Sometimes you can go home again

I’m a car guy. What that means is that I have a fascination, akin to obsession, regarding certain aspects of cars and trucks.

When I was a kid, most of our cars were not new. These cars frequently malfunctioned, and at an early age I was introduced into the art of being a shade-tree mechanic. That’s a misnomer, because we mostly worked on the cars out in the dirt road. And I mean right down in the dirt, lying under the car, having oil and other fluids dripping in your face. In the winter you couldn’t feel your fingers, in the summer you couldn’t touch metal left in the sun.

During my first couple of years in college, I attempted to turn away from my legacy. I decided to pursue matters of the intellect and forsake the dirty arts. Alas, the first time my car wouldn’t start, I had three hippies trying to advise me. I had to intervene before one of them hooked up the jumper cables backwards. Thereafter, I adhered to the path of righteousness.

I bought a little ’63 Ford Falcon; 6-cylinder, three-on-the-tree. My Dad and I started tweaking more miles per gallon out of it. Play with the spark timing, adjust the carburetor float level, run a multi-viscosity oil, acquire steel-belt radial tires and pump ‘em up to the max. We succeeded in increasing the mpg from 22 to 27, which was phenomenal in the early 70’s.

Right now, I’m driving my ’83 Rabbit diesel pickup around the county with a campaign sign attached. I’ve had the pickup about nine years, but I’ve had the engine and tranny for twenty-five. I took them out of my legendary ’81 Rabbit sedan when it had close to 300k on it. (The Rabbit is now a project in progress, which means it’s parked in the weeds up in Corning.) The current pickup engine is a 1.6 liter naturally-aspirated four cylinder diesel. It has never been rebuilt, although it broke a radiator hose in 1994 when someone else was driving it, and ran it till it quit. So the cylinder head has been off a few times.

I took the truck for a test run the other day, about a hundred miles. By the way, test runs are very important. You fix or change or adjust something, then you drive the car and see what it does. On that test run, at freeway speeds, the truck achieved 40 mpg. It should do a little better at slower speeds.

Back in early 2008, when fuel prices were going crazy and apocalypse seemed near, I filled the pickup’s fuel tank as a hedge against a possible scarcity of fuel. Prior to last week, I had used possibly 5 gallons out of the 30 that the tank holds. I consulted my mentor, Willie Blakely of Chico VW. He told me that I needed to do something with that diesel, not just leave it in the tank. “Best to run it out”, he said.

So essentially I’ve got 25 gallons of free fuel, a potential thousand miles of campaign driving. It may look like I’m traveling off to far-flung parts of Butte County, but in reality I’m coming home.

Ramsey doesn't keep you safe

On his signs and in his television ads, Ramsey proclaims that he is “Keeping Butte County Safe.” That’s strange. I’ve lived in North-east Chico for nine years, and we now have gang shootings and drive-bys.

However, the real question is: Whose job is it to keep the county safe?
Answer, not the District Attorney’s office. It is tasked with prosecution after a crime has occurred, not before. The more brutal, sensational and unpredictable the crime, the more obvious it is that the DA has no power to prevent such crimes, and can only react after the fact.

If not the DA, then who keeps us safe? Take a look in the mirror, my friend. Each of us has the personal duty to live our lives cautiously, to refrain from heedlessly walking out into traffic, and to keep ourselves out of harm’s way. We also have a moral duty to monitor and watch out for those less able: The very young, the very old, the disabled. Only when events escalate into the danger zone must we seek professional help.

We’re talking basic law enforcement here. It’s the Chico Police Department for the East Avenue area where I live, with the Butte County Sheriff’s Office for the unincorporated pockets. Over by the College, you’ll see the University Police. And of course, up on the freeway, it’s the CHP.

When Ramsey says he is keeping Butte County safe, he is distorting the truth. When he embraces that distortion, and makes it his campaign theme song, he does so with reckless negligence.

During the course of a jury trial, there comes a time when the judge reads the jury its instructions. One of those instructions goes more or less like this: “If you find the testimony of any witness to be unreliable in one instance, you may disregard the remainder of his or her testimony in whole or part.”

If Ramsey can’t tell the truth on his campaign signs, why should you believe anything else he says?

The lackluster consumer that I am

In this bipolar political world we inhabit, it is hard to avoid being pinned with some kind of label. For example, I am routinely described as “liberal”, whereas I would describe myself as an unincorporated amalgam of at least all of the following: Liberal, cautious, skeptic, frugal, intellectual, laborer, anarchist, enlightened redneck.

