Eye Correspondent

EUREKA – District Attorney Paul Gallegos has said that a personnel issue is being investigated in connection to an ongoing failure to claim reimbursements for upfront spending of grant money.

Unclaimed reimbursements were probed by the county’s Grand Jury last year and Gallegos disagreed with its findings. Recent events have led to a reversal, however.

The California Emergency Management Agency’s concerns about a lack of communication about various public safety grants contributed to the launch of an investigation into the performance of one employee.

Gallegos said ongoing gaps in reimbursement claims have been confirmed.

“Have there been grants where we haven’t claimed all the money awarded to us – absolutely,” he said. “There have been times when we have not claimed the amounts of grants.”

Gallegos said the issue of unclaimed reimbursements probably won’t affect the viability of grants that are currently active or pending.

“I don’t think it will result in us losing funding or diminish our capacity to do work,” he continued.

The Grand Jury made its findings in the midst of a sharply-fought DA election campaign. There were speculations that the findings were politically motivated and Gallegos refuted them assertively.

The findings focused on administration of grants, particularly one associated with the DA’s victim-witness assistance program.

The Grand jury found that victim-witness grant fund reimbursements for at least two quarters of fiscal year 2006-07 were not claimed, “Resulting in the loss of significant reimbursement monies to the county.”

Related findings were that county General Fund money “made up the victim-witness reimbursement shortfall” and that “grant applications have not always been properly processed, resulting in the loss of potential funds to the county.”

In his response, Gallegos said that the Grand Jury failed to consider the full cycle of grant funding. “A review of the complete cycle of the grants at issue will reveal both: 1) that all quarters of the victim-witness grant were submitted for the fiscal year 2006-2007 and 2) the county lost no reimbursement monies,” he wrote.

But the employee-related investigation has led Gallegos to conclude that he was probably wrong. “I question the accuracy of my response,” he said, adding that he based it on “information I was receiving at the time.”

The response wasn’t politically motivated, he continued. “I refuted (the finding) because I believed it was wrong, not because there was a campaign going on,” he said.

Gallegos said he requested the investigation and the county hired an independent investigator to do it.

For now, Gallegos is retracting his Grand Jury response based on what’s been discovered so far.

“I can’t say that it was accurate and if it’s not, my apologies to the Grand Jury,” he said. “I am currently looking into it and people have the right to be upset – it’s an appropriate response to that.”

The employee whose performance is being investigated is on administrative leave. The recent revelations will influence a variety of improvements, similar to the ones the Grand Jury had recommended.

“The consequence is that we will put in better monitoring systems and checks and balances,” said Gallegos.

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Eye Correspondent

HUMBOLDT – Responding to a state agency’s concerns about grant management, the county’s District Attorney has called for an investigation that’s focusing on the actions of one of his employees.

District Attorney Paul Gallegos said that at his request, the county has hired an investigator to look into suspected mismanagement of several public safety grants from the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA).

Originally reported by KIEM News Channel 3 last week, the investigation ensued when CalEMA informed Gallegos that county public safety agencies weren’t being notified of the availability of hundreds of thousands of dollars of grant monies.

Gallegos said that “the status of the grants is fine and the money is there” but it hasn’t been allocated to the Sheriff’s Office and other county agencies because of a “communication breakdown.”

The DA said the problem is a personnel issue, which requires confidentiality.

Brad Alexander, CalEMA’s public information officer, said the county’s investigator has contacted his agency but “no information has been exchanged yet.” He added, “There is anticipation of requests of communication exchanges” such as e-mails.

The investigation is “totally isolated to one particular individual in the DA’s Office,” said Alexander. He said his agency typically only deals with one or two individuals when grants are administrated.

The grants at issue are a $162,949 Anti Drug Abuse Enforcement grant, a $184,793 Victim Witness Assistance grant and a $133,000 Unserviced Population grant for Native American tribes. Most of the first two grants have been paid out to the county but no payments have been made on the latter grant.

Alexander said the Sheriff’s Office is eligible to get the grant funding and wasn’t notified. “The money was waiting for them and they weren’t aware the money was set aside for them,” he continued. “Clearly, this is a communication issue and it seems this one individual was sitting on their hands as far as notifying the locals that the money was available.”

