San Benito County can be a tough place to make a living if
you’re a public official.
Hollister – San Benito County can be a tough place to make a living if you’re a public official.
Just ask District Attorney John Sarsfield, who for the last year or so has battled everything from a harassment lawsuit to multiple recall attempts to his family pets being poisoned.
But despite the rocky road he’s traveled, the prosecutor says he’s up for another go in 2006 despite the criticism that has been leveled on him from all directions.
“I don’t think we should award people for throwing mud,” Sarsfield said. “If good people don’t run because the other side’s going to throw mud then we get the government we deserve.”
While rumor abounds in the legal community as to which local attorneys are poised to challenge the embattled prosecutor next year, the only confirmed entry so far is Sarsfield’s opponent in the 2002 race, defense attorney Arthur Cantu.
Cantu, who lost to Sarsfield by nearly 67 percent of the vote, has gone head-to-head with the district attorney in the media ever since and said he welcomes another race against Sarsfield. While both men accused the other of playing “dirty politics” in the 2002 race, Cantu said that’s just the name of the game.
“That is the definition of politics. It does get rough and tumble and it is a full contact sport,” he said.
But Sarsfield was adamant he ran a clean campaign and plans to do the same next year, he said. However, he said he was disappointed the San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted down a campaign ethics committee that he believes would curb any “dirty tricks” in the future.
“Public safety is not a game and there’s a certain amount of politics that go along with it because it’s an elected office. But what’s been allowed to happen is outrageous and it’s not the way it’s supposed to be done,” Sarsfield said. “I hope people in this county are not willing to accept this kind of conduct. It’s unfortunate, and all it does is drive people out who might be willing to serve their community.”
Although Cantu would take a pay cut if voted in as district attorney, he said money isn’t the driving force behind his decision to throw his hat in the ring for a second time.
To keep it short and simple, he just thinks he’s better. And he’s ready to use the obstacles Sarsfield has faced in the past months as fuel for his political fire.
“The way Mr. Sarsfield treats his office is ‘just us.’ The way it should be run is ‘justice,'” Cantu said. “We have a two-year track record of dismal mistakes and embarrassment. The community will be able to see, ‘is this the kind of horse we can bet on, who’s lost race after race?’ He’s even threatening to sue his own department and the county.”
Sarsfield’s most notable troubles began when controversial lawyer Michael Pekin publicly accused the prosecutor of having an affair with his office assistant. Pekin claimed the affair caused a bias against his then-client, Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz, who Sarsfield eventually charged criminally for elections violations. Sarsfield’s assistant, Nancy Leon, is the niece of Mickie Luna, a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which commissioned a private investigation into De La Cruz’s 10-vote win over former Supervisor Bob Cruz in the 2004 March District 5 election. LULAC later dropped the investigation. After charging De La Cruz with a host of felony election charges, Sarsfield again fielded criticism when he dropped all of them and plea bargained with De La Cruz for one misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer.
After Pekin’s accusation, two women in the Victim Witness Department filed a sexual harassment suit against Sarsfield, which ended with a $35,000 settlement and a summary of an investigation into his office being leaked to the Free Lance. The summary of the investigation sustained a number of the allegations made in the women’s complaint, including that he had a romantic relationship with Leon and that he retaliated against some of his employees for political reasons.
In between those events, the first of two recall attempts against Sarsfield was launched and several weeks later his dogs were poisoned in the backyard of his Hollister home. The first recall effort fizzled in December as proponents were unable to find enough signatures to force the effort into a special election. Then, the San Benito County Bar Association voted that its members have “no confidence” in his ability as district attorney and sent a letter to the California State Bar and Attorney General’s Office informing the agencies of their concerns. To top it off, one of Sarsfield’s most vociferous opponents, Ignacio Velazquez, initiated a second recall attempt against him in January.
The latest salvo is his threat to sue the women in the Victim Witness Department, their attorney, Bill Marder, and San Benito County for a breach of confidentiality regarding the lawsuit settlement. While he says his decision to sue is set in stone, he hasn’t decided when he’ll file.
And with all of this and a full-time job as the county’s top law enforcer, Sarsfield said he’s not at all ready to throw in the towel. While he wouldn’t comment much on his campaign tactics yet, he plans to rely on his record to do the talking for him, he said.
“Look at the record, not the hype, not the whining of some defense attorneys,” he said. “We’ve handled more cases than ever before. We’ve implemented a truancy program, gang suppression… all of those things were new.”
While some have speculated that former district attorney turned defense attorney Harry Damkar might run in 2006, he said he has no desire to reclaim the post. Although Damkar said he would support Cantu, he isn’t sure why anyone would want the position – including Sarsfield.
“For a public official who’s had so much criticism launched at him in such a short period of time, he doesn’t appear to be changing his approach to doing business,” Damkar said. “It’s a tough place, and it’s only going to get worse. Who’d want to get into government? They’d have to be crazy.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