One thing that I have never considered myself to be is a “tree-hugger”, which is not to say that I am oblivious of the need to conserve. My wife, Kristy, and I live moderately. We have three operating vehicles: 2003 VW Jetta, 2007 VW Eos, 1983 VW pickup. The two newer cars have 4-cylinder gas engines that will get in excess of 30 mpg on the highway, without sacrificing power. The VW diesel pickup just got a solid 40 mpg on a test run.

Kristy and I keep the house thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer. We have a whole house fan. I am well-acquainted with the crawl-space under the roof, and have spent many hours augmenting the insulation. I hate paying PG&E, and I do believe it is best to conserve energy.

At our house, we don’t buy much stuff, and we throw away even less. When we get tired of eating left-overs, the doggies get them. We compost all vegetable matter from the kitchen, and everything except tree branches from the yard.

After starting this post, it occurred to me that there are some particular trees that I am quite fond of. When I was a 4th grader at Independent School, I became the proud recipient of a Ponderosa Pine seedling. I planted it in a vacant stretch of our yard. By the mid 90’s it was 35 feet tall and about 16 inches in diameter at the base. Then came the big storm in 1997. When the storm ended, the tree was listing at a 45-degree angle, threatening my Mom’s garage. I drove over from Chico with my chainsaw. I tied the tree off with a rope, and then climbed up and cut off the top of the tree. Back on the ground, I hitched a come-along to the tree and cranked until it was as near straight as I could make it. I then tied a rope to the fence and secured the tree with a trucker’s knot. It stayed that way till the ground got hard in late spring. After a year or two, the tree sent a branch up that replaced the missing treetop.

I guess the reason that I went to all that trouble to save the tree is that I was sort of attached to it. Maybe I am a damn tree-hugger after all.

The good, the bad, the ugly

Anthony Peyton Porter, in his Chico N&R article of 5/21/10, stated that I showed promise of being “real” and “human”. Thank you, Anthony.

You see, to be human is the antithesis of PAU (Politics As Usual). PAU decrees that a political candidate reduce his essence to a catchy, yet vague slogan. Thereafter he will assault the voters with a veritable barrage of tv ads, mailers, signs and other campaign garbage. PAU mandates that each particle of information be massaged and scrutinized to avoid offense to any potential voter.

All that PAU crap makes me gag. In my blog, I’ve been striving to reveal myself through my writing. Perceptive readers understand that when one openly expresses his or her thoughts, the true person is inevitably exposed.

There are thousands in Butte County who know me on some level. Tuesday and Thursday mornings I walk through the hallways of the main court in Oroville, carrying my plastic box full of CPS files. I’ve eaten at Chico’s La Comida and Italian Cottage restaurants for years. I’ve wandered through Kragen, OSH and Home Depot in my dirty work clothes. I’ve danced many times in the City Plaza in my signature tie-dyed tank tops.

I’m a good choice to replace Ramsey because of the following:

I am real smart. I learn quickly. I am patient and can control my temper. I can interpret the language of law into the common tongue. I am intimately acquainted with criminal law and the Butte County court system. I am accomplished in legal research and the writing of motions, writs and appeals. I understand the human pain that goes hand-in-hand with the legal process.

You see, whatever I am; good, bad or ugly; it’s all visible and can’t be hidden. Ramsey tries to hide his persona, but over time, his essence has been revealed. Suffice it to say that Ramsey repels and alienates many, many people. Finally, we don’t know what Lance Daniel is all about, and we won’t before June 8th. But it’s a moot issue. Daniel is not one of us.

I’ll close with a quote from one of the lesser-recognized philosophers and cartoon heroes.

As Popeye sez: “I yam what I yam.”

At least throw Ramsey out

In my campaign blog, I said that North Korea and Libya are examples of countries where strongmen have ruled for decades, and that such is anathema to the American way. I was making a comparison to Ramsey’s 23-year reign. A reader has asked if I meant this to apply to Jane Dolan’s 32-year tenure. The answer is no.

There’s big differences between being a county supervisor and being head honcho District Attorney. There are five supervisors, therefore no one supervisor can run the show. County supervisors share power with towns, cities, California, and the Federal government. By contrast, the DA shares power with no one, and is only minimally answerable to the Attorney General or the Grand Jury. Short of recall or indictment, the only way to extract a recalcitrant DA is to unelect him.

I was also asked if I endorse Jane Dolan, or anyone, for that matter. Again, no. As an independent (and temporary public figure), I am not seeking or dispensing endorsements. As a private citizen, I will cast my absentee ballot within the privacy of my home in absolute confidentiality. The entire purpose of my campaign is to address issues that I deem germane to the DA’s race. I’m not running for other offices and will not comment upon them.

