In the near future, residents in District 5 will be approached
and asked to sign a petition to recall Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz
as their elected representative for San Benito County. This process
will cost tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money which
would be better spent on improving public services, not political
revenge.
Editor,
In the near future, residents in District 5 will be approached and asked to sign a petition to recall Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz as their elected representative for San Benito County. This process will cost tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money which would be better spent on improving public services, not political revenge.
Everyone knows that the 2004 District 5 race was close and controversial. The group asking for support is continuing a negative campaign of personal attacks on Jaime De La Cruz hoping that voters will be swayed to sign their petition. The former supervisor, Bob Cruz, has many friends who would like to vindicate his loss last March. Obviously, not quite half of the citizens in District 5 voted for Bob Cruz. But forcing a recall of a seated supervisor will do nothing but cause more problems for the business of government and waste even more taxpayers money.
As a columnist for the Free Lance newspaper, I have gone on record stating that I do not support recalls unless the elected person has done something very bad that hurts the public and their trust in government. In the short time that Mr. De La Cruz has been in office, he has made what I consider to be some errors in judgment. However, he has corrected those errors and wants to serve his district to the best of his ability.
I do not think he deserves to be recalled from office based on these facts and ask voters in District 5 to consider the same. Choosing to recall De La Cruz will only continue the negative mud slinging that prevents our elected officials from doing the best job they can to represent our interests and will cost our government money that should be spent on making San Benito County a better place to live.
Please consider the high cost of political revenge that a few sore losers want you to pay both in loss of county revenue and the continued drama that will distract the board of supervisors from doing their jobs. When asked to sign this recall petition, I urge you to say “No thank you.”
If you have any questions or want to talk about the issue, feel free to contact me at pr***********@ho*****.com.
Mike Smith, District 5 resident and tax payer
