There is no political upside for Councilwoman Eugenia Sanchez in the case involving attempted extortion allegations against a former campaign chief.
Sanchez is considered a victim in the investigation by the Hollister Police Department - which itself has a potential conflict of interest in handling the matter, for the obvious reason - but she has an array of questions that she should answer to the public considering the holes remaining in the story.
This bizarre tale began in the summer when Sanchez met Anand Goundar in his capacity with Coalition 5000, a Sacramento-based nonprofit organization, and commissioned him to be her chief of staff in a run for Assembly. Sanchez had been seated in the city's rotational mayor position and boldly announced her candidacy as an unknown Democrat to succeed Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, who is running for State Senate.
The police investigation forwarded to the San Benito County District Attorney's Office, which recently filed charges against Goundar, alleged that he attempted to extort money from Sanchez. Police and prosecutors have accused Goundar of the charges after he had sold a vehicle to her - alleging he threatened to embarrass her by telling the media about two unreported donations he had made to her Assembly campaign.
Goundar did, indeed, speak to the Free Lance in August, and he did accuse Sanchez of accepting donations totaling nearly $1,800 while asserting she requested the funds in cash. Following advice from the police department, Sanchez has been unresponsive about the investigation since it began and remained quiet when questioned in a recent interview - noting how more information would come out after Goundar's arraignment this week.
As an elected leader, when the time is appropriate, Sanchez has the obligation to fully explain the set of circumstances - what appears to ring of he said-she said and under a cloud of unusual circumstances - to the public.
Precisely how and why did she come into contact with the relatively obscure Goundar? Why did she purchase a vehicle from this person in the Sacramento area? When did she report the claims of attempted extortion and how does that time frame match up with Goundar's claims made to the newspaper? When did she fire Goundar as campaign chief and why? What is her counterclaim to the allegation Goundar donated a much larger amount than what she had reported on her campaign finance statements?
Sanchez may be a victim of an attempted extortion, but she clearly still has questions to answer, especially if she plans on running for state or local office again.
The Free Lance Editorial Board The Free Lance Editorial Board is made up of Publisher Steve Staloch; Editor Kollin Kosmicki; Columnist Marty Richman; and members at large Frankie Arballo, Jae Eade, Louise Ledesma and Richard Place. Opinions of the board are not necessarily unanimous.
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