DA’s Race
In response to the April 27 forum at Hancock College with District Attorney candidates Josh Lynn and Joyce Dudley: The differences between the candidates are quite striking. If you didn’t know, you would have thought Joyce Dudley was applying for the job as Director of Social Services; Josh Lynn, on the other hand, came across as a reasonable but hard-nosed prosecutor.
Dudley made an unsubstantiated accusation against Lynn. She accused him of campaigning in north Santa Barbara County on the taxpayer’s time. This accusation was a follow-up to her allegation that Lynn, while the acting District Attorney, was never in the Santa Barbara office. Lynn pressed Dudley, stating that her allegation was a lie and demanding proof. Dudley’s response was to only say that this was what “I heard.”
This is the type of behavior to which Judge McMahon was referring when he spoke of her misconduct in his courtroom during the Inda case. [News, “Prosecutorial Throwdown,” 2/4/10.] It tells us that this person will do anything to win. This is not the kind of person you want as your next District Attorney. Unsubstantiated allegations by a prosecutor are exactly the opposite of the pursuit of justice, truth, and execution of fairness. Like in the Inda case, this kind of misconduct can cause guilty defendants to go free.
The District Attorney has tremendous power, and it must be used to further justice, not agendas. It must be used for fairness and public safety, not personal ambition. —Jim Nalls, retired SBPD lieutenant and District Attorney’s criminal investigator/supervisor)
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If you want a District Attorney who will get the job done right, vote for Joyce Dudley. Joyce is the only candidate with over 20 years experience prosecuting and convicting major criminals. She is the only candidate who, for decades, has been involved in our community helping keep neighborhoods safer and citizens more informed. She is also the only candidate with many years of successful non-governmental management and budget expertise.
If you want to continue government overspending (in 2007-08 the DA’s office was over budget by $335,000; in 2008-09 over by $706,000; as of March 31 this year, over by $753,000); if you are happy with the lack of information we received about the Tea Fire and Jesusita Fire investigations and prosecutions; if you are satisfied with the 213-percent increase in gang crimes over the past four years, vote for status-quo candidate Josh Lynn, who, as he repeatedly states, is the only candidate who has “done the job” and been “directly involved in the DA budget.”
However, if you want a DA who will not only get the job done but also get it done right; who has decades of prosecutorial experience; who has extensive management and financial expertise and will keep the budget balanced; who is intimately involved in our community; who values keeping us informed about major fire investigations and prosecutions; and who will attack our gang problem with courage, conviction, and justice, please join me in voting for Joyce Dudley. —Jim Laponis, Santa Barbara County Deputy CEO, ret.
