The resignation of two deputy district attorneys leave the DA’s
office at low staffing levels; supervisors say they are committed
to funding current staffing in the office
Hollister – After accepting resignations from two deputy district attorneys this week, District Attorney John Sarsfield is concerned that his office might not be able to prosecute dozens of cases without more help.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Denny Wei and Deputy District Attorney Steven Wagner resigned last week to take higher-paying jobs in other counties, according to Sarsfield. That leaves the county’s head prosecutor with only one deputy district attorney, Candice Hooper, who is his opponent in this year’s district attorney race. Neither Wei or Wagner could be reached for comment by press time Thursday.
Until Sarsfield fills the two deputy district attorney positions, which pay between $71,000 and $91,000 a year, Sarsfield said his office will only prosecute violent crimes and driving under the influence charges. Sarsfield, who is in the process of searching for replacements, said other cases, such as those involving petty theft or drug possession, could be delayed until he gets two more attorneys.
“I have been warning the Board of Supervisors for months that our staffing level was dangerously low,” Sarsfield said Thursday. “And I hope people remember that come election time.”
Supervisor Anthony Botelho was only slightly surprised that both Wei and Wagner had resigned.
“(The district attorney’s) office has had a history of being a very harsh working environment,” he said. “I would think it’s because of the leadership and not the pay.”
Sarsfield said Botelho did not know what he was talking about and had never spoken to Wagner or Wei, to his knowledge.
“This is what happens when you don’t pay people what they’re worth,” he said. “A DDA makes almost twice as much in Santa Clara County. I’m surprised we can get anyone to stay for any length of time.”
Hooper said the loss of Wei and Wagner will likely have her working extra hours in the coming weeks.
“I hope we can get back to full staffing as soon as possible,” she said. “How else can we serve the county? We were down to the bare minimum level even before this.”
Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller said his officers will continue to arrest people for breaking the law, and that Sarsfield’s decision to only prosecute violent crimes and DUIs wouldn’t necessarily cause a spike in the local crime rate.
“It’s hard to say, there are so many factors that contribute to the crime rate,” he said. “But I think our efforts are more effective when we are able to act as quickly as possible.”
The resignation of Wei and Wagner came in the middle of a larger funding problem at the office, Sarsfield said. Earlier this week, the county stopped paying the district attorney’s office bills after learning that he had overshot his services and supplies budget by $71,000 by paying special prosecutor Nancy Battel $115,000 to work on three civil cases related to the Los Valientes – the anonymous group Sarsfield is prosecuting for allegedly violating the civil rights of eight local elected officials and business owners.
Earlier this week Sarsfield alleged that the board, with the exception of Supervisor Pat Loe, purposely cut off his funding in order to stifle his civil rights case against the Los Valientes. Board members deny the allegation.
“Right now we don’t even have someone to serve subpoenas,” Sarsfield said Thursday. “We don’t even have money to pay the telephone or electric bill.”
Being unable to pay a process server could be devastating to several criminal cases that were filed after the payment stopped, Sarsfield said.
“Without a server, we can’t get people to go to court or testify in court,” he said. “That means cases will be dismissed.”
San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill said the district attorney’s decision to only prosecute violent crimes and DUIs wouldn’t change the way his office operates.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “I can tell you that the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office will continue to take people to jail for breaking the law. There’s nothing more to say.”
In light of the staffing shortage, Sarsfield said he would have to spend more time in court, prosecuting juvenile, criminal and civil cases in addition to his administrative duties.
“Our overtime bill is going to go through the roof,” he said.
In addition to asking the county to fill the two vacant positions, Sarsfield demanded an extra $300,000 to cover the cost of day-to-day operations and the prosecution of 10 civil cases, including the Los Valientes case.
Several supervisors said they were committed to filling the positions left open by Wagner and Wei. Supervisor Reb Monaco said he was concerned that the district attorney’s office was “down to bare bones” in terms of staffing.
“That department was never over-staffed,” Monaco said. “We’re a small county and (Sarsfield) needs to have those positions filled.”
Supervisor Pat Loe agreed.
“We’ve got to look at this, there is a staffing level here that we have to maintain,” she said. “We’re going to have to be creative, but we will find a way to keep the level of service that the people of San Benito County deserve.”