The outcome of the investigation will determine whether the money was improperly spent, said Alexander, and the “severity of the issue” will determine whether or not the grants will be rescinded.

He said the lack of communication about grant administration was so conspicuous that officials from his agency travelled to Humboldt in December of last year to inquire about it.

“Management papers weren’t being filed and the state doesn’t like to delay getting money to locals,” he continued.

“That’s part of the problem we’re trying to fix,” said Gallegos. “There were issues with providing documentation by my office and this is what we’re trying to fix – and actually, it is fixed and will remain fixed.”

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Eye Correspondent

HUMBOLDT –The county’s District Attorney has confirmed that the California Department of Justice is investigating the embezzlement of a significant amount of money from the local court system.

Rumors about the probe have been circulating and District Attorney Paul Gallegos said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is indeed doing an investigation.

He added that his office has received some reports on the matter and there is “some additional investigation going on.”

There is suspicion that there’s been theft of restitution fees paid to the court system in cash, the DA said.

“We can prove that a large sum of money was stolen,” he added.

Gallegos said the court system requested the probe. He said he couldn’t comment further because the investigation is ongoing.

Calls to the DOJ’s press office weren’t answered by press time.

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Gallegos: "Um..."

EUREKA, APRIL 1 – A tense standoff between Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and a fast food menu entered its 11th day Monday, as the D.A. pondered a range of meat, topping and bun sandwich options that appeared to overwhelm the county’s lead prosecutor.

“Um… let’s see,” Gallegos said to an increasingly impatient Subway employee while attempting to complete a sandwich order. “Let’s do lettuce, tomatoes and, uh… peperoncinis – no, actually, I take that back, because I just remembered that I don’t really like spicy food,” the D.A. said, before regrouping to give it another go.

“Gimme a minute here,” he said, his eyes slowly drifting over to a stainless steel tray of red onions, then over to a condiment tray, then back to the onions, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

“Let’s start over at the beginning, sir,” a Subway clerk advised, motioning to several small loaves of bread arranged on an oven rack. “Would you like a foot-long or six-inch?”

Gallegos then looked in the direction of the oven rack for several minutes without speaking.

One customer characterized his expression as “a blank, thousand-yard stare.”

Lawn chairs, sleeping bags and pickup games of checkers occupied the 50-or-so customers waiting in line outside the Subway and – although nerves were increasingly frayed – patrons made the best of it, in a scene reminiscent of a Harry Potter film release.

Gallegos’ sandwich odyssey struck a familiar note to those accustomed to the D.A.’s poor – or some would even charge, nonexistent – decisionmaking abilities.

As lead prosecutor, Gallegos’ internal compass has at times displayed all the consistency of a Magic 8 Ball: One minute, offering soft plea deals to violent repeat criminals; the next, engaging in quixotic – and ultimately, failed – attempts at prosecuting elected officials and chiefs of police.

Back inside Subway, Gallegos expressed renewed determination to conquer the sandwich menu:  “I will select my chosen condiments and toppings without fear or favor,” he said in his trademark, meandering gravel-voice – but appeared no closer to narrowing down which vegetables to choose.

Putting a cell phone up to his ear, Gallegos was then overheard to say: “Listen, Richard, I need your help making a decision. No, not on that felony plea-bargain thing… and no, this has nothing to do with the investigation into Allison. Richard, can you remember whether I like dijonnaise?”

Meanwhile at District Attorney headquarters in the county building in downtown Eureka, office staff appeared to be coping reasonably well in light of the absence of the county’s chief law enforcement officer.

“He’s still down there, right?” asked Deputy D.A. Arnie Klein to reporters.  When told that Gallegos was, indeed, still attempting to place his sandwich order, Klein said, “Good, good. I mean – don’t get me wrong – Paul is a swell guy to have a couple of beers with around the bonfire.

“But God forbid the guy be trusted with an actual decision,” Klein said.  “We’re still recovering from the last time he put in a full day’s work around here.

“Thankfully,” Klein continued, “it almost never happens.”

