After a somewhat brutal local election season in 2024, Los Banos finds itself with yet another city council seat that wasn’t won through a merit-based campaign.
Instead, the District 1 seat was secured through defamation, misinformation and a steady stream of personal attacks against a single opponent.
Mitzy Perez, who now holds the District 1 council seat, ran a campaign centered not on vision or solutions but on discrediting her opponent, Kalid “Virriy” Sanchez.
Perez and her “team” turned a past business debt into a misleading focal point and used it to attack Sanchez’s character and integrity.
In a political atmosphere already marked by division, increasing frustration and even violence, I am fatigued by it all. The low voter turnout in this local election suggests that many in our community feel the same fatigue and disillusionment.
Despite providing documentation refuting the claims made against her to this newspaper and the Fair Political Practices Commission, Sanchez continued to be the target of smears.
Perez’s sole campaign donor, Michael Braa, CEO and editor-in-chief of the Los Banos Enterprise, continued to make social media posts and distribute materials door to door that sought to discredit Sanchez.
Originally, Perez feigned ignorance, but this holds no credibility. Public campaign finance records show that Braa donated $3,000 to Perez’s campaign, making him the sole financial backer.
Perez’s campaign expenditure report lists $2,700 in spending. That’s nearly total funding from one source.
This same individual not only bankrolled Perez’s campaign but also published baseless and damaging articles suggesting that a past business debt of Sanchez’s was a “campaign donation” and implying unethical intent or vote trading.
Perez also claimed on her social media that she was funding her campaign with her own “hard-earned money.” However, public records suggest otherwise. So, I ask Perez directly: Do you believe you won this seat fairly?
Was your campaign based on your qualifications and what you can offer, or was it based on a sustained effort to defame your opponent?
Do you believe this approach contributes to growing political hostility, especially among young adults who are new to civic engagement and already skeptical of the process?
As a young adult stepping into public service, one would hope Perez would be sensitive to the current political atmosphere and strive to uplift rather than divide. Unfortunately, this campaign seems to have favored winning at all costs over truth, fairness or influence on the community.
That speaks volumes not just about how the seat was won but about the character of the person now occupying it.
Julie Creighton
Los Banos
