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Having successfully recalled one San Benito County Supervisor, a local group calling itself The Committee to Recall Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki won a legal battle on July 2 to continue its pursuit of ousting another.
On July 2, San Benito County Superior Court visiting Judge Thomas Breen ruled that the signatures submitted by a group of residents seeking to recall District 2 Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki significantly comply with what is required by law, meeting the 60 valid signatures required, and that the recall process can move forward.
Breen’s ruling means the 40 signatures that were submitted to the county Elections Office without a zip code as part of the initial recall process known as a notice of intention are valid.
“Zip codes are important but they are not crucial,” Breen said.
San Benito County Elections had previously rejected the recall proponents’ notice of intention based on missing information.
Breen added county elections must treat July 2 as the day it validated the signatures. According to the county elections website, proponents now have seven days to submit the original notice of intention and for Kosmicki to file a response.
Stacie McGrady, a spokesperson for the recall group which includes many of the same people that led the successful recall of former Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez, said she expected the court to rule in the group’s favor and said she ultimately expects District 2 voters to support the effort.
“People are frustrated,” she said. “They’re unhappy with what’s been going on and I think now that they are not afraid to speak up anymore.”
The recall proponents had sued the county over the rejection of the notice.
Kosmicki, who was not present at the court hearing, did not immediately respond to BenitoLink’s requests for comment.
County Clerk, Recorder, and Registrar of Voters Francisco Diaz said his office will comply with the court’s decision.
“As of today, we’re going to review the actual petition and if it meets the minimum requirements, the proponents can begin collecting signatures,” he said.
This is the group’s second attempt at recalling Kosmicki after they failed to collect enough signatures while simultaneously seeking to recall Velazquez starting last year. McGrady said the groups is seeking to recall Kosmicki because they believe he has not supported public safety.
“He’s running around now telling everybody how much he supports public safety,” she said. “That has not been his pattern in the past and it’s easy to see that.”
Asked about what actions Kosmicki has taken to support her claim, she said he did not support the Sheriff’s Department to address jail needs. She pointed to the repeated findings by the San Benito County Civil Grand Jury reports over the years about the short staffing that led to the closure of a second jail building in 2024 and jail conditions such as the need for a new air conditioning system.
“He’s been on the board for over five years,” she said. “He’s had the opportunity to do that. The bottom line is it’s how you treat people and the way that Supervisor Kosmicki and Supervisor Velazquez treat our community.”
On March 23, the group seeking to remove Kosmicki submitted 98 signatures to begin the recall process. A day later, Chief Deputy Clerk-Recorder-Elections Ana de Castro Maquiz notified Kosmicki, county administration and county counsel that her department had validated it, as it met the “legal requirements.”
Two days later, Kosmicki challenged the decision, arguing that some signatures were missing address information. A day later, De Castro Maquiz reversed course, finding that only 34 of the 60 needed were valid. Of the 64 rejected, 40 were deemed invalid for lacking an appropriate address, city or zip code.
On May 8, The Committee to Recall Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki sued Diaz seeking to reverse the decision.
Also in May, a court ruling rejected Velazquez’s challenge of the recall effort targeting him based on a similar rationale, missing information accompanying voter signatures.
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