This commentary was contributed by former Hollister mayor, Mia Casey. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors. Lea este artículo en español aquí. 


Sometimes it’s important to step back and connect the dots.

I don’t know Laura Garcilazo personally. But after receiving her campaign mailer for the auditor-controller election and seeing some of the sensationalistic headlines being used, I started to look more closely at the circumstances surrounding this race.

A few things stood out to me.

First, take a look at this post from last January by Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez. He presents it as a list of county job openings, but then specifically states:

“If you’re a CPA you can earn over $240k. Message me directly for more information.”

The interesting part? None of the jobs listed match that description or salary. In fact, the only position I could find that does match the is the elected Auditor-Controller. So was he trying to recruit someone to run against the controller?

And instead of properly directing interested applicants to Human Resources, Velazquez asks people to contact him directly.

Maybe that’s nothing. But it certainly raises some questions.

Second, if you review campaign finance filings, most of Ms. Garcilazo’s funding appears to have come from two unusually large out-of-county donors totaling more than $10,000: Charles Knowles and Serena Rivera.

Coincidentally, these are the same donors who recently contributed to Ignacio Velazquez and have also given to candidates aligned with Campaign to Protect San Benito and Hollister Guardians including Roxanne Stephens, Rudy Picha, and Priscilla de Anda. All of this money pouring into candidate campaigns from outsiders including Silicon Valley millionaires is worthy of investigation, however…

It naturally leads to another question:

Why would these same big political donors from outside San Benito County pour significant money into an Auditor-Controller race?

Third, the style and tone of these campaign mailers being are very similar to the political messaging local voters have seen for years coming from Campaign to Protect San Benito and Velazquez-aligned campaigns.

Again, people can draw their own conclusions. But taken together, this does not feel random.

And when you’re talking about the Auditor-Controller official, the person responsible for financial oversight and accountability for our county, independence really matters. The public deserves an auditor who is willing to stand up to elected officials when necessary, regardless of politics or alliances.

The auditor-controller’s office should belong to the taxpayers, not to any political faction.

Screenshot. Courtesy of Mia Casey.