NCJ - Successful recalls of DAs are rare - April 10, 2003

Successful recalls of DAs are rare
Based on the past, Paul Gallegos' chances of survival look good
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/041003/news0410.html#anchor323579
by ANDREW EDWARDS
April 10, 2003

As the ramp-up to a recall of Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos begins, with opinion polls, fund-raising, etc., it may be germane to consider this: There hasn't been a successful recall of a California district attorney in the last 20 years.

In fact, over that time period there was only one recall election that even came to a vote. That was in Marin County in 2001 when District Attorney Paula Kamena was challenged over her enforcement, or lack thereof, of Prop. 215, which legalized medical marijuana. She won a resounding victory, pulling in 85 percent of the vote.

On the other hand, recalls are often threatened, especially when a newly elected official challenges the status quo.

That's what happened three years ago in Mendocino County when newly elected District Attorney Norman Vroman was threatened with recall over his handling of a controversial domestic violence case. It never got past the petition stage.

Vroman, reached at his Ukiah office, said that recall drives that come not long after a new DA has come onto the job are usually nothing more than the last gasp of the supporters of the ex-DA, or the individual who lost the election if the incumbent didn't run.

"[They're saying] `We know he shouldn't have been elected in the first place,'" Vroman said.

Vroman suggested that the ability to launch a recall effort can be misused. "[Recall] becomes a tool that is used when people think: `We don't like what you're doing, we don't care if it's legal or illegal, we just don't like it.'"

Vroman said that a new DA taking on one of the county's economic powerhouses -- as Gallegos has done with his suit against Pacific Lumber -- has given Gallegos' enemies a new layer of motivation. Vroman said he thought the fact that they're going after the prosecutor, rather than the charges themselves, signifies something.

"The fact that they start attacking the person who's filing the charges leads me to believe they're in trouble; they don't want to deal with the merits of the case," Vroman said.

The first step in any recall effort is to notify county election officials. (As of press time on Tuesday, such notification had not been given.) Then the recall must be announced in a local newspaper.

After those two steps have been taken, recall leaders have 160 days to gather the signatures of 15 percent of the registered voters in Humboldt County, or 11,157 people.

Rick Brazeau of MTC, a local political consulting and advertising firm, who is involved in the recall effort, declined to comment for this article, as did Robin Arkley Sr., who has promised to put up $5,000 as seed money for the recall campaign.