Over the past year, I’ve seen a lot of outrageous behavior of
the Board of Supervisors, but not even I could imagine they would
use tax dollars to try and steal an election.
Over the past year, I’ve seen a lot of outrageous behavior of the Board of Supervisors, but not even I could imagine they would use tax dollars to try and steal an election. Usually in Banana Republics, leaders just void any election outcome they don’t like, after all, with a military standing behind you who cares what the people think. The only difference between a Banana Republic and San Benito County is that our Supervisors steal elections with the people’s money.
Supervisor Bob Cruz wants another chance to win the election he lost on the 2nd of March. He believes he’s entitled to have the election he lost overturned so he can try again. The man that believed he had the right to put a # 1 in front of his name on the ballot now believes the election was not fair. Supervisor Bob Cruz lost the election even with the #1 in front of his name, his name on top of the ballot and with the prestigious title of incumbent under his name.
What Bob Cruz wants is a do-over – another chance to prove that on the second try he can beat his opponent, Jaime De La Cruz. Golfers can equate Bob’s actions to being allowed a Mulligan during a tournament because the wind was blowing.
Bob Cruz lost the election because he didn’t work hard or smart enough. Even a few of his campaign advisors said he deserved to lose the election because he didn’t listen to their advice and didn’t work hard enough to win it.
Jaime De La Cruz on the other hand won the election because he worked hard on his campaign on a daily basis and more importantly he listened to what the voters had to say. Mr. De La Cruz worked tirelessly until the very last hour of the very last day and that’s the real reason he won the campaign.
Normally when candidates lose an election they congratulate their opponent, shake hands and offer their assistance for the benefit of the community.
When Supervisor Bob Cruz thought he had won the election, one of his first comments was that he would do everything he could to have his opponent kicked off the County Water Board. As the news broke that Bob Cruz had actually lost the election, he and his volunteers went on the attack and claimed fraud in the voting process.
Angry at the loss of Measure G and Bob Cruz, the Board of Supervisors, with direction from Richard Scagliotti (aka Boss Hogg), went to work trying to overturn the election. Within a few days of Bob Cruz’s loss, the Board of Supervisors voted to use tax dollars on their out-of-town attorney to find a way to void the election.
What strikes me as being odd is how Supervisor Richard Scagliotti always seems to be involved in trying to take away our voting rights while making us, the taxpayers, pay for his quest for power. After the loss of Bob Cruz, Supervisor Richard Scagliotti did everything in his power to launch an investigation by the state attorney general.
Sadly, even once respected groups that are supposed to be non-political, such as LULAC, are being used to try to overturn the election. It turns out that most of LULAC’s directors were volunteers for Bob Cruz’s re-election campaign including his wife who has filed a lawsuit to try to void the election results. The one good thing about Bob Cruz’s wife filing a lawsuit is that it will allow Jaime De La Cruz to depose all those involved in Bob’s campaign. Soon the public will know who was really involved in running and financing Bob Cruz’s campaign.
Surely, in the next few weeks and months all those involved in Bob Cruz’s effort to steal the election will be writing letters designed to mislead the public to gain support for their shameful effort to suspend democracy for their benefit. Just remember that hidden behind the scenes are all the same people that tried to keep us from voting on Measure G and the same people that have spent millions of our tax dollars for out-of-town attorneys to attack anyone that disagrees with their views.
As Banana Republics disappear around the globe, our Supervisors continue to fight to keep things under their control. It’s clear that the people of San Benito County have voted to put an end to Banana Republic politics and the policies that enabled Supervisor Richard Scagliotti and his junta to become rich on the backs of the people.
Will you let the Supervisors steal your vote or will you stand up and fight for democracy?
Ignacio Velazquez can be reached at [email protected]
