections stripped and agreed Tuesday
to ask two local state lawmakers to carry the necessary legislation
through the Legislature.
Hollister – The San Benito County board of supervisors wants Registrar John Hodges’ authority over local elections stripped and agreed Tuesday to ask two local state lawmakers to carry the necessary legislation through the Legislature.
The board’s decision in closed session culminated months of speculation about Hodges’ standing. Since the March election, the federal government sued San Benito County for lacking resources for Spanish-speaking voters. And allegations arose of voter fraud and improper advice from elections officials in the District 5 supervisor’s election.
“Something has to be done,” Supervisor Ruth Kesler said. “I don’t know if that’s the right way to go or not, but at least it’s a beginning.”
The board voted unanimously to request help from State Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, and Assemblyman Simon Salinas, D-Salinas. The decision left Hodges “totally shocked” and prompted the 20-year veteran to call the effort “payback time” for his unwillingness to run the March election how the board wanted.
Changing the registrar position from an elected to a board-appointed role requires approval at the state level. Ten other counties, including Alameda and Marin, appoint their registrars, according to County Counsel Karen Forcum. As an elected official, Hodges also serves as the clerk, recorder and auditor of the county.
Salinas on Tuesday said local supervisors previously had approached his office about the idea and that he “would certainly look at it” before taking a stance. And Denham’s press secretary, though he hadn’t heard of the proposal before Tuesday, said the senator would do the same.
“If any county representative sends a proposal, we would absolutely look at it and respond,” said Nick Rappley, Denham’s press secretary.
If one or both of the legislators supported such a bill, the Legislature couldn’t approve it until January at the earliest, when the Senate and Assembly are scheduled to reconvene. After November, there are no scheduled elections in San Benito until 2006.
Supervisor Pat Loe declined to comment because it was a closed session matter. Supervisor Reb Monaco also declined to comment. Supervisors and Richard Scagliotti and Cruz didn’t return phone calls Tuesday.
Most recently, the office bungled a request from the Secretary of State’s Office to provide records needed to complete an audit of the March election. In that case, Hodges said he didn’t know until Friday about the office’s failure to hand over the two requested documents. The mistake caused a delay to a probe of the District 5 results.
Regarding the March election, Hodges has blamed the lack of Spanish language resources on a lean budget and has vowed to comply with all demands from the Department of Justice.
Hodges said there was no indication before Tuesday the board would try to remove his power as registrar.
“I’m going to fight like hell to make sure at least Denham and or Salinas will not carry that legislation,” Hodges said.
“My feeling is, that type of legislation is something that – if the county clerk wanted it that way, it would be no problem. But the people of San Benito County elected me to this position.”
