Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct a misstatement that the recall would move to the general election if proponents collect the required signatures. Lea este artículo en español aquí.
San Benito County’s Elections Office approved on July 21 the recall petition for District 2 Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki, opening the door for proponents to start collecting signatures.
Chief Deputy Clerk-Recorder Ana De Castro Maquiz said following the approval of the petition, the public has until July 31 to legally challenge the petition.
According to the Elections Office letter notifying recall proponent Stacie McGrady that the petition was approved, the petition can be stopped only “upon clear and convincing proof that the material in question is false, misleading, or inconsistent with the requirements of the Elections Code 11042.5.”
Castro De Maquiz said that in the recent local recall that successfully ousted former District 5 Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez, proponents waited to collect signatures until the 10-day “public inspection” period was over, but the Kosmicki recall can start now.
McGrady, a spokesperson for the Committee To Recall Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki, who was also part of the Velazquez recall, said she doesn’t expect to begin collecting signatures within the week.
“It’s a huge endeavor,” she said. “I have to be organized and get the volunteer team together and make a plan.”
De Castro Maquiz said the recall will proceed to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors to consider accepting its certification if the proponents submit a minimum of 1,762 valid signatures of District 2 registered voters. The deadline to submit the signatures to the Elections Department for review is Oct. 19.
The Board of Supervisors may call for an election. If the board does not, then the Elections Department may call it.
District 2 covers the northwestern part of the county including San Bautista and Aromas. It also includes parts of west Hollister as far as Westside Boulevard.
Asked if he plans to challenge the petition, Kosmicki said he was looking at all his options. He also said the claims made in the petition by the proponents are “blatantly false.”
“Look at the history of my votes,” he said, adding that the recall backers’ claims “are all absurd.”
Recall proponents claim he has ignored traffic congestion while he “wastes” tax dollars on lawsuits, that employees were fired and public safety jobs were put at risk because the county “proposed” a $25.7 million budget deficit under his “mismanagement,” and that under his leadership the county was sued for “hiding key information about backroom development deals.”
He argued that he is working on the Hwy 25 widening plan to make it “realistic,” has supported public safety through fire services negotiations, led the clearing of the homeless encampments in the San Benito River, and is addressing the expansion of employee benefits to retain deputies.
Kosmicki said the claim about the county being sued for hiding information could be a reference to a settlement made by the county in a lawsuit about a public records request. He said the supervisors were not involved in denying such requests.
He also questioned why he was being targeted, arguing that most of the votes by the Board of Supervisors on those issues have been unanimous.
“Why are they not criticizing supervisors they support? There is a lot of hypocrisy,” he said.
The Kosmicki recall effort comes as the San Benito County Elections Office said Velazquez can run again in November for the seat from which he was recalled, thus winning the right to finish the District 5 term which expires in December 2028.
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