What a week that was! We had the San Benito County Bar
Association convene a meeting with 24 of the 35 members present.
Attending were the usual suspects
– jealous, self-serving attorneys convened for the sole purpose
of placing a no confidence vote in District Attorney John
Sarsfield.
What a week that was! We had the San Benito County Bar Association convene a meeting with 24 of the 35 members present. Attending were the usual suspects – jealous, self-serving attorneys convened for the sole purpose of placing a no confidence vote in District Attorney John Sarsfield.
Taking a closer look, it was all highly suspicious and very ugly.
First of all, the meeting was held at the Vault. Who owns the Vault? Yep, Supervisor Jamie De La Cruz’s campaign manager, Ignacio Velazquez, the creator and solicitor of a bunch of recall Sarsfield petitions. There was Art Cantu who lost the 2002 district attorney race to Sarsfield by 70 percent, voting by proxy. There was former District Attorney Harry Damkar upset over Sarsfield’s investigation into allegations of misconduct on a number of high profile cases handled by Damkar’s office. There was Bill Marder, who represents clients in a suit against Sarsfield. There was George Barton who lost a high profile case to Sarsfield’s office.
While intoxicated by their own perceived importance, and to prove a lack of any moral or ethical standards, the meeting was further discredited by the attendance of out of town attorneys Mike Pekin and son. Pekin, the lawyer in the Los Valientes case, has been indicted by the grand jury, arrested and released on bail earlier in the week. Pekin and his son just happen to be the two votes needed for a simple majority of 13-11 endorsing the recall.
That tells you everything you wanted to know about the good ol’ boy network.
Of course we can’t omit our resident criminal supervisor, Jaime De La Cruz. Jaime says he has proof, and would win his $5 million lawsuit against the county, but would drop his suit if only the old board of supervisors apologize. Honestly, I don’t know anyone in his right mind who would refuse $5 million in exchange for an apology. This is just another example of how dishonest De La Cruz is.
Jamie says Sarsfield should resign because “he’s persecuting individuals who do not believe in his political views, so it’s time for us to stand up as a community and say, `enough is enough.'” Jamie leaves out the fact that he and Sarsfield belong to the same political party. So what political views is Jamie speaking of?
And there was the Board of Supervisors wielding their vote against the Miwok casino. It seems the neighbors we voted to represent us on the board have, overnight, gained such extraordinary intelligence and experience that they now know better than their constituents about issues facing the county.
The governor has said he will not approve gaming compacts with tribes outside of their indigenous area without overwhelming support from the local community. The supervisors have no way of knowing if the community would accept or reject a casino without a vote of the people.
Again, the board missed a rare opportunity to bring the community together. With as hot and divisive a topic as the Miwok casino, supervisors should have found a way to put it up as an election issue approved or disapproved by thousands of voters, not five individuals.
Supervisor Don Marcus said casino jobs were not the type of employment he hoped for. Supervisor De La Cruz said he promised his constituents he would bring high-paying jobs to the community during his campaign. He said the casino would bring jobs, but they would be low-paying jobs. De La Cruz is tall on talk, but short on description. He has not defined his “high paying” jobs. Is it $15 an hour? Is it $20 an hour? More?
What type of industries does Jaime have in mind to provide employment for hundreds of the county’s work force? Will it take two, five or 10 years before these jobs to become a reality? Jaime should provide the community with his honest assessment, not visions of grandeur.
In lieu of any high-paying jobs or, for that matter, low-paying ones, the county board has offered zilch. Casino jobs like those of McDonald’s, Burger King, etc., are entry-level jobs filled by college students, senior retirees supplementing their income and young people entering the job market for the first time. It’s a sad state of affairs that our $40,000-a-year salary board of supervisors can’t see how a $10 an hour job for hundreds of workers will help benefit the community as a whole.
Paul is a retired grandfather of four, an avid 49ers fan, and cares deeply about what’s been left out of media reporting. E-mail, pa*********@ho*****.com
