Five Reasons Why Carrillo Selection Is Not So Shocking

[Sara S]

Gullixson: Five reasons why Carrillo selection is not so shocking
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinio...s-why-carrillo

January 10, 2016,

What conclusions should Sonoma County voters come to about the unanimous decision by the Board of Supervisors last week to name Efren Carrillo as chairman of the board? Readers seem to have found dozens.

“I was shocked and dismayed,” wrote Marsha Taylor of Santa Rosa in a letter Friday. “No wonder so many people are turned off by politics.”

Observed another local resident in a comment online, “With the appointment … it is obvious and apparent that the status of women in Sonoma County remains very low.”

The reactions are understandable. After all, it was just a year and eight months ago that Carrillo’s colleagues were unanimously calling for Carrillo’s resignation in the aftermath of his arrest for a late-night escapade involving underwear, socks, alcohol and an attempted entry into the home of a woman neighbor who was left terrorized. You know the story.

But here are some reasons why this decision may not be so surprising.

First, like it or not, it was Carrillo’s turn. There is no great magic to serving as chairman. By board policy, the job rotates among the five supervisors. Currently, the rotation is District 5, 3, 4, 2, 1. Carrillo served as vice chairman last year and was in line to swing the gavel this year. The supervisors tipped their hand when the invitations went out before Christmas to the annual State of the County breakfast on Jan. 27. The email indicated the State of the County address would be delivered by Carrillo. By tradition, that honor is reserved for the head of the board.

Supervisor David Rabbitt said last week that he sees taking a turn as chairman as part of the job, and to bypass a supervisor would be to shortchange that individual’s district. “I don’t think there was any question that we were going to go in the order that we had established,” he told me.

Carrillo said much the same when we spoke on Friday. While he said he was honored to be selected, “I will be the first to say I’m not of the belief that the chair has any greater powers or decisions than any other member. We really are a collective board,” he said.

So is this a sign of the board’s restored confidence in him? He was hesitant to go that far.

To continue reading, go to: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinio...s-why-carrillo

[Sara S]

from Wednesday's Press Democrat: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinio...-to-the-editor

EDITOR: Thanks to Paul Gullixson, the public has a clearer explanation for the Board of Supervisors’ appointment of Efren Carrillo as chairman — the same board that 1½ years ago asked for his resignation (“Five reasons why Carrillo’s selection is not a shock,” Sunday). Gullixson suggests the vote would have been different if Carrillo had any chance of re-election. I believe that reality should be irrelevant, and I am disappointed by the board’s decision.

Even though the position includes no particular power, I view this appointment as tacit approval of a man who has yet to offer any real apology or acceptance of responsibility for his inappropriate behavior.
There are two stories and two players here. One is about Carrillo behaving badly, and that story has been thoroughly reported and discussed publicly and privately.

What about that second story, the story of Jane Doe, the victim, the victim of Carrillo’s behavior? I’m sure that this woman who experienced a half-dressed, beer-in-hand Carrillo, whom she barely knew, rattling her bedroom window, then coming to her front door in the middle of the night is experiencing lasting effects from his frightening advances.

I’m tired of perpetrators not being held accountable for their misdeeds and poor judgment while their victims are left haunted and fearful by the unnerving experiences that are now part of their life’s history.

GALE de LONG, Santa Rosa