County Supervisors Likely to Appoint New District Attorney

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/012710_county_supervisors_likely_to_appoint_new_district_attorney/

By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer

The replacement for Christie Stanley, retiring for health reasons, will serve until the winner of June's election takes over in January 2011

While it remains unclear who will fill the district attorney position for Santa Barbara County once Christie Stanley retires, a replacement is likely to be appointed by the Board of Supervisors.

The county counsel’s office is reviewing the situation, but it’s typical for supervisors to appoint someone when an elected department head vacates a seat, according to William Boyer, the county’s communications director.

Acting District Attorney Joshua Lynn and Senior Deputy District Attorney Joyce Dudley are vying for the position in this year’s election, and the interim DA — whether either of them or someone else — will hold the position until the winner takes over in January 2011.

Stanley has struggled with health problems throughout her tenure as district attorney and has endorsed Lynn, which led some to question her appointment of him to acting DA as a political move.

On the other side, Dudley has been publicly endorsed by two county supervisors — Doreen Farr and Salud Carbajal — who will appoint the interim district attorney.

Stanley announced Monday that she will retire within two weeks. She was elected to the district attorney post in 2006 with nearly 70 percent of the vote.

A gubernatorial appointment most likely will fill the position of Santa Barbara Superior Court’s department nine, according to trial courts executive officer Gary Blair.

Judge William McLafferty died earlier this month, but had planned to run for re-election. Blair said that since it’s already January and it’s unusual for people to run against judicial incumbents in good standing, he and attorneys at the county counsel office are relatively certain there will be an appointment.

“I don’t think there is a huge rush,” he said, adding that the outside deadline would be to have an appointment before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves office.

In the interim, local retired judge Rick Brown is handling McLafferty’s calendars to help the court meet its workload.

— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/012710_county_supervisors_likely_to_appoint_new_district_attorney/