TS - Let the games begin

Article Last Updated: Friday, July 01, 2005 - 6:16:22 AM PST

Let the games begin
By James Faulk, The Times-Standard

EUREKA -- Last week, Deputy District Attorney Worth Dikeman declared his intention to unseat his boss Paul Gallegos in next year's race for district attorney -- and already the political knife fights have erupted.

Richard Salzman, well-known in political circles for skills at working the phones and taking on powerful political opponents, has made no secret recently of his disappointment in 5th District Supervisor Jill Geist, who he says is aligning herself with reactionary conservatives.

Her sin? At a recent function for Democratic Congressman Mike Thompson, she sat at a table with former deputy district attorney-turned-Gallegos nemesis Allison Jackson as well as Rose Welsh, another outspoken critic of Gallegos.

The next day, Salzman was working the phones and calling out Geist for what he considered a betrayal of his political alliance. He worked on the campaign to get her elected to the Board of Supervisors.

"It was personally disappointing for me, because having worked so hard to help elect somebody I believed to be supporting of progressive values to now be getting in bed with reactionary conservatives is disappointing," he said.

Salzman sees Welsh and Jackson behind much of the negative attention the district attorney has received of late, and regularly calls reporters to make his case. Seeing Geist sitting with Gallegos' enemies chafed, he said.

"I've always known Rose Welsh was a confidante of (Jill's)," Salzman said. "During the campaign Rose was seen as the token Republican among an army of Democrats -- it became apparent after the election that she was the only one who had her ear."

Welsh, when reached by phone, declined an interview by stating she simply did not want to deal with any political tit-for-tat involving Salzman.

"I don't want to be drawn into Richard Salzman's drama," Welsh said.

Geist denied that there was anything political in her decision to sit with Jackson at Thompson's spaghetti feed.

"I'm getting tired of Richard's antics," she said.

"I am not working on Dikeman's campaign and it is unlikely that I will endorse anybody in this race," she said.

As for spending time with conservatives, Jackson is a Democrat, Geist said.

"I'm not basing my friendships on what someone's political affiliation is," she said.

Geist and Jackson share a similar interest in horses, she said, and the conversation centered on the shared equine fascination.

Salzman's most recent claim is that it was Jackson who provided the grand jury with the meat of its recent scathing report against the District Attorney's Office.

"It's interesting to read the grand jury report," he said. "They don't mention if concerned citizens include disgruntled former employees or political adversaries of Paul's."

Wording in the report was directly mirrored in Dikeman's announcement, he said.

Jackson denied the fact that her alignment with Dikeman and her outspoken criticism of Gallegos are because she was fired from that office in June 2004.

"I can understand why they would like to spin it that way," she said. "It's incorrect."

She currently works at the Harland Law Firm, as a partner with Worth Dikeman's wife. She also denied that she had anything to do with the grand jury report.

"I am just dumbfounded that Mr. Salzman would make these allegations with no basis," Jackson said. "It doesn't surprise me when I look at some of the other things he's done."

She said she supports Dikeman because his integrity is unparalleled. She said she wouldn't comment on whether she would seek to regain her position in the District Attorney's Office.

"I have no comment on what I may or may not do in the future," she said.

Dikeman also said he believes his supporters had nothing to do with the Grand Jury Report.

"I think that's ludicrous," he said. "Mr. Salzman to my knowledge has never been a prosecutor and isn't a lawyer and may never have worked in an office that is devoted to the administration of justice and the ascertainment of truth, so he sees things from a slightly different perspective than I do."

He doesn't underestimate Salzman's skills, however.

"He's a political hack but a very good one," he said.

A call to Gallegos was not returned by deadline.