The rebel part of me whispers “Why don’t they throw everyone out?” The more temperate approach is to urge robust challenges to all incumbents. Those incumbents that survive such challenges are the true choice of the people.

Ramsey's specious logic

Perry Reniff, retired Butte County Sheriff, recently wrote a letter to the ER praising Mike Ramsey. In his conclusion, Reniff stated : “The DA’s office, like any other business, must be managed by an experienced professional leader.”

Well, Perry, the DA’s office is not a business. Businesses supply goods or services in exchange for money. That’s not how the DA’s office is supposed to work.
Most small businesses are managed by the owner. Appearances to the contrary, Mike Ramsey does not own the DA’s office.
On a corporate scale, there would be shareholders, directors, and CEO’s. The DA’s office is not a corporation either. Actually, it’s a bureaucracy funded by public money and managed by an elected official.

The key word here is “elected.” In other words, every four years there could be a change of guard. Such change is actually encouraged by the election codes. There are only two legal requirements for DA candidates: (1) They must be California licensed lawyers, (2) who live in Butte County. This means that a very wide range of lawyers could conceivably be elected as District Attorney: Family law practitioners, corporate lawyers, or legislative wonks who have never set foot in court.

With this sort of fluidity built into the law, any district attorney’s office must be organized so that periodic changes of leadership can occur with minimum disruption. It’s not an outlandish idea. All over our great state, there are routine transfers of power every four years or so. Everywhere except the Butte County DA’s office, that is.

According to Ramsey, the DA position cannot be filled by anyone who lacks his long years as head DA, which is 23 and counting. Ramsey seems to forget that he himself was appointed when his predecessor abruptly resigned. If “experience” is essential, then by definition Ramsey was doing a piss-poor job during his first few years as DA.

By his own admission, during the last 23 years Ramsey has apparently tweaked his office into a bastardized creation that “only he can run.” In the brutal world of politics, when the “shareholders” finally rebel, there will be no fat stock options or golden parachutes. It will simply be: “Hit the road, Mike.”

On political ethics

Some years ago, my wife and I went to see a band at a place called The Palms. During the break, we went outside for some air. This guy walked up and started hassling me about the 2002 DA race. He was shouting: “You screwed up the campaign in 2002. You could have taken Ramsey down. You didn’t go for the jugular!”

I knew the fellow, because I had represented him during criminal proceedings before the 2002 campaign. Ironically, he lacked the capacity to vote because of his prison record. Nonetheless, I knew exactly what he was getting at: I had been aware of certain rumors concerning Ramsey’s family, and I chose not to address or employ those rumors in my 2002 campaign.

I’ll say it again: I’m not doing politics as usual. My own personal book of ethics decrees that there are certain areas that should not be ventured into. You shouldn’t mention a candidate’s race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or skin color. You shouldn’t discuss your opponent’s height, weight, or medical condition. You should avoid all references to bedroom, bathroom and medicine cabinet.

On the other hand, Mike Ramsey has been District Attorney for a generation, which makes him into a public figure. He has transformed the office into a reflection of himself. That means that his narcissistic attraction to the television camera is open to comment, as well as his ghoulish tendency to share gory details of high–profile cases.

But back to ethics: First and foremost, never disparage a candidate’s family.
It has now come to my attention that a certain comment regarding Ramsey’s kin has been posted on the FaceBook page of Lance Daniel.

I am no fan of Mike Ramsey. At the moment, he is my “political enemy.” But I condemn anyone who would smear Ramsey’s family. Only a loser would seek victory with such tactics. We don’t do politics that way in our county.

Lance Daniel, go back to Sacramento

On his “I-5 Live” radio show last night, Tom Gascoyne played taped interviews of the DA candidates. Lance Daniel, in his statement, complained that he had “tried to reach out” to me, and that I had rebuffed him.

Turns out that ol’ Lance tried to call me at my office while I was in court. He phoned three times in an hour-and-a-half, and was told three times by my office assistant, brother Dana, that I was at court and not available. Dana also told him that we handle sensitive juvenile cases and do not allow “drop-ins.”

Now Dana may wear a black cowboy hat and be pure country, but there isn’t much that gets past him. He said he had a feeling that Daniel was not going to just give up. “Sure enough, about 20 minutes after his last call, I saw this nicely dressed dude skulking down the corridors and peering at the windows. When he saw our lettering, he straightened up his shoulders, put a smile on his face, and tried to march right into the office. Didn’t know the door was locked, and bonked his noggin a little.”

