It has been very interesting to see the jockeying for position in the race to succeed the late John Benoit in the role of 4th District Supervisor. Despite the alleged non-partisan nature of the office, the reaction among some local Coachella Valley politicos has been not exactly been something ot of the Kennedy School Of Government.
One of those seeking the appointment of Governor Jerry Brown to the office, Cathedral City Councilman Greg Pettis told the Press Enterprise, "He anticipated running for supervisor when Benoit retired. He said his time in elected office and ability to deliver strong constituent services made him a good pick for the job,"
Interesting because John Benoit had never talked about retiring and stayed in office till he passed away. Also Greg Pettis has run for the California Assembly twice losing badly in Democratic primaries . Once to Coachella Councilman and former Assembly member Manny Perez who is being backed by a majority of local Democrats for the supervisor job. While the LGBTQ block to which Pettis belongs is important in Riverside County for Democrats, it is dwarfed in size and scope by the Latino population. As I said the other day, if Brown is strictly looking at identity politics, he will pick Perez.
I am amused to hear that local Republicans suddenly are interested in gender equality and would like to see a woman appointed. What they mean by that is they want Jan Harnik a current Palm Desert Councilwoman and a Republican. Her husband managed Brian Nestande's unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2014 against Raul Ruiz. I asked a member of the East Valley RFW (Federation of California Republican Women) if she would support a Democratic woman in the interest of the sisterhood. Her answer of course was a resounding," No!!"
As I have stated, I look for Jerry Brown to do the pragmatic thing and appoint Manny Perez. An appointment of either Pettis or any Republican would cause a multitude of problems that I believe Brown wants no part of.
Steve Kelly can be reached at svericker12@gmail.com
