The board of supervisors this week changed its policy for
appointing representatives on the planning commission and other
local boards after receiving complaints about Supervisor Jaime De
La Cruz appointing Ignacio Velazquez to be the planning commission
representative for District 5, despite not residing in the
boundaries.
The board of supervisors this week changed its policy for appointing representatives on the planning commission and other local boards after receiving complaints about Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz appointing Ignacio Velazquez to be the planning commission representative for District 5, despite not residing in the boundaries.
The change will force all representatives to live in the district they represent, but it will not take place until July 1 – allowing Velazquez to remain on the commission.
Supervisors agreed to the change in a 4-1 vote Tuesday, with De La Cruz as the lone dissenting vote. De La Cruz cited that because the county is so small, the qualified representatives might not live in the respective districts.
“I did a lot of work looking for the right person to represent San Benito County,” De La Cruz said. “And I didn’t care where the person lived. I felt that I made the right decision. Ignacio Velazquez is the right choice.”
The rest of the board thought, to be fair to each district, that all of its representatives need to live in the district. Supervisor Anthony Botelho pointed out that one district now has two representatives and one has none because of the newly appointed officials.
“It’s a concern for citizens, and we need to make a change,” Botelho said.
Supervisor Robert Rivas acknowledged that it was difficult to find someone qualified in his district but said he felt it was a “requirement” to find someone within his.
“It was tough to find the person, but I did,” he said. “I gave the effort and I was able to find someone.”
Supervisor Jerry Muenzer said that “every district needs to be represented by someone living in each district.”
Supervisor Margie Barrios mentioned that there are around 10,000 citizens in each district, and there should be someone who can serve on the board’s appointments in each group.
“I find it hard to believe you couldn’t find someone within that,” she said.
