De la Paz, a man who prefers actions over words, has been leading a lot of walking tours lately. Recently he took a group of department heads through his district, pointing out the plethora of substandard housing. Situated at the southern edge of the city, District 2 includes part of downtown and the Pajaro River front. As he walks, de la Paz describes the parks and soccer fields he hopes the city will build along the river bank instead of the concrete flood walls proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers. He enters a dirt lot, empty except for a rooster and an abandoned cowboy boot.
People always say there is no place to put affordable housing.
Well, here's a place. Such ardor has impressed many of his former critics. Like the others, Carter was shocked when de la Paz won. His shock turned to amazement when de la Paz's first official act was to vote for Ramon Gomez in a mayoral race everybody thought was between Betty Bobeda and Chuck Carter. Indeed, de la Paz's refusal to cast the tie-breaking vote led to Bobeda's decision to step down.