I find myself puzzled at politicians these days. Well, let me rephrase that. Most politicians do things that serve their own self advancement interests and it shouldn’t puzzle me that they do questionable things.

For example, Supervisor Channce Condit was the only of five supervisors willing to shut down county government by failing to adopt a budget because he doesn’t like how slowly government moves. Condit claims it takes Stanislaus County Public Works 30 to 70 days to fill potholes and up to four months to abate roadside hazards; and that it takes the Department of Environmental Resources 700 days to abate a dilapidated motorhome or 214 days for a property clean up case.

Wouldn’t it be better to take corrective action, like come down on department heads to force faster results in dealing with potholes and blight rather than burn the whole house down in a figurative sense?

Condit likely knew the other four supervisors would pass the budget so his vote of opposition was merely a political ploy. Can you imagine what would happen to his political future if he was able to team up with two other supervisors and prevent the county from passing a budget and all of its employees go without a paycheck and no sheriff’s deputies showing up for work?

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I couldn’t believe my eyes when Ceres Mayor Javier Lopez brought a canvas campaign banner for school children to hold up at the front of Lucas Dual Language Academy’s “Walk to School” event last week. Can you imagine a politician taking advantage of school children at a community event designed to highlight walking to school as a healthy lifestyle exercise to promote his self? Shameless self-promotions don’t belong at PTC sponsored events.

Lopez also is coming under fire for his tasteless campaign mailer. Such tactics smack of desperation. Really? Accusing a Planning Commissioner and fellow councilwoman of promoting homelessness and fentanyl dealing?

I cover council and commission meetings and don’t recall any votes that promoted homelessness in city parks. In fact, the Ceres Planning Commission has barely met since Condit was appointed.

Lopez owes his two opponents and the community an apology for lying.

I’m frankly embarrassed that he calls himself a Republican.

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These are not a good optics just before the election.

Councilman James Casey on Monday asked for the council to consider taking up the matter of doing away with benefits for members of the Ceres City Council. Casey, who is a businessman and receives his insurance elsewhere, brought up the matter of “personal development” funds. He pointed out that he was expecting to pay for the city shirt he was wearing and when he inquired about the bill was told it was paid for out of personal development funds. Casey said he wasn’t necessarily interested in eliminating the stipends paid to members of the City Council or the Planning Commission but said the health insurance is “pretty sensitive to me.”

“Was I elected to receive benefits for myself or was I elected to try and improve the city of Ceres?” he asked. Casey then suggested the council should look at whether the city can afford these expenses. He opined that the councilmembers who want insurance through the city should find the “means to pay for it themselves.”

Ceres resident John Warren said the health benefits are “very high” and cost $2,000 a month, which is close to $100,000 annually for the four who receive them.

Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra gave a long answer and suggested that state law required cities to give councilmembers health bennies (which I do not feel is accurate). She also went on to defend the annual trainings and suggested that some members may not be able to afford the funds to pay for attendance at annual conferences in Southern California where they receive training. There is no requirement, however, that councilmembers attend these conferences or any training, which are usually in the most touristy areas of California and not usually in places in the Valley.

Bottom line, the four on the council (Vierra, Mayor Javier Lopez, Vice Mayor and Daniel Martinez) flushed Casey’s idea down the toilet, so guess what? It won’t be brought up and the benefits continue to flow.

Gov. Newsom has once again shown he could care less about voter fraud. He banned all local governments in the state from requiring voters to show any form of identification, effectively outlawing voter ID requirements. Some cities are pushing back, including one where City Attorney Michael E. Gates has said he doesn’t intend to comply with the new laws. Gates joined NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live” to discuss how he plans to handle this legal challenge and whether it’s feasible for his city to resist the state’s mandate.

I just got on two planes this month and the key to getting on the plane was an ID. In the days of check cashing, you had to show an ID. You have to show an ID at the DMV and social services. So what is so wrong with showing an ID to prove you are legally allowed to vote or who you say you are?

Newsom outlawing the practice flies in the face of the voters of Huntington Beach who in March voted to enact voter ID requirements in their city. Newsom and the two top ranking officials of the state – the secretary of state and attorney general sued the city to head off the practice of voter ID. In the meantime, one of his Democrat thugs in the state Legislature authored a bill for Gov. Brylcream which he greedily signed.

Gates doesn’t believe the state can violate the state constitution which grants charter cities some autonomy and will take on the state in court.

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Ask yourself how is it that states like Florida can know on Election night who the winners and losers are but California can’t finalize results for more than a month?

The answer: all-mail balloting that started in 2021 with AB 37 authored by Bay Area Democrat Assemblyman Marc Berman.

Berman said, “When voters get a ballot in the mail, they vote.” All the Democrats heralded the all-mail ballot concept because they knew something most people don’t consider: That the bottom barrel citizens who didn’t make an effort to vote in-person tend to be the ones who depend on government handouts and welfare and thus vote for Democratic candidates. The all-mail ballot also accommodates the low information voter who, let’s just say, might want to vote for a “black” woman who instead of explains her agenda for America goes on friendly late night talk shows and has a beer with comedians.

When I was a kid, we knew that night who won an election. The voting booths tabulated the count in an easy fashion.

But now we have paper ballots that are mailed out and prone to all kinds of duplicitous activity.

Get this: Governor Dufus signed into law Assembly Bill 3184 on Sept. 22 which forbids Stanislaus County and other counties from certifying the results of an election until Dec. 3, even if they finish processing. The new law signed by Governor Newsom requires counties to wait 28 days before certifying election results! Stanislaus County has historically finished as soon as possible, between 17 and 20 days, said

Stanislaus County Clerk-Recorder Donna Linder who also sent out a press release last week which stated: “We understand this law may be frustrating.”

No kidding. But just about everything Newsom does is frustrating.

While the local Elections Divisions claims to verify signatures and perform manual audits to ensure accuracy, there’s too much room for illegal voting that undermines my faith in the election process.

Years ago I noted how Lee Brandt of Ceres received ballots mailed to his home for his adult children who left home years ago. The voter roll had not purged their names. Any dishonest person in a household would have no problems filling out ballots for others, forging signatures on the envelope and slapping them in the mail. Are elections officials handwriting experts?

There is no way you can be fraudulent if you have to show up at the polls in-person and present an ID.

This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation.  How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com