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Former San Benito County Supervisor Anthony Botelho will not face charges for taking down “Stop Strada Verde” signs that were posted around Hollister and incorporated areas of the county. GPS Trackers placed on the signs led the Stop Strada Verde group to Botelho’s house.
San Benito County District Attorney Joel Buckingham said his office chose not to file charges because the signs did not have a permit from the county.
He cited Civil Code 3495, which states, “Any person may abate a public nuisance which is specially injurious to him by removing, or, if necessary, destroying the thing which constitutes the same, without committing a breach of the peace, or doing unnecessary injury.”
Buckingham stressed that this case should not be used as a reference when it comes to political signs, which are permitted in the public-right-of-way during campaign seasons.
Temporary political signs are defined by the state as those that encourage a particular vote in a scheduled election, placed within 90 days of a scheduled election, are no larger than 32 square feet and have a statement of responsibility filed.
“We want everyone to play by the rules and have a healthy election season,” Buckingham said.
Botelho became a spokesperson for the Strada Verde Innovation Park following his time in office. He served four terms as a county supervisor and left office in 2020.
Frank Barragan with Stop Strada Verde said 28 signs have been taken from the public right-of-way at various intersections in the county. He said Botelho returned 18 signs, all of which were damaged. He said the signs cost more than $2,500.
When investigating the report, San Benito County Sheriff Eric Taylor said all parties were interviewed. Those findings were shared with the District Attorney’s office.
“Our case is not quite closed as we were needing a bit more information from the victim,” Taylor said.
Regarding permits for the signs, Barragan said the county did not complain about the signs.
“The only person that had any issue with the signs is Botehlo—who works for the developer,” Barragan told BenitoLink.
He added he was unaware of any requirement to get approval from the county for the signs.
“These are not political ads,” Barragan said.
Botelho admitted he took the signs and said he did it because he is familiar with the county’s sign ordinance.
“The signs being out there needed to be taken down by the county,” Botelho said. “The county might be a little too busy to enforce their sign ordinance so I took it upon myself.”
He added, “In my opinion, it’s garbage. I was picking up garbage.”
Botelho also said he did it to raise awareness about the money being spent against a project that doesn’t have a completed application with the county.
“I don’t see the project moving any time soon,” Botelho said.
Both Botelho and Barragan said this issue goes beyond the signs, as they accused each other of spreading lies about the project and its impacts.
The project has been controversial since it was first introduced as an initiative, which was rejected by voters in 2020 through Measure N.
In 2022, an initiative led by Barragan tried to put a development buffer around Trical, Inc., an agrochemical company, that would have effectively killed Strada Verde through Measure R, but that also failed.
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