14 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY june 22-28, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com It was 7:23pm on a Thursday night in October 2021 when a Marina police officer was dispatched to a report of a possibly intoxicated woman loitering at Jack in the Box. According to a police report, the woman had been sitting at a table with her head down, seemingly asleep, for an hour-and-a-half. She smelled of alcohol, and her eyes were bloodshot, according to the police report. “During questioning, the female was asked what her name was, but she would not respond, appearing confused and staring at me with a gaze,” Officer Ryan Parra wrote. Eventually police made out that her first name was “Sofia.” She couldn’t remember her birthday or where she lived; her pants appeared to be soiled. One officer found an empty bottle of vodka. The woman was arrested for public intoxication and transported to Monterey County Jail. There, a deputy claimed to recognize Sofia, and to know her identity—Sofia Ann Cortez was booked in the jail. Only the woman who was booked was not Sofia Ann Cortez. And now the real Sophia Cortez—who received a warrant for her arrest, and went through a months-long battle to remove her name from Monterey County’s criminal justice system—wants justice. “I am seeking damages for slandering my name and for humiliation. That took a toll,” Cortez says. She filed a claim against the county that was denied in May; she now plans to sue, seeking damages in an amount to be determined. A supplemental police report lays out some of what appears to have happened, but there are some holes. For example: The booking photo from the incident had been “removed by jail staff for unknown reasons.” (Officials from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, which manages the jail, declined to comment for this story due to pending litigation.) Marina police examined body camera footage showing that the woman arrested—whose first name is Sylvia—was definitely not Sophia Cortez. “Based on this latest information, I request the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office remove the arrest and any outstanding warrants under the name Sofia Cortez on 10/21/21,” Parra wrote in the supplemental report on Dec. 31, 2021. It wasn’t until four months later that the case finally disappeared. Cortez works for the county and has a few side hustles—designing Christian-themed clothing, distributing Herbalife products and running both a tax prep and credit repair business. “My business took a hit,” she says. “At this point, sorry isn’t good enough.” Board members representing the latter three agencies were none too pleased by Zone 7A’s request. Ari Parker, representing Watsonville, pointed out the deferred maintenance was something known about before Zone 7A entered in the contract, and asked: “What’s to stop you from doing this next year?” She added, “I worry that we’re in our infancy. We already started behind, and this is moving us further behind.” As the back-and-forth continued, Machado added that another option would be for Zone 7A to cancel its cost-sharing agreement with PRFMA altogether. “There are provisions [in the contract],” he said, that would allow for it. After discussion about whether that would even be possible, PRFMA’s attorney, Gary Bell, said, “It would be difficult to withdraw.” Machado told the board: “[Santa Cruz] County Counsel has weighed in on this and they have a vastly different opinion than what you just heard.” Monterey County and MCWRA’s representatives to the board—county supervisors Glenn Church and Luis Alejo—echoed similar concerns to Parker’s. “You made assurances this isn’t going to happen again, but there’s a little bit of a credibility gap here,” Church said. Alejo added that he wanted the agency to start off on a “strong footing,” and that the approximately $500,000 represented a “significant amount” for PRFMA’s capital reserves. (The loss of half the Zone 7A funds means there would only be $1.2 million in capital reserves for a whole host of planned projects, totaling tens of millions.) Alejo, who is also an attorney, noted that attorneys disagree about how to interpret documents all the time, and that ultimately, those disagreements may need to be settled through litigation. The tense discussion made it sound like that’s the direction this could be heading. Parker told Machado: “I did not like that you said if we didn’t play nice then you were just going to walk away. I want you to understand that.” Machado responded, “If we can’t work together with similar community issues and concerns that we can’t work jointly to resolve, then I don’t know what choice the county [of Santa Cruz] or [Zone] 7A will have.” The PRFMA board ultimately voted 3-2 against giving Zone 7A its requested discount, with representatives for Zone 7A and Santa Cruz County outvoted by Parker, Alejo and Church. ID Crisis A Salinas woman’s name ended up in court records by mistake. Now she’s suing. By Sara Rubin news Melting Pot The 24th annual Multi-Cultural Festival brings a day of food, crafts and music to Marina. This family-friendly event is packed with live performances throughout the day and multiple opportunities to learn about different cultures present here in Monterey County, and around the world. 10am Saturday, June 24. Vince DiMaggio Park, 3200 Del Monte Blvd., Marina. Free. 884-1278, cityofmarina. org. Pet Worms Salinas Valley Recycles hosts a workshop about composting. Come and learn about worm composting, backyard composting, and how to convert your kitchen scraps into rich nutrient soil. Families are welcome. 10am Saturday, June 24. Salinas Valley Fairgrounds, 625 Division St., King City. 775-3000, svswa.org/free-compost-workshops. Pocket Parks Each week, volunteers with the Friends of Seaside Parks Association work on neighborhood parks to keep them clean and clutter-free. Come make a difference in your community and help with weeding, mulching, planting and picking up trash. Children and pets are welcome. FOSPA meets 10am-noon every Saturday, rotating through parks. On June 24, they are at Lincoln Cunningham Park, San Pablo Avenue and Yerba Buena Street, Seaside. Free. friendsofseasideparks.org. Housing Plans The Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) holds a housing summit to unveil a new white paper titled “Practical Housing Policy: Increasing Supply and Affordability for the 6th Regional Housing Needs Cycle.” This summit aims to gather different stakeholders like policymakers, housing advocates and developers in a space where they can bounce ideas and plans off each other and come up with better housing solutions. 8am Tuesday, June 27. CSUMB Alumni & Visitor’s Center, 100 Campus St., Seaside. $39; free/MBEP members. 582-4723, mbep.biz. Helping Hands The Hope Crisis Response Network is looking for volunteers to help repair properties damaged by flooding in Pajaro. The Greenfield Pajaro Response Team will undertake repair projects. Provide a helping hand and help get Pajaro back in shape. Projects begin Saturday, July 15. Free. Contact Ariana Rodriguez at 277-0514 for information on how to participate. Being mistakenly identified as the subject of arrest for public intoxication strained Sophia Cortez’s marriage to the point of divorce, among other problems. e-mail: publiccitizen@mcweekly.com TOOLBOX “Sorry isn’t good enough.” Daniel Dreifuss raw continued from page 12
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