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But as seen below, Gallegos was a minor player in crafting the epistle. The candidate’s handlers actually initiated the letter and carried it through to completion, with him signing off on their handiwork. That’s probably because he’s gotten into trouble when trying to write things on his own, opinion pieces which famously turned out to have been plagiarized by our District Attorney, the self-described HSU “professor” who never was.

Team Gallegos managed to submit a letter for publication with all previous drafts of the collaborative writing project still appended. The letter’s progression offers insight into how our DA’s braintrust manages their figurehead, and validates that he’s their bimbo/cash cow exactly as alleged by opponents during the campaign. The first e-mail message that got the ball rolling isn’t even addressed to Gallegos, who is a secondary figure to the political operators who are really at the wheel of the enterprise.

Note how Gallegos’ puppetmaster, the omnipresent Richard Salzman, spoonfeeds him reminders and guidance like a patient mother trying to cajole a child into eating his broccoli. Now we’ll all know that when Gallegos’ next “My Word” column comes out, it will have been ghosted by the non-elected “Evenson” under Salzman’s direction. At least the plagiarism will be consensual next time.

Why was the final letter – a political document which Salzman says is intended to help with fundraising – sent from a taxpayer-provided County of Humboldt e-mail address? Gallegos’ skeptics have long objected to the deep politicization of the DA’s Office. How much time and resources are taken up with these and other purely political tasks, including the photo shoots of staff that were used in the campaign?

The final product, which has six people’s fingerprints on it yet is presented as Gallegos’ thoughts, was rushed out to help Salzman replenish the machine’s campaign coffers. That, plus Gallegos’ trademark inattentive half-involvement in everything he does, explains the sloppy inclusion of the earlier drafts. The naked gold rush behind the letter also gives the lie to all the usual high-minded ideals invoked by our Surfin’ DA in the final release.

It’s impossible not to observe the Gallegos/Salzman machine and wonder, again and again, why so many individuals who – ostensibly, anyway – aspire to idealism and social progress would sign on with such a manifestly incapable personage. Especially when there have been other genuinely competent and diligent professionals to choose from.

(Even his inner circle has to be exasperated with the incompetent boob they’re trying to shepherd through life. They polished up the high-flown prose for him to ship out, and he bungled even that. You can almost hear Salzman now: “Paul, you were supposed to delete all those drafts before you gave it to Michele!” That’s kind of funny. What isn’t funny is that this is the great legal mind responsible for public safety in Humboldt.)

But remember that there are any number of people whose livelihoods have come to depend not only on their proximity to and influence over our malleable Distrct Attorney, but on his well-documented asleep-at-the-wheel criminal prosecution style as well.

We’ve edited the text string that was sent us in three ways:

• Reversed the message sequence to put it back in chronological order (so you don’t have to read up from the bottom).

• Redacted private e-mail addresses.

• Added a headline to each successive e-mail message. – Ed.

A letter is born

Begin forwarded message:

From: Elizabeth Conner <*****@humboldt1.com>

Date: November 9, 2010 7:28:43 PM PST

To: Natalynne Delapp <*****@gmail.com>

Cc: Richard Salzman <*****@gmail.com>, Alison Sterling Nichols <*****@gmail.com>, John Regan <*****@smartcampaignsca.com>, Michael Evenson <*****@igc.org>

Subject: letter to editor

Hey,

Just thinking that it would be great for Paul to write a letter to editor ASAP, along the lines of:

[VERY ROUGH OUTLINE, PLEASE EDIT AND REFINE, though it should be kept short and not refer to outcome of the race]

“Although the final election results are not yet known for certain, I want to thank all my campaign volunteers, supporters and staff for their hard work and belief in the concept that everyone is equal before the law and that both the accused and accusers have rights. Most of all, thank you to those who voted for me and expressed your confidence in me and our team [OR A VALUE]. (and to all who voted???) Thank you, Paul Gallegos, DA, Humco”

It should be sent to all local print and web media.

After the election results are known, Paul could write a more substantive My Word.

Cheers,

Elizabeth

“Don’t mourn, organize!”  – Mother Jones

‘Make it easier for me to raise money’

From: Richard Salzman <*****@gmail.com>

Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:30:37 -0800

To: Paul Gallegos<*****@yahoo.com>; Natalynne DeLapp<*****@gmail.com>

Subject: Fwd: letter to editor

Can we please get this letter submitted in by Friday morning, so that it will be in next week’s weeklies?

