The San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to
restore funding to District Attorney John Sarsfield’s office, but
new budget controls will keep taxpayer dollars on a short
leash.
Hollister – The San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to restore funding to District Attorney John Sarsfield’s office, but new budget controls will keep taxpayer dollars on a short leash.
The board voted to pay outstanding claims submitted by the district attorney’s office totaling more than $122,000 in order to keep the lights on and prevent a complete shutdown, but several supervisors expressed concerns about Sarsfield’s request for an additional $350,000 budget augmentation.
The board’s 4-1 vote will also cut one administrative position from Sarsfield’s office and place new controls on his spending aimed at preventing future overdrafts in the prosecutor’s budget. The vote came only a hour before the board declared it had “no confidence” in the district attorney’s ability to do his job.
The county froze Sarsfield’s funding two weeks ago after learning that he had overshot his services and supplies budget by $91,000 in paying special prosecutor Nancy Battel to prosecute three civil cases involving the Los Valientes. Sarsfield is prosecuting the anonymous group’s attorney, Mike Pekin, and his law firm for allegedly violating the civil rights of eight elected officials and local business owners through extortion and by filing false lawsuits.
The fact that Sarsfield’s budget-busting expenses stemmed from the Los Valientes case didn’t sit well with several supervisors.
“We can’t keep writing a blank check for this thing,” Supervisor Anthony Botelho said. “We have to move on. We don’t even know if the Los Valientes exist.”
New budget controls will require Sarsfield to submit funding requests for board approval before hiring outside attorneys and expert witnesses.
The vote came after an hour-long discussion on the Sarsfield’s budget. Sarsfield strongly urged the board to restore funding and grant him the additional $350,000, including $100,000 to continue the prosecution of the Los Valientes. The prosecutor said he was under budget in many areas, but went over on the Los Valientes case. He also pointed out that he is prosecuting more cases this year, about 2,500 compared to 1,500 last year.
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said he believes the budget overrun is the result of many factors.
“It’s not just about one case,” he said. “It’s about management.”
De La Cruz also suggested Sarsfield spend more time in court prosecuting cases himself to save money on outside legal fees.
Sarsfield said it was impossible to predict the number of cases he would prosecute in a given year and called his budget a “simple estimate.”
Supervisor Don Marcus was critical of the suggestion and chastised Sarsfield not only for the overrun, but also for coming up short on revenue he promised the county at the beginning of the year.
“A budget is a serious document,” he said. “Not just a simple estimate.”
Sarsfield had predicted $150,000 in revenue from an expected settlement in a consumer protection suit against weight-loss supplement manufacturer Cytodyne Technologies. The company is being sued by several county and cities across the state for distributing a product in violation of state law. However, the settlement was delayed after the New Jersey-based company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, Sarsfield said.
Sarsfield also urged the board to fill the two vacant deputy district attorney positions in his office.
“Right now we are staffed comparable to Modoc County,” he said. “The only cases we are doing today is violent crimes and DUIs.”
Modoc County has a population of about 10,000 compared to San Benito County’s population of about 56,000, Sarsfield said. Supervisors plan to fill the two positions, but said it could take more than a month to hire qualified deputy district attorneys.
The board will consider Sarsfield’s budget augmentation request at their next meeting on April 4.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com.
