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Supervisors to Begin Discussion of How to Fill DA Position
This year’s election for Santa Barbara County district attorney just got more interesting.
The Board of Supervisors will meet in open session Tuesday to discuss what to do about the pending retirement of Christie Stanley.
County counsel Dennis Marshall said the board has the authority to appoint someone to a vacated seat such as DA, but he’s unsure what will happen.
The agenda item will be for discussion only, board chairwoman Janet Wolf said.
After talking with county counsel and the county Human Resources Department, Wolf said she wanted to put it on the agenda as soon as possible.
“It is of interest to us and the community to get it resolved,” she said.
Wolf said the board was not notified directly of Stanley’s intended retirement nor her appointment of Joshua Lynn as acting district attorney, but received a news release and a phone call from Stanley’s husband.
“It’s a sad situation,” Wolf said of Stanley’s health.
Stanley’s health problems have plagued her throughout her term, and she announced she wouldn’t run for re-election about the time she endorsed Lynn in the race against Senior Deputy District Attorney Joyce Dudley.
Stanley has been battling cancer and had hip surgery last fall, which prompted her appointment of Lynn as acting DA.
Lynn said that amid all the attention given to the political implications of Stanley’s retirement, one important part has been overlooked — her health problems.
“My heart goes out to her,” Dudley said.
Supervisors will discuss their options, a time line and normal course of action — if there is one.
“It’s going to be murky,” Lynn said.
Each candidate has an interpretation of the law regarding a vacant position.
Dudley is in favor of an appointment by the board, saying that the day Stanley retires, Lynn loses his proxy position.
The appointed person would keep the position until January 2011, unless it could somehow be changed to right after the election, she said.
Lynn argues that the appointment should wait until after the June election, so the winner could immediately take office and the issue is decided directly by voters.
“There’s no void,” he said of government codes calling for appointments to fill vacancies. “I’ve been instrumental in running the office for close to two years.”
Although unsure whether it’s politically advantageous to be in an interim DA position going into an election, Lynn said the post would at least show the support of the people who run the office.
The only way for voters to speak now is by appointment, since all supervisors are elected, Dudley said. By not having an appointment, the supervisors would essentially be appointing Lynn — the acting DA — to the position of interim DA, she said.
Neither candidate seems to want to be appointed to interim DA — but doesn’t want the other one getting that position either.
Dudley hasn’t had the experience to lead at this point, since she’s never had a management position in the office, Lynn said. And while he’s heard a few people complain of lack of leadership during the past few years, he’s never heard specific examples — and most people are worried about the prospect of more change, he said.
“I rarely see him,” Dudley said of Lynn.
She said she’s in favor of appointment over having Lynn continue in the leadership position, and said he has been a candidate — and campaigning — the whole time he’s been doing Stanley’s job.
“If I thought he was the best person for the job,” she said, “I wouldn’t be running against him.”
If it comes to appointment and it’s someone other than the two candidates, both suggested that there are many hardworking, longtime employees of the office who could fit the bill — although some candidates have recently retired.
Both say the upcoming budget issues facing the office need to be a priority, and that whomever ends up in charge in coming months needs to be able to handle the necessary cuts.
The county has predicted 7 percent cuts across the board, and the office is down 10 deputy district attorneys out of 44. Dudley stressed that restructuring was vital to ensure the public safety of the community.
Each person can take only so many cases to court, Lynn said. “They’re all at the breaking point now,” he said.
The supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the board hearing room on the fourth floor of the County Administration Building, 105 E. Anapamu St.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Comments
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» on 01.29.10 @ 07:52 AM
Board needs to do the right thing and step back from the political sniping of these two street-fighting candidates, and appoint someone without a dog in the fight
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» on 01.29.10 @ 08:55 AM
The only right thing to do is to appoint someone who is not running for the position.
It is obvious already that this may turn into one of the ugliest campaigns we have seen, sad but true. It already is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
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» on 01.29.10 @ 09:10 AM
The initial error was for Stanley to appoint someone who was already running for office. The error will be compounded by permitting Lynn to remain in the job on a temporary basis. Both candidates should be left to do their jobs as they campaign. The Board should appoint someone with demonstrated experience as a DA. And they should do it immediately.
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» on 01.29.10 @ 09:12 AM
The last occurrence of an incumbent elected officeholder to retire in mid-term was William Cook. Walter Alves, the assistant Assessor was appointed Assessor on an interim basis. Subsequently, the Board of Supervisors was advised be County Counsel to conduct open and public interviews of interested candidates. As a result, Eric Sonquist was “elected” by the Board to assume the office of Assessor. No hand-wringing was involved.
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» on 01.29.10 @ 10:47 AM
When Sheriff John Carpenter retired in 1990, six months prior to the primary election, the Supervisors allowed his second-in-command to continue running the office for continuity during budget time even though he was a candidate for the position. There were two other candidates, including myself. It wasn’t an issue - the second-in-command lost anyway and the Supervisors made the Acting Sheriff appointment the week after the June primary. Sheriff Carpenter had the right to select a number two person in the office. DA Stanley has the same right.
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» on 01.29.10 @ 12:21 PM
Go back to retirement. We had to endure your pontificating for too long .
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» on 01.29.10 @ 01:18 PM
In the interest of continuity, maintain the status quo and wait for the outcome of the election. Lynn seems to be doing just fine in managing his campaign and meeting his repsonsibilites as interim DA. All the discussion and debate is a rediculous waste of time and energy.
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» on 01.29.10 @ 01:39 PM
I had the courtesy of putting my name down, you don’t?
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» on 01.29.10 @ 04:33 PM
To be truly fair and unbiased, the Board of Supervisors should make an interim appointment of someone not interested in the elected DA’s job until the fate of the June primary is known. Good interim appointees could come from the ranks of recently retired DA’s, perhaps Pat McKinley or Eric Hanson, if they are interested. Here’s a wild idea: former County Counsel Shane Stark, if he could stomach returning to “the chaos in the County”. Former Commissioner Ed Caro, once of the DA’s office, is another possible candidate to be Interim DA. If Lynn or Dudley get 50% + 1 vote in June, the BOS could appoint that winner to run the DA’s Office from June forward as they would anyway when they take office January 1, 2011.
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» on 01.30.10 @ 10:10 AM
how can supervisors farr and carbjal objectively vote on this when they have endorsed dudley already? has dudley ever donated to their campaigns? just seems not to be right
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» on 01.31.10 @ 03:52 PM
The Board of Supervisors should not appoint a District Attorney prior to the election. They should either leave the status quo intact or appoint an acting interim D.A. of their own from a host of other potential District Attorneys either in the office now or who have recently retired like P.J.McKinley.
It is a clear conflict of interest for board members to appoint a candidate they have already endorsed for the elective office and certainly cannot purport to make such an appointment without a full disclosure to the public of all endorsements, agreements, contributions or other current connections to the District Attorneys offices and either of the two candidates or anyone in that office concerning any matter pending within that department.
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