San Benito County Supervisors will decide whether to cast a vote
of
”
no confidence
”
against the district attorney Tuesday and two supervisors say
they will support the vote and a request that the state investigate
the prosecutor’s office.
Hollister – San Benito County Supervisors will decide whether to cast a vote of “no confidence” against the district attorney Tuesday and two supervisors say they will support the vote and a request that the state investigate the prosecutor’s office.
The item that will be on the board’s agenda March 28 calls for a vote of no confidence against District Attorney John Sarsfield, and calls for county counsel to request that the Attorney General conduct an investigation into Sarsfield’s conduct as district attorney. While Supervisors Reb Monaco – who requested that it be put on the agenda – and Anthony Botelho said they will support the no confidence vote, Supervisors Jaime De La Cruz and Don Marcus said they want to hear from the district attorney before they make a decision.
If passed, the no confidence vote will officially affirm concerns that several board members have raised regarding certain cases, such as the Los Valientes case, that the district attorney is pursuing and how he spends county funds.
“It’s time. Our board has to step up to the plate here,” Monaco said.
A no confidence vote against the district attorney would have no legal ramifications, according to the Attorney General’s Office. But Monaco called Sarsfield’s track record as district attorney “not positive at all.” Monaco, who has criticized Sarsfield’s inability to stay within his budget, said that his concern about the district attorney’s job performance is shared throughout the community.
“This is just a general concern in this county – I was even getting a haircut today and they were talking about it there,” he said.
It recently came to light that Sarsfield exceeded his services and supplies budget for this year by about $92,000, according to county documents, putting his office at risk of losing basic services like electricity. Sarsfield, in turn, has demanded that supervisors give him an additional $300,000 to keep his office running.
Sarsfield dismissed supervisors’ criticism, saying that board members calling for a no confidence vote are trying to stop him from prosecuting the Los Valientes case that has been at the forefront of county politics for three years.
“They think I’m going to step back and let them run the (Los Valientes) playbook,” Sarsfield said. “The closer we get to them, the more desperate they become. They want me to stop. I’m not going to stop.”
Botelho also said that he would support the no confidence vote. He cited concerns about Sarsfield over-spending and the price of outside attorney fees that Botelho said Sarsfield has forced the county to cover because the district attorney makes decisions that put the county at the risk of lawsuits.
“You put all this together and I think that action is appropriate,” Botelho said. “It’s not something that I take real lightly. Really, it’s too bad it’s come to this. If he wants a fight, I’ll give him a fight. I’m not going to put up with this.”
Though he has long been an outspoken critic of the of Sarsfield – often saying that the district attorney is a political bully who wastes tax dollars – De La Cruz stopped short of confirming that he would support the no confidence vote. Instead, he said, he will give Sarsfield a chance to defend himself before making a final decision. He did say, however, that he still has great concern about how Sarsfield spends tax dollars and will consider a vote of no confidence Tuesday.
“I just feel that in light of the activity he’s been conducting that he needs to be accountable to the taxpayers,” he said. “There’s no blank check.”
Marcus also said that he is concerned about Sarsfield’s over-spending, but would let to the district attorney address those concerns before choosing how he will vote.
“I want to hear what the district attorney has to say and then make my decision,” he said.
Board Chair Pat Loe could not be reached Wednesday, but has said recently that she thinks that the district attorney’s future should be decided by the voters in the June election.
Sarsfield said the supervisors are trying to shut him down with a no confidence vote because he is getting uncomfortably close to proving the involvement that he says some on the board have with Los Valientes.
“It’s stupid,” he said. “I’m more than happy to go there and explain in, great detail, why I’m prosecuting (Los Valientes).”
The Los Valientes case stretches back to 2003, when attorney Mike Pekin and the anonymous group Los Valientes filed a lawsuit against former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti claiming that he used his position on the board for financial gain. Among the allegations, the suit claims that the Churchill Nut plant was rezoned quickly from agricultural use to manufacturing use so Scagliotti could make a $1.2 million profit in a land deal. Sarsfield is suing Los Valientes for nearly $1 million in damages for allegedly violating the civil rights of several local elected officials and business owners through extortion and false lawsuits.
In a letter he sent to Loe last week, Sarsfield alleged that Botelho, De La Cruz and Monaco are either members of Los Valientes or associated with members of the group. Each supervisor named in the letter adamantly denied the allegations. Sarsfield said he will be prepared to prove that his allegations are true at the board’s March 28 meeting.
Sarsfield predicted that the no confidence vote would pass, but said it would be meaningless.
“They can have their vote. It will probably go against me,” he said. “It will pass and it will mean absolutely nothing.”
Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said that a no confidence vote against the district attorney would be symbolic and have no legal ramifications. Barankin did say that the Attorney General’s Office would investigate a district attorney if there was evidence that a crime was committed, but he declined to comment about the Sarsfield case specifically.
“We’ll look at the (investigation) request when it comes in,” he said.
Botelho, who said he’s hoping that the entire board will support the no confidence vote, said that he wants the vote, if passed, will spur action and get the Attorney General’s office into San Benito County to investigate Sarsfield.
“I don’t want it just to be a political statement,” he said.
Sarsfield was not troubled by the possibility that the board may request an investigation.
“For what” he said, “an investigation that we prosecute crimes, that we prosecute (Los Valientes)?”
In February, 2005 the San Benito County Bar Association passed a no confidence vote against Sarsfield, saying that he abused the power of his office.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com.
