It was not long ago when a near-capacity crowd at an Otay Water District board meeting caught board members slightly off guard. When, on a winter afternoon, dozens of people sat shoulder to shoulder waiting for their chance to speak during public comment; for their moment to lambaste political rookie Hector Gastelum, who after several failed attempts at winning an election finally had found his way onto the water board.
Gastelum was in hot water not because of a policy decision or proposal he made but because on social media he had equated Muslims with subhuman monsters and scum.
For more than an hour Gastelum and the rest of his colleagues listened as the public listed their disappointment in and grievances with Gastelum. They demanded his resignation and vowed to return to every board meeting until the realtor by trade stepped down from his position on the water board.
Resign, they told him.
No, he responded.
They threatened him with a recall election and with the air of someone who has been threatened by a yapping Chihuahua he told them go for it.
That was in February. And March. And April.
On Wednesday before the board’s July meeting Gastelum sat in the front row of the gallery speaking with an Otay Ranch resident. The man would later be the only person to speak during public comment. His remarks did not address any of the bigoted remarks Gastelum had made in the past nor did they include calls for Gastelum to step down. He was there to talk about an issue near the toll road and after saying his peace he left. And the board moved on to other business. As it has in the days since April when Gastelum’s colleagues publicly censured him.
That the number of protestors has dwindled to zero despite their promises of returning month after month is not surprising. These days there are a myriad of issues about which to be initially outraged and then quietly forget. An Islamaphobe seated on a relatively minor elected public body does not, it appears, have a pile of embers hot enough to keep the flames of anger alive. And it may well be in the best interest of everyone that the world has moved on, as the board has been able to focus on water issues and not the inane remarks made by a man whose long time goal has been to be an official.
Or maybe it’s not.
Occasionally smart people will say dumb things. Quite frequently, ignorant people will stay stupid things with the sort of regularity that sees the sun set and the moon rise.
But it is one thing if the fool spouting ridiculous ideas is a citizen who is not charged with making decisions for the community. It is quite another if the fool is a representative of the public, the people who put them in office.
Hector Gastelum represents Division 4 in the Otay Water District. His constituents seem to be fine with him where he is.