Remember that this is just the BEFORE, final results letter and that Evenson is going to work with you on a Guest Editorial / My Word, to follow the final results.  But getting this out now will make it easier for me to raise money.

——

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:

This communication constitutes an electronic communication within the meaning of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 USC 2510, and its disclosure is strictly limited to the recipient intended by the sender of this message. This communication may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient and receipt by anyone other than the intended recipient does not constitute a loss of the confidential or privileged nature of the communications. Any review or distribution by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient please contact the sender by return electronic mail and delete all copies of this communication.

Paul’s ideas (for others to write up for him)

Humboldt's Top Cop – The Writin' DA... or not.

On Nov 12, 2010, at 7:50 AM, Paul V. Gallegos wrote:

Team should be Humboldt District Attorneys Office. And then it can go out thank you all for your work. It would be nice to add that while politics tend to polarize now it is time to get back our shared values and continue our work of making humboldt county safe, secure and prosperous for all people.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Whatever, Paul – c’mon, let’s go!

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 9:22 AM, Richard Salzman <*****@gmail.com> wrote:

that would be fine, but it really should go out today.  do you need more help getting it finalized?

——

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:

This communication constitutes an electronic communication within the meaning of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 USC 2510, and its disclosure is strictly limited to the recipient intended by the sender of this message. This communication may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient and receipt by anyone other than the intended recipient does not constitute a loss of the confidential or privileged nature of the communications. Any review or distribution by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient please contact the sender by return electronic mail and delete all copies of this communication.

One hour, three minutes later

From: Natalynne DeLapp <*****@gmail.com>

Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 10:25:57 -0800

To: Richard Salzman<*****@gmail.com>

Cc: <*****@yahoo.com>; Michael Evenson<*****@igc.org>; Conrad Gregory<*****@gmail.com>; Alison Sterling Nichols<*****@gmail.com>

Subject: Re: letter to editor

Here is my version. Any suggestions comments, tweaks?

To the People of Humboldt County,

Although the final election results are not yet known for certain, I want to say thank you to those who voted for me and to those who gave so much of their time, energy and resources to this election season including the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, my campaign volunteers, supporters and staff for their hard work and belief in the concept that everyone is equal before the law. I appreciate all the support I have received from around the county.

While politics tend to polarize now it is time to get back our shared values and continue our work of making Humboldt County safe, secure and prosperous for all people.

Thank you for you your confidence in me and our District Attorney’s Office, and I look forward to continuing to serve the People of this county.

Sincerely,

Paul V. Gallegos,

District Attorney Humboldt County

Mikey likes it!

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 10:24 AM, Paul V. Gallegos <*****@yahoo.com> wrote:

Thank you. It is great.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

‘Our shared values’ – my campaign debt

From: “Shoshani, Michele” <MShoshani@co.humboldt.ca.us>

Date: November 12, 2010 11:10:28 AM PST

To: <letters@times-standard.com>, <letters@northcoastjournal.com>, <editor@arcataeye.com>, <news@humboldtbeacon.com>, <editor@redwoodtimes.com>, <indie@wavecable.com>, <thejack@humboldt.edu>, <news@mckinleyvillepress.com>

Cc: “Gallegos, Paul” <PGallegos@co.humboldt.ca.us>

Subject: FW: letter to editor

To the People of Humboldt County,

I want to say thank you to those who voted for me and to those who gave so much of their time, energy and resources to this election season, including the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, my campaign volunteers, supporters and staff for their hard work and dedication.  I appreciate all the support I have received from around the county.

While politics tend to polarize, now it is time to get back our shared values, and continue making Humboldt County safe, secure and prosperous for All people.

Thank you for you your confidence in me and our District Attorney’s Office, and I look forward to continuing to serve the People of this county.

