Former supervisor notes it’s important to elect the right local candidates
County Governments are created when a State is formed for the purpose of determining local land use policies and for law enforcement and government processes. The partisan election process for national and state offices sometimes overshadow and gets confused with county offices. County elected offices are non-partisan to any political party and are more hands-on management jobs. The management exception is that the five District Supervisor offices act as a voting Board in a policy making and quasi-judicial role. What these offices do affects all of us.
The county-wide elected District Attorney, Treasurer Tax Collector and Assessor-Recorder are three important offices which need job focused experience and qualifications with a strong management background to best benefit our rural County. We sometimes don’t get that and should not vote for low performing incumbents. But if we get a good elected official, reelecting them is key to constantly improving the office. As a former County Supervisor, I saw firsthand how either a poorly or well performing elected official can influence county government. I’d like to put some opinions on the table based on what I saw for three offices coming up for vote on June 7.
First, keep the good ones. District Attorney: Susan Krones is a highly experienced manager and keen legal mind who has performed at a highly professional level for an office with a tough job, getting justice for victims of crime. Let’s not let her get away for a very minimally qualified challenger.
Second, elect the right ones. Treasurer Tax Collector: This office has needed change for years and is now vacant for voters to put the right person in place: Patrick Sullivan is the highest qualified candidate for that office in years. He is a proven manager, attorney and accountant with a perfect temperament for working with people and governments. We would be lucky to get him and he definitely has my vote.
Third, change the wrong ones. Assessor-Recorder: This office holder has been a non-performer for eight years and unfortunately ran unopposed last time. The challenger Hannah Faith Lee brings the right stuff to the office and has a far better chance of making that office work for the public. I’m impressed with her management qualifications and business approach. She gets my vote for what is a very much needed change.
—Jim Steele, Clearlake Oaks
Former D.A. ‘Reverting to the old school ways of operating a DA office is not an effective way of seeking justice.’
I have been watching the race for District Attorney with great interest. I was the elected District Attorney for eight years between 2011 and 2019. I have worked with and against both candidates for many years and know them well.
There has been talk about the importance of prosecutorial experience. However, this type of experience does not make the person. What makes an effective DA is that person’s knowledge, common sense, life experience and the ability to understand people.
We live in a different time in the criminal justice system. The old ways of doing things simply are not effective anymore. I am very disheartened to see that many of the accomplishments and effective programs I established while DA have been cancelled under the current administration.
As some examples, I created a “Perjury Unit,” the first ever in the United States, that not only investigated and prosecuted perjury in criminal, civil and family law matters, but also educated litigants about the consequences of perjury. The unit had remarkable success and was recognized throughout the country and was making a difference in our courtrooms. This entire program was abolished after I left.
We established diversion programs that taught life skills to low level criminal defendants. This also was a great success. That program was also cancelled.
We created a unique to California Alternative to Community Service program that raised over $250,000 for local charities while still securing convictions for the underlining crimes. That program was abolished immediately on the new DA was sworn in.
The DA office purchased a 3-D crime scene scanner and trained investigators and law enforcement in its use. The costs of the machine and training exceeded $200,000 and came only from seized drug money. This was a state-of-the-art crime scene tool which was a great benefit in investigating and prosecuting major crimes. That machine has since been sold to the road department for pennies on the dollar.
I started a program that aggressively investigated and prosecuted human trafficking, which included sting operations. This aggressive way of dealing with human trafficking of women is now almost non-existent.
Additionally, the conviction rate in jury trials have drastically dropped in the past three years.
I am fearful that reverting to the old school ways of operating a DA office is not an effective way of seeking justice. We need to keep up with the changing times to aggressively fight crime in Lake County. For all these reasons I am endorsing Anthony Farrington for District Attorney.
—Don Anderson, Lakeport
