TS - Gallegos' ad needs "a tad explaining"

TS Editorial Sunday 11/30 Michael Twombly
Dec 01, 2003 08:14 PST

Eureka Times-Standard


'The Times-Standard has reported that...'

Sunday, November 30, 2003 -

Don't get us wrong. We're flattered, really. But mention of the
Times-Standard in embattled District Attorney Paul Gallegos' new TV ad
-- the first of the recall season, as it were -- needs just a tad
explaining.

Over a month ago, we requested several sets of figures from the DA's
office. The public information we asked for included the number of
people charged, and for what, and -- perhaps most importantly -- the
results of those actions. In other words, how many convictions resulted.


One set of numbers is dependent on the other for a total picture of how
well Gallegos is doing compared to his predecessor, Terry Farmer. Our
hope was to cut through the emotionalism on both sides of the DA versus
Pacific Lumber Co. controversy by using raw numbers to see if Gallegos
is actually soft on crime, as his critics allege.

The figures proved difficult to obtain. The DA said that, while he is
working to update, modernize and computerize his office's records -- a
laudable goal -- he and his staff are still dealing with a "3-by-5 card"
system left over from previous years.

After a delay of weeks, we finally received one set of numbers -- how
many people have been charged in the last several years for infractions,
misdemeanors and felonies. The numbers showed a regular upward trend in
just about every category for just about every year, as could perhaps be
expected. We published a story Nov. 6 on that fact, while making it
clear in a follow-up article the next day that we were awaiting the
other set of numbers -- the actual convictions and acquittals -- to put
everything in context.

We're still waiting.

So imagine our surprise when, in the DA's TV spot last week, he said:
"The Times-Standard has reported that criminal filings have increased
this year." True enough, yet a classic case of "Yes, but..."

Yes, we reported those figures, but they won't form a complete image
until the number of cases filed can be stacked against the disposition
of those cases. How many bad guys were actually convicted this year
through September, compared to Farmer's recent record for a similar
period of time?

Since our name was invoked, we just wanted to make all that clear,
before the recall campaign gets fully under way.

In the political ad, the DA came across as poised and relaxed, and his
family, which joined him for the TV spot, was very charming indeed. But
we hope that, in the next ad -- by either side in the recall controversy
-- we won't have to take 440 words to explain the 70 or so words in the
ad.

Michael Twombly