Sincerely,

Paul V. Gallegos,

District Attorney Humboldt County

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Paul Hagen recently sent a letter to the Arcata Eye claiming that Paul Gallegos is not an alternative now that Mr. Hagen is no longer in the running.  Mr. Hagen makes many broad based and generalized attacks on Mr. Gallegos in that letter such as claiming Mr. Gallegos deliberately smeared his opponent and lied doing it.  He also makes many dated and petty attacks.  Even the editor of the Arcata Eye admitted that he does not believe Mr. Gallegos has engaged in this smear type behavior – recognizing the smearing has generally come from anonymous supporters for both sides.

Unfortunately, the conservative movement has been celebrating their new hero, Paul Hagen and hoping to ride the infighting among liberals to victory.  Paul Hagen’s letters condemning Paul Gallegos are displayed prominently on a local blog called Watch Paul, which is the same site promoting Allison Jackson’s candidacy and filled with negative smear tactic character assassinations of Mr. Gallegos – the same type of tactics Mr. Hagen claims he abhors.  The Watch Paul blog which is now posting Mr. Hagen’s articles states the following:

“The original purpose of WatchPaul is to post important documents relating to Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and his handlers who seek to gain power through the acquisition of political offices. This includes, but is not limited to, the manipulations of “Humboldt Watershed Council,” “EPIC,” “Baykeeper,” and other activist groups – the unregulated orgs.”

In other words, Paul Hagen, whether knowingly or unwittingly, is providing “documents” about Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos that are now being used in a coordinated effort to crush our important progressive groups such as Humboldt Watershed Council, EPIC, Baykeeper, and other progressive groups.

We all hope and believe that Paul Hagen is not doing this intentionally, but the fact remains that is simply irresponsible for Paul Hagen to help tear down the progressive movement that so many of us worked so hard to create (long before Paul Hagen moved here).  Mr. Hagen has privately questioned Allison Jackson’s ethics and commitments to progressive causes, but refuses to do so publicly.  Why?

Paul Hagen does not like Paul Gallegos – we get that.  But does he really want to spite the local progressive movement just to settle a score? In the words of scripture:  When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Cor 13.

Natalynne DeLapp
Campaign Manager
Citizens for District Attorney Paul Gallegos 2010

Eureka

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Now my opponent is calling for my supporters, and that calls to me.  Those who know me know that I am “honest to a fault” (Eye endorsement, June 2), and while I completely refrained from negative campaigning and wish to keep it that way, Mr. Schwartz’s article calls for my unvarnished (albeit restrained) opinion.  Here are my thoughts on the subject:

Paul Hagen

First, there are three things I wish to make perfectly clear:  One, I have made it very clear to anyone who has asked that I am not endorsing anyone in this race.  Two, I have unequivocally told this to Allison Jackson directly.  Three, the reasons for this will not change.

Next, please know that I have never had a problem with Jeff Schwartz and I do respect him and those who agree with his statements.  I learned a lot campaigning, including insights into what moves Gallegos’s supporters to believe in him.  If they still do after reading this, I respect that, too.

My life’s experiences and core values, however, absolutely do not allow me to agree.  To the contrary, what I know from hard years of direct experience is that the man is congenitally unqualified, and in so many ways.  His defects lie at his core.  This, too, will not change.

Three private law firms initiated the Skilled Healthcare case and again did most of the work, but in his ads Gallegos takes full credit.  His ads are neither true nor ethical.

I write to comment on three areas of character–competence and ethics, with courage spanning them–and I write about the intersection of these in politics as it affects the public good. Please bear with me:

In a professional, one first looks to competence:  Can the person do the job well, or learn to in a reasonable time?  While many believe that Gallegos was courageous as well as competent in prosecuting Palco, or the Eureka police in the Moore case, neither was actually so.  I spent 11 years as an environmental prosecutor, and it still hurts for me to read the Palco appellate court’s decision rebuking District Attorney Gallegos.  Read it yourself, it is embarrassing.  The police prosecutions were fully as disastrous in the damage done and their cost to the county, not to mention their national coverage for likewise being thrown out of court for failure to meet minimum standards and a crazy legal theory.  There are also the Grand Jury reports still finding incompetence in Gallegos’ office.  These are well-known facts.  All of this he addresses by explaining away, but the facts remain.

