Cheers for the lawyers; jeers for the plumbers
THUMBS UP: For the San Benito County Bar Association and their decisive stand against District Attorney John Sarsfield. Members of local legal community overwhelmingly cast a vote of “no confidence” in the prosecutor and endorsed the recall effort against him. Another Thumbs Up for Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz for breaking the public silence by our elected politicians and saying Sarsfield must resign. We hope other community leaders will be encouraged by these two actions to call for the only remedy that will cure what ails the local justice system: John Sarsfield must resign as district attorney to help restore justice, civility and peace in San Benito County.
THUMBS UP: For the San Benito County Board of Supervisors allocating $10,000 for an investigation into the planning department. Regardless of what people think of the corruption allegations against the office, an investigation will hopefully settle the many questions surrounding the department’s actions. We hope the county fully discloses the investigation’s findings to the public.
THUMBS DOWN: For the Board of Supervisors allocation of $5,000 for an internal investigation into how the mediation brief from a investigation into the District Attorney’s Office was leaked to the Hollister Free Lance. The board should be more concerned with the information contained in the report than with how it was made public. The investigation was paid for with public money and neither side sought a protective order from the courts. We believe the investigation report should have been available for public scrutiny anyway considering the serious offenses it sustained against the district attorney.
THUMBs UP: For raising water rates to the customer of city water district – though it may sound strange. No one likes to pay higher utility bills, but considering rates haven’t gone up since 1991, it’s certainly time for a small increase. When water rates do not generate enough revenue to cover the district’s costs, the difference comes out of the city’s general fund. That means general fund money which could be spent on other needed programs is used to subsidize people’s water bills. Raising rates to make citizens who use more water pay more money only makes sense and it helps promote conservation of a precious resource.
