I had an opportunity to review a video of last week’s Board
meeting and would like to commend Mr. Terry May, the County
Administrative Officer, for his handling of the public defenders
issue and his restraint in dealing with our out-of-control and
delusional District Attorney John Sarsfield.
I had an opportunity to review a video of last week’s Board meeting and would like to commend Mr. Terry May, the County Administrative Officer, for his handling of the public defenders issue and his restraint in dealing with our out-of-control and delusional District Attorney John Sarsfield.
It’s my understanding that since that meeting Sarsfield has been calling Board members and demanding that Mr. May render a public apology for allegedly berating him at that meeting. In my humble opinion, no apology is necessary. Mr. May acted accordingly and only responded after Sarsfield began his paranoid Hillary Clinton-like tirade about a vast conspiracy by unnamed local defense attorneys who had plans to overthrow his inept administration.
Mr. May called him on the allegations and named the three attorneys Sarsfield has told him he’d like to get rid of (LaForge, Damkar and Cantu). Looking like the deer caught in the headlights, Sarsfield denied ever giving Mr. May the names. Mr. May responded that he had his notes from that meeting. Once again, Sarsfield is caught in yet another lie.
Sarsfield’s pathetic antics can only be described as, “WACKO.” This manic rant is up there on the “Paranoid Wacko Meter,” along with his comment about the mob and Colombian drug lords coming to Hollister to run him and our illustrious sheriff out of office. Somebody needs to get a butterfly net. If anyone doubts me, please feel free to watch the meeting on Channel 17 the next time it’s played and judge for yourself.
If ever there was an elected official who needed to be recalled, Sarsfield is the one and here is why:
1. In 14 months he has not set foot in court to handle a case.
2. Bungling of high profile cases … Santos, Orabuena, Solorio and the Community Centers cold blooded murder. By the way, did you know the murderer in that case has been out of jail for a couple of months and is walking our streets a free man? Remember Deputy DA Denny Wei’s quote, “We have a new administration now that takes the death of someone very seriously…” Riiiiight!
3. Lied to the public when he said that the Department of Justice had ordered him to do an investigation into the non-existent Brady violations. To this date, not a single violation has been brought to court.
4. Lied to the Board and the public about the “12 boxes” of files allegedly left over by the Damkar administration. He said the leftover files had caused a 10-month backlog. Once again, check the tape from last year, March 6, 2003 where he tells the Board he will be done with the leftover boxes in a week.
5. Wasting tax dollars … unnecessary standing grand jury, 60 hours a month at Starbucks and long lunches with his secretary, unnecessary Brady investigation and pending lawsuit.
6. Moved the most experience attorney (political opponent Hooper) to misdemeanor court and the least experienced to felonies with apparently no power to make decisions and very little supervision.
7. Political favors to three political cronies … two involved in criminal cases.
8. Poor treatment of victims by both he and his DDAs.
9. Last, but not least, the Sara Jones fiasco that he refuses to respond to, even though the fickle finger of fate is pointing directly at him or someone very close to him.
In closing, Sarsfield’s 14-month record is clear, and, as I’ve said before, the DA’s Office doesn’t need to be looked into or fine-tuned. It needs a major overhaul; not next week, not tomorrow but NOW. Recall Sarsfield.
Bruce Kiefert,
Hollister