As to courage, I would expect nothing less than the DA taking on corporations, etc.  I criminally prosecuted two multinational corporations for killing a man at work in Mendocino County, winning a court ruling that corporations have no Fifth Amendment rights and receiving a quarter of a million dollars in settlement in doing so.  I also prosecuted Palco twice criminally and got literally every last penny available in penalties, and once civilly receiving $80,000, $35,000 of which I sent to three grade schools in the Van Duzen River valley for violation-related science education.  In all that I did as a prosecutor I never once thought about courage, but rather always about displaying high competence at every stage from investigation to settling.  To me, doing “the right thing” is at best worthless when you badly screw it up.

While being dishonest is more than bad enough, vilification, smearing, and divisive politics are worse.  This is Gallegos’ fourth campaign and in each of the others he has done these things and won.

Which brings us to ethics.  Telling your staff you are going home sick while they stay at work and then going surfing during business hours is not ethical.  Nor is using your taxpayer-paid office staff in political campaign announcements, whom we hear on the radio and see on TV and in the newspapers.  Nor is deliberately smearing your political opponents, and it’s undeniably not ethical when you lie doing it.

Nor is it ethical to take full credit for what others have done, as in the Big Oil and Tire and the Skilled Healthcare cases, the settlements of which are now being used in ads which the Gallegos campaign is touting was “all because of Paul.”  This is not ethical because it is not true.  These cases were not “all” Gallegos’s, not by a long shot.  Check it out yourself.  The Attorney General representing the Regional Water Board did the great bulk of the Big Oil case because the Humboldt DA and the responsible county agency would not, yet Gallegos’s supporters and his ads take full credit.  Three private law firms initiated the Skilled Healthcare case and again did most of the work, but in his ads Gallegos takes full credit.  His ads are neither true nor ethical.

If you really want the truth about Gallegos’ professional ethics, inquire of him why the other affected DA’s and the Attorney General all refused to join in his Skilled Healthcare settlement due to their ‘ethical concerns’ over his use of secret settlement monies and more.  Ask Gallegos himself to explain directly, honestly and openly the formal rebuke he has received from the California District Attorneys Association for his unprofessional use of DA authority in settling that case.  Go ahead, ask him to explain honestly and directly.  He won’t.  That would require real courage and the capacity to tell the truth regardless.  He has neither.

I realize that many in Humboldt admire his willingness to file suit against Palco, fight evil corporations, etc.  I respect such admiration.  And I agree not only in principle, I’ve been there and done that.  But this is not what people in Humboldt are really getting.

For an office holder, these character traits take their most telling form in campaigning.  While being dishonest is more than bad enough, vilification, smearing, and divisive politics are worse.  This is Gallegos’ fourth campaign and in each of the others he has done these things and won.  In announcing his first campaign Gallegos shamelessly copied Bobby Kennedy’s announcement speech for U.S. President as his own, without attribution (Tri-City Weekly, Feb. 26, 2002; more plagiarism followed, Eureka Reporter, Sept. 7 and Sept. 8, 2006), promising great progressivism.  The recall campaign, however –which I have already publicly condemned – was used as an opportunity to drive Humboldt’s cultural wedges all the deeper; and in the 2006 election his campaign depressed the county’s voting middle and polarized its tails.  This does not enhance the public good.

In 2006, opposing candidate Dikeman was made into someone to hate and fear, with the same to Jackson this time.  Schwartz himself is using fear in his appeal, using PG&E’s nuclear power plant – a field strictly under federal regulation, no DA can touch it – as the basis for not having Jackson and her “nuclear-plant crowd stick together and take Humboldt County back to the dark ages.”  Really?  Is that what will actually happen if he loses?  Either Gallegos saves us from radiation or “the Humboldt County environment and much more goes down the drain?”  Really?  This simple dichotomy is more senseless than taking credit for a drop in crime based on gross statistics.  Any thinking person knows that simple correlation does not equal causation.  And yet, appealing to fear, Gallegos tells us he has made the county safer.  Really?  Then explain exactly how.

If the Gallegos campaign wishes to “ask, beg and implore” “those progressive leaders who supported Paul Hagen to endorse Paul Gallegos,” it can.  Again, I realize that many in Humboldt admire his willingness to file suit against Palco, fight evil corporations, etc.  I respect such admiration.  And I agree not only in principle, I’ve been there and done that.  But this is not what people in Humboldt are really getting.

