The stupidest endorsement in the history of the County

The stupidest endorsement in the history of the County - yes, gallegos is incompetent, but he deserves four more years to see if he can improve his record. This after the grand Jury report clearly detailed the fact that the guy can't - and isn't - running his office, that staffers are training the new hires, this despite the loss of key grants


For his third election in a little more than four years, we endorse Paul Gallegos for DA."

A clear difference in DA candidate visions
The Times-Standard

Body language says a lot. And judging by the unspoken part of Wednesday's televised debate between district attorney candidates Worth Dikeman and Paul Gallegos, it seemed apparent these men don't like each other very much.

Their spoken comments further separated them. Dikeman, a veteran Humboldt County prosecutor, frankly states that his boss has mismanaged the office in a variety of ways, to the detriment of local crime-fighting efforts.

Gallegos, the incumbent, clearly believes his opponent would take the office backward in terms of reaching out to the community and retaining the DA's independence from law enforcement and other traditional local influences.
The two offer a sharp contrast to voters, which is in itself refreshing.

Dikeman, for his part, would likely make a fine DA. He has decades of experience, a good relationship with local law enforcement -- having made a clean sweep of police union endorsements -- and exhibits a straight down the line approach to upholding the law and nailing bad guys. If you want a back-to-basics DA, Dikeman is the man for you.

Gallegos notes, however, that he was elected to bring change to the DA's office, and that he's done. He appears more concerned over prosecuting white-collar crime, and working to update the office in its operations and outreach. As a surfer and former defense attorney, he also appeals to the strong counter-cultural aspects of the North Coast community.

Like it or not, Humboldt County is changing, demographically, and Gallegos appears to represent part of that change.
In his first four years, there were some obvious missteps and rocky moments, evidence of a steep learning curve in an admittedly tough job. The hiring of Tim Stoen comes to mind, with the questionable filing of the Palco fraud allegation case -- which may be a lost cause, judging by recent court rulings -- and the poor handling of the Debi August conflict-of-interest case. Both cases put the community through a great deal of pain, for little gain.

But Stoen is gone. And through all the turmoil, the DA's office appears to have kept functioning, with current crime rate and suspect conviction stats breaking in Gallegos' favor.

In addition, much of Gallegos' first term was sidetracked by the dragging distraction of an unnecessary, unsightly recall attempt. He deserves an uninterrupted four-year term to show what he can do.

We don't expect our elected leaders to be perfect, but we do require them to be effective, accessible and able to learn and grow on the job. Gallegos has met those requirements -- although building a needed, better rapport with rank-and-file law enforcement remains undone.

Above all else, Humboldt has already voted overwhelmingly in favor of Gallegos -- twice. For his third election in a little more than four years, we endorse Paul Gallegos for DA.