By Josh Resnek
This is an opinion piece.
I have to wonder what Jimmy Tri Le is thinking about running for re-election when he is up against a legal ruling not allowing him to get anywhere near his colleague Stephanie Martins, who he sexually assaulted.
Since the assault, which he has pleaded to and is now apparently taking training to learn about what sexual assault is, Le has not attended a meeting at city hall for longer than a year.
And when all is said and done with his rehabilitation, he will still not be allowed to be close to Martins, which means he can’t be in the council chamber with her being there.
Enter Holly Garcia, a lawyer running against Le who beat him in the primary by 2 votes.
She believes she can beat Le and she wonders, as well, why he would be running for a seat he cannot physically occupy.
That’s the real question for residents of Ward 4.
Do they want a full-time councilor who can attend the meetings or do they want a councilor who cannot attend the meetings and who will not appear at city hall?
Or do they want Garcia, who has no legal restrictions against providing what a councilor is supposed to provide, a presence at city hall and a voice at city council meetings.
It is hard to imagine what Le can be thinking about considering the situation he finds himself in.
I tried calling him but he didn’t pick up his cell.
However, Garcia’s campaign has brought her neck to neck with Le.
Anything can happen in elections and they often do.
Will the voters of Ward 4 pick Le over Garcia or the other way around?
This will be a tight race with Le trying his best to hang on despite his difficult to impossible situation and with Garcia going door to door to see if she can change the course of history.
In every way, this race is exciting.
Let’s see what happens.