Regardless of what Gallegos has done or says, he is not my idea of “progressive.”  That requires truly living to progressive ideals and delivering solid results.  Based on publicly known facts, I have tried to show here why Gallegos’ so-called ‘progressiveness’ is at best just political form without professional substance.  Good intentions delivering incompetent results does not equal being “progressive.”  Based on my direct personal experiences, my knowledge of Paul Gallegos’ utter lack of what I consider true ethics, courage and honesty, as well as his now-proven political campaign-trash tactics, I believe these things fundamentally disqualify his being a progressive.  Or a district attorney.

Based on my direct personal experiences, my knowledge of Paul Gallegos’ utter lack of what I consider true ethics, courage and honesty, as well as his now-proven political campaign-trash tactics, I believe these things fundamentally disqualify his being a progressive.  Or a district attorney.

For all those reading who aren’t concerned about the progressive/dark ages argument, good for you.  What matters is results, not talk.  So just look to what Gallegos has actually done as DA and how he went about it – his actual results, not what he says they are.  After two actual elections he has shown us his best, and just as the Palco appellate court unanimously wrote, he has “failed to prove, on [his] third try, a reasonable possibility that [his] defect can be cured.”  And so, making new law, it threw out the case.

Ours is a participatory democracy, a great gift.  Each vote matters.  Vote your hearts, vote your minds, and vote for the future you want.  If it looks anything like my envisioned future, Paul Gallegos is not a “logical alternative.”  Like Dan Quayle, Paul Gallegos is no Bobby Kennedy.  He is no alternative.

Paul Hagen served as a criminal and civil prosecutor in four North Coast district attorney’s offices, including Humboldt’s.  He is currently is an attorney in Eureka and believes deeply in participatory democracy.

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My office knows that we are the face of government that much of the public sees.  Faith in a system of just laws and fairness requires us to conduct ourselves in an ethical manner.  We cannot play favorites or prejudge outcomes.  Our role is to seek the truth so that justice is served. Our deputies have earned the respect of the legal community and judges because we uphold those values in every aspect of the work, whether in the office or the courtroom.

In my execution of the management of the office, I have demanded of staff to be fair and to treat all people equally with the dignity due to a free people.  For, in the end, we cannot have justice if we allow vengeance to pollute our judicial system. We depend on the certainty of the law to protect our rights, our security and our sense of fairness.  Without that, we will be subject to the whims of individuals who wield power beyond their rights as citizens in a free republic.

As your District Attorney, I have pledged to do everything in my power to ensure that the enforcement of our laws is guided by one principle: that we are all equal.  This is the essential value embodied in our Constitution. Our safety, both as individuals and as a vibrant society, depend upon upholding that value, despite the misguided public discourse that would encourage you to approach the world with fear.

I take pride in the office I have led these past eight years.  Of the staff I inherited from Terry Farmer, 4 continue today, 2 were fired, and the remaining left of their own accord.

One of the Deputies that I was obligated to terminate is running against me in this election.  While I am unable to state the reasons for her dismissal, I can say that the only reasons I would fire someone are if they are dishonest, unfair or incompetent.  If they are any of these they cannot serve the people of Humboldt County by working in the District Attorney’s Office.

The Deputy District Attorney’s job is demanding, stressful and not well compensated.  But our Deputies perform remarkably well by cooperating with each other, sharing tasks, and being aware of one another’s work so that they can help out as needed.  Their days begin before 8AM and do not end until well after 5PM.  Often they take their work home, preparing for the next day’s appearance in court.  We never forget that we serve the public.

The office continues to thrive even though the budget has been cut, there is less staff, and we have increased the amount of filings. Be assured that if we are presented with facts from a law enforcement agency that a crime has been committed and it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, then it will be filed.  We never decline a case based on a lack of resources.

This kind of dedication to public service has been successful in bringing the worst violators to justice, whether they be perpetrators of violence, sexual molestation, or predators of the vulnerable among us, or corporate polluters of our environment. We have received awards for our investigative team, our Child Abuse Services, our Domestic Violence unit, including a recent unanimous Proclamation of Appreciation from the Board of Supervisors, and for our work with local tribes.  Our conviction rates and commitment of violent offenders to prison are as high as ever on a budget that is the lowest in a decade.

