Tulare County supervisors think they run a world where Latinos don’t fit in | Opinion
.JPG "Supervisor Eddie Valero (right) accepted Tulare County Board of Supervisors chairman Larry Micari’s apology (left), called for “open communication and mutual respect guide our interactions.”")
What was Tulare County Supervisor Larry Micari thinking — or was he even thinking? — when he accused a colleague of a plot to replace white department heads with Latinos?
Is this a winning hand among voters?
Or is it a signal that Latino political success is becoming a reality in a county where two of every three residents are Latino can shake the status quo?
Micari, a retired Tulare County sheriff’s deputy, might have borrowed from the Trump playbook in employing fear-mongering to scare up some votes in his re-election bid. But that is no way to represent a district that is 57.4% Latino.
During a candidates’ forum at a Visalia church on Sunday, Micari said Eddie Valero, the only Latino on the five-member board, was planning to replace white department heads once more Hispanics were elected to the board. (Two of 13 department heads appointed by the board have Hispanic surnames).
“Eddie Valero was running his mouth saying that once he gets his Latino majority, they’re going to fire all the white department heads because the county is too white,” Micari was heard during a 33-second video posted online. “And they’re going to take 40 million (dollars) from the sheriff for their programs.”
Valero has vehemently denied he is mounting a Latino takeover. In fact, he is neutral in the Micari-Joe Soria race.
“My colleague is trying to instill race baiting and mongering as a cheap political tactic,” Valero posted on social media on Monday.
Micari apologized to Valero at Tuesday’s board meeting. Valero accepted the apology. Micari then called the incident closed, saying he would not respond to any media inquiries about the controversial remarks.
“There will be no further comment for the media,” said Micari at Tuesday morning’s board meeting.
Why? The public deserves more answers.
Did Valero actually outline a plot for a Latino takeover of the board? If not, why did Micari put out a lie? In church?
To his credit, Valero accepted Micari’s apology and agreed to put the issue behind them.
Micari figuratively threw a Molotov cocktail into a building, watched it burn down, apologized for doing so, and then decided that an apology was sufficient to settle the brouhaha.
“I have always said, since Day One on the dais, that if I had done anything to hurt someone — whether intentional or unintentional — and it was brought to my attention, that I would publicly apologize on the dais,” Micari said at the board meeting. “And I’m a man of my word, and I will do that every time.”
Yes, Micari is a man of bad words. He wants us to believe it was poor word choice on his part.
On Monday, in a statement to the Ivanhoe-based newspaper Valley Voice, Micari said: “Ever since I have been in office, it has been reported that Supervisor Valero has made negative comments based on race. On numerous occasions, Supervisor Valero has insinuated he prefer (sic) to work only with Latino staff.”
Later in the statement, Micari said, “I admit the sound bite sounds terrible. As always, there is more information to the story than a few minutes allotted on stage at a forum. I apologize if there are any misunderstandings.
“I personally ask everyone to stop — leave it alone. If you’ve got any issues, come to me. There’s no reason to take it out on (Valero) for what’s happened, so you come to me for any issues at all.”
Sure, politics is a rough-and-tumble world, but it appears some Tulare supervisors take it to another level.
Not reported as widely were comments by Supervisor Pete Vander Poel, who is facing a re-election challenge from Benny Corona, a biomethane analyst and son of a farmworker family.
Valley Voice reported that the incumbent told the church audience on Sunday that “off the record” that the only reason he faces an opponent for the first time in 16 years “is because I’m white and conservative.”
Vander Poel’s mouth got him into hot water four years ago when he said Valero “wanted another piece of the tortilla” when he asked time for a follow-up question during a pandemic briefing. Vander Poel, who represents a district where Latinos account for 55.2% of the voting age population, apologized and spoke to the media.
It is time for the Tulare supervisors to realize they don’t run a fiefdom, and that Latinos deserve better representation.
This story was originally published February 28, 2024 at 6:00 AM.