I finally got the rest of the story on the sofas first mentioned
in the letter to the editor from Eva Reyna. When the new District
Attorney’s office was constructed at the corner of Fourth and
Monterey streets, there were three rooms specifically built for the
Victim Witness staff and victims of violent crimes.
I finally got the rest of the story on the sofas first mentioned in the letter to the editor from Eva Reyna. When the new District Attorney’s office was constructed at the corner of Fourth and Monterey streets, there were three rooms specifically built for the Victim Witness staff and victims of violent crimes. There were two offices and one large waiting room with its own entrance to facilitate confidentiality, privacy and security for the victims and survivors of violent crimes. The waiting room was furnished with a new sofa and love seat.
The waiting room was used exclusively for the handling of victims and/or surviving family members. Harry Damkar, the district attorney at the time, apparently felt it important that the many victims of violent crimes have a comfortable informal setting to help ease the stress of having to deal with a difficult situation. As one of his first acts as current district attorney, John Sarsfield and his secretary moved the two Victim Witness staff members across the building into one smaller office and took away the two offices and the waiting room. A year later, Mr. Sarsfield and his secretary moved the staff members into the waiting room and moved the sofas into Mr. Sarsfield’s office. My guess is their next move will be to kick the staff to the curb, just the way they’ve treated our victims.
It’s been said that we should stop bashing Sarsfield and let him do his “job.” My response … he was not elected to be the stationary monitor, nor was he elected to dismantle our Victim Witness services and treat the victims of violent crimes like so much garbage. Just like every other DA in the history of San Benito County, Sarsfield was elected to charge and prosecute, in court, violators of the law and to stand up and fight for the victims of all crimes. To date, he has not set foot in court, nor has he done the “job” he was elected to do.
So, I agree … stop bashing him. We still have time to get him on the November ballot and recall him. He needs to go back to Monterey County where he started.
Bruce Kiefert,
Hollister