The future looks good as well. I am creating a special team to specifically tackle cold cases, based on the methods honed by our stellar investigative unit to crack cold cases, like the Huntzinger disappearance. And, as crime has changed along with the changes in our society and technology, our computer investigations unit, which is the only computer investigation unit on the entire North Coast, continues to enable my office and other law enforcement offices to be able to solve cases and bring perpetrators to justice. We continually work to expand these abilities and will continue to set the bar for investigation on the North Coast.

In addition, we are developing our ability to present evidence electronically in court. We showcased this in the Belant case and the Skilled Healthcare case, where we were able to show the judge and jury actual documents so they were able to easily read appropriate passages and come to a just conclusion.  We use state of the art technology to bring perpetrators to justice and will continue to develop our abilities in that arena.

All of our work is aimed at one goal: improving public safety and making Humboldt County a healthy place to live, raise our families and do business.  Please join me in that effort by re-electing me as your District Attorney.  Thank you.

Paul V. Gallegos is Humboldt County District Attorney.

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Why? Because Cleary, while not my first choice, has some of the same progressive interests, goals and values as Pat Higgins. Ryan Sundberg has none. If I and all the other Higgins voters stand their ground and refuse to vote for Cleary then the conservative candidate wins and puts us on a path back to the dark ages of Humboldt County.

It is very much the same for the Gallegos/Jackson race. Gallegos might not be the progressive candidate you wanted, but he is a progressive candidate. Allison Jackson and her supporters will eviscerate all of the progressive gains over the last dozen years. If we also lose the Neely/Bass and Sundberg/Cleary races, forget about it.

Hagen supporters need to vote for Paul Gallegos in this election. If not, you risk putting back into power those same people who supported clear-cutting our forests, overfishing our waters, and polluting our land. You fought hard for many years to transform Humboldt County from a place where politicians begged for nuclear plants and accepted the likes of Maxxam Corp and Charles Hurwitz. Right now because of the old guard who cared little about the environment, we have a dismantled PG&E nuclear plant that sits on the edge of Humboldt Bay; nuclear rods float in a vat of liquid as they wait to be buried where they stand at the intersection of three tectonic plates. We have an old electric generating plant so radioactive we can’t get rid of it. I don’t need to mention what happened to Pacific Lumber when Charles Hurwitz was welcomed with open arms.

It was the likes of Tim McKay and Greg King of Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC), and land preservationists such as Alex Stillman, Mark Lovelace, Arcata’s Mark Andre and others like Chris Kerrigan, Larry Glass and the list goes on and on that changed our landscape from nuclear power plants and mega-stores to bicycle lanes and community forests; and; yes, Paul Hagen and Paul Gallegos who challenged the old guard to clean up their environmental disasters.

Since 2001, huge strides have been made to move us away from the we-want-your-nuclear-plant crowd to the majority of us who want to protect our environment, clean up our polluted waters and bring egalitarian principles to everyone.

The countywide district attorney race is the focal point in continuing a steady forward thinking community. Gallegos enforces environmental laws and prosecutes bad business practices. Whether he gets a conviction or not, the abusers know he’ll go after them, and they will pause. If the conservative opponent wins, the Humboldt County environment and much more goes down the drain.

Environmental and business crimes are not in Allison Jackson’s vocabulary. At the last debate, the conservative candidate scoffed at Paul Gallegos for going after a national corporation (Skilled Nursing) that was running nursing homes in deplorable conditions abusing our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly, mentally ill and disabled. He won the case and brought a million bucks into the coffers of Humboldt County.

I ask, I implore, I beg those progressive leaders who supported Paul Hagen to endorse Paul Gallegos. I ask all of you Hagen voters out to vote for Gallegos even if he was not your first choice. Staying home or not filling in the square because you did not get exactly who wanted will only put us on a path you don’t want to go down. You can bet on it that the nuclear-plant crowd will stick together and take Humboldt County back to the dark ages.

Jeffrey Schwartz is an Arcata attorney. He can be reached at jdsarcata@gmail.com.

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