Gomez sworn in as Mayor, Sanchez as youngest Mayor Pro Tem

By Pete Banda
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com

On Tuesday, a major shift in power took place in San Benito. At a regular board meeting, Ben Gomez was sworn in as the Mayor of the City while Carol Lynn Sanchez took the oath to officially become a commissioner. Both Gomez and Sanchez won their races in impressive fashion as neither one of them came close to trailing their opponent in votes at any time. Now formally part of the City Commission, the two first time politicians reflected on what it means to them to represent San Benito.
“After the swearing in everyone kept asking me why I looked so unexcited,” said Gomez. “They were all telling me what an honor it was to be Mayor and how I should be excited… But my thing is that I didn’t run for Mayor for the prestige of the position or just the honor. I ran for Mayor because I wanted to help bring change to my City.”

After being sworn in, Gomez’s first action was to assign a new mayor Pro-tem. The 51-year-old elected to go with new Commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez. As Gomez put it, the decision was aimed at getting the younger generation more involved in local politics and Sanchez, who has strong support from the youth of the community, was the perfect choice. Sanchez becomes the youngest Mayor Pro Tem in San Benito history, as well as the first woman to hold the position.

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