Senior Center DA debate part 2

Another question was about supervisorial experience. Maggie did not directly answer the question,instead she spoke about mentoring and "helping" younger and less experienced attorneys "make decisions." Allan mentioned he was Chief Prosecutor for a while. Arnie said his usual line, "We have all been asked to be ADA at some point or another. and gave a general he had been in charge statement. Elan said, "Management experience is my primary strength." She has created performance reviews and conducted evalauations and was in charge of 30 people who supervised 3,000 employees.

Realignment and how it affected prosecution led to the following response by Arnie, "I left the office shortly after the training." Then he went off on how grant positions are funded and that they are "fraught with fraud" and the tangent which did not answer anything about the question.

Elan said she is the only prosecutor in the office who has been in the courtroom under AB109 and it has "changed the way I prosecute." She said that even if judges want, under the realignment it is a "closed prison" situation and they cannot send people to jail unless they have committed serious violent crimes. She brought up repeat offenders who know there are no consequences. She brought up the Brian Fleming case where he got 8 years for selling meth.

"Realignment has been a disaster," said Allan. He said they transfer prison population to the County jail and that makes Judges hesitant to hand out prison sentences.  Maggie said she would prioritize cases.

Maggie and Arnie took jabs at Elan during questions such as jury selection. The same criticisms have been made by anonymous commenters on blogs about Elan so it did not take a rocket scientist to figure out the question was a plant.

A question was asked what do the candidates admire about the current DA? Elan said that she is committed to civil liberties like Paul; that he is committed to prosecuting cases beyond the Penal Code and mentioned the Skilled Health Care case. She said while Paul is not a manager there are other good improvements under his administration and cited "going from index cards to computers" as an example.

Arnie did not answer the question instead he said, "I am here to bury Paul" And quoted his Titanic line and attacked Elan for being mentored by Paul. That attack by Arnie prompted a response from the audience, and one woman said, "That is mean Arnie." Despite this tactic backfiring on him in debates and otherwise, Arnie presses on with this strategy.

Maggie said Janssen and Malloy brought the Skilled Healthcare case but it was smart for Paul to join the firm in that pursuit.  She did say it was smart of him to start homeless court.

It was Allan who pointed out that the Skilled Healthcare suit was the largest civil judgement in the U.S. that year.

Elan does not take bait. Allan does not either. They both rarely criticize their opponents and when they do, it is factual. Maggie and Arnie are very petty and personal. When you are running for the position of District Attorney where you have power and control over people's lives in a very serious way, vindictiveness is not a characteristic that is sought.

A question about financial scam against seniors sparked another digression from Arnie. "When I attack another candidate, it is not because they are a man or a woman. What you want is an attack dog." Then he sort of answered the question.

In a response about working with the Sheriff's office, Maggie said she would be independent of law enforcement. Considering she is backed by law enforcement, their unions and has received $5,000 in contributions so far from the Sheriiff's; that comment is contradictory.

 If you follow the blogs, the unprovoked responses by Arnie and Maggie will make sense. And so will some of my observations. They are aware of voter concerns.

In closing Arnie attacked Elan again instead of speaking to the issues or about him. Maggie made a dig that she was not a politician, and the office needed a DA. She is wrong. As is Arnie who thinks years of experience in a courtroom makes a good DA.

The office does not need years and years of law experience and a DA in the courtroom. The office needs an administrator who can successfully request a budget, get funds, manage employees, and someone who is politically savvy to work with elected officials and the business community and the public.

When you need to hire more prosecutors and staff, when you need to see what needs to be fixed and where resources are needed, you need to be on the 4th floor more than the 2nd floor of the Courthouse. When you are making decisions as a lawyer, you need to look beyond your law bubble, you need to be diverse as a human being.