THUMBS DOWN: For San Benito County, which has failed to make the full investigative report into District Attorney John Sarsfield’s office public. The Free Lance and area lawyers have asked for the document several times only to be denied. A brief of the report leaked to the Free Lance reveals serious problems with how the prosecutor, a publicly-elected official, manages his office. It says he retaliated against his own employees for political purposes and was openly contemptuous of women in the office. The public has the right to know the full details. And California Newspaper Publisher Association lawyer Jim Ewert says it’s a violation of the California Public Records Act for the county to keep the report hushed up. The county should do the right thing and let the full report see the light of day.
THUMBS UP: For Judge Steven Sanders who sentenced Joseph Azevedo – the man police say shot and killed Jose Sanchez in front of his children in an alley behind the Hollister Community Center four years ago – to the maximum sentence of three years in prison for carrying a loaded and cocked gun in violation of his parole. The sad thing is Azevedo, a Norteno gang member, will spend more time behind bars for his latest crime than he did for the murder. District Attorney John Sarsfield chose to prosecute Azevedo as a minor for the killing of Sanchez, and he was put away for one year in county jail on the charge of being an accessory after the fact. Now, however, Sanders did the right thing and hit Azevedo with the maximum sentence.
THUMBS UP: For new Hollister Councilman Doug Emerson who has set up an e-mail network to keep his constituents informed and to poll them about issues facing the city. In setting up the system, Emerson is making good on a promise he made while campaigning. Using technology to keep in touch with the residents of his district is innovative and makes the councilman more responsive to those he represents. Way to go.
THUMBS UP: For Margaret Ellwanger of San Juan Bautista whose organization Pillows For Peace helps poverty-stricken Cambodians improve their lot in life. She, and a group of volunteers, helps build homes in Cambodia and teaches Cambodian women and men how to make clothes, pillows and other items that they sell in Singapore and San Juan to break the cycle of poverty. The money, new skills and care Ellwanger provides help people escape from lives of prostitution, indentured servitude and desperation.
THUMBS UP: For the San Benito High School and Rancho-Maze bands, which swept the KFOX 98.5 FM “Schools of Rock” contest, beating out 15 other South Bay bands. As a result, the bands got to rock out on the air, and got huge exposure for the talents of students in a small San Benito County town.