In that recorded radio interview, Daniel also discussed me. He used dismissive language, indicating that I worked in the Dependency Court, and that most Dependency clients were “child molesters.”

If his ignorance on this one subject is indicative of his overall knowledge, then Daniel lacks what it takes to be District Attorney. Most parents whose children end up in the CPS court are from the working class. A variety of factors causes the intervention of Children’s Services. Only a small portion of those detentions stem from molestation. The goal of the Dependency Court is to return children to safe homes. Children are not sent home to molesters.

In trying to slam me, Daniel has denigrated an entire class of clients and cast aspersions upon my colleagues. He has disrespected the Dependency Court and my judge. He displays an appalling lack of knowledge. His callous arrogance angers me.

Maybe it’s time he packed up his little wagon and went back home to Sacramento.

Dale answers 6 questions

In a recent blog posting, I explained why I do not believe the DA is “top lawman” of Butte County. In an appended comment, one of the FB friends responded by stating that “the media uses that description…”, implying that the media must always be correct. Said FB friend then unleashed a barrage of questions right out of the old boys’ political handbook, summarized as follows:

How would I manage the department budget?
How would I prioritize case loads?
Would I refuse to prosecute juveniles as adults?
Prosecute corporate business polluters?
How would I improve family court case proceedings?
Would I “back off from” cannabis prosecution?

The aforesaid FB friend asserted that he was a voter, with a right to have his questions answered. In the interests of future time management, I have decided to attempt to address these questions.
----
I can’t answer how I would manage the department budget because I don’t know how much it is, or where it all currently goes. I’ll have to figure it out when I get there.

Ditto for prioritizing case loads.

I would never adopt a blanket policy of refusing to prosecute juveniles as adults. Obviously, such prosecution is an extreme sanction and should be used sparingly.

I absolutely would prosecute corporate polluters. I would do so without resorting to intimidation, trickery, coercion or selective prosecution.

The question about family court case proceedings shows a lack of knowledge of what the DA does. Family court is about divorce, custody and child visitation. The DA plays no direct role.

Marijuana. Currently there are two categories: Prop 215 pot, which is kinda sorta legal, and regular old-fashioned illegal pot. There is a proposition on the November ballot which would legalize some aspects of marijuana. If passed, there would then be 3 categories of pot. I will enforce the law, with the understanding that the courts may struggle to define what that law consists of.

My preferred mode in this campaign is to furnish ample information about myself as a person, and to let the voters decide which person they want to vote for. In his 23-year tenure as DA, Mike Ramsey has supposedly morphed the position into a job that “only Ramsey” can perform. If that’s the actual case, then some things will have to change when I take office.

Ramsey is not "top cop"

You see it proclaimed in the newspaper or on t.v.: “Mike Ramsey, top law enforcement official in Butte County…” And the implication is that Ramsey calls the shots for the entire law enforcement community of our county. The real truth is that Ramsey only gets to boss around his small cadre of DA investigators. *FN

You see, there are a number of independent law enforcement agencies in Butte County. The Chico Police Department, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oroville Police Department come readily to mind. Each of the afore-mentioned agencies is funded by taxpayer dollars, and has its own separate chain of command and responsibilities. CSU Chico has its own police force. And don’t forget the California Highway Patrol, which is a state-wide agency. It is ludicrous to insinuate that any of these agencies are under Ramsey’s control, or that they must answer to him.

However, law enforcement does have a working relationship with Ramsey’s office. Here’s how it works: An officer investigates a crime, prepares a report, and submits the report to the DA’s office for prosecution. The DA’s office reviews the report(s), etc., and decides what, if any, criminal complaint will be filed. The investigating officer remains available for further consultation or testimony at trial.

There is no chief law enforcement official in Butte County. When I am elected to the office of Butte County District Attorney, don’t call me “top lawman”. I will be merely an elected official running the DA’s office.


*FN. I write from my own knowledge and observations. Any inaccuracies herein originate with myself, and no other person.

Thanx for your help so far, Lance Daniel

Right after I filed my papers to be a candidate, there was some snarling by the Lance Daniel crowd that I had somehow been co-opted by Mike Ramsey to act as a spoiler. Supposedly my goal was to hand the race to Ramsey. In similar fashion, the rabidly anti-Daniel crowd has suggested that my entering the race will harm Ramsey to the extent that Daniel will prevail.

Okay, first off, Dale does things for his own reasons, and does not consult with Mike Ramsey. I have no direct contact with Ramsey at all. Once in a blue moon I see him in the court corridors, and I say “hi, Mike.” That earns me a stiff little nod, no more, no less.

Now let’s examine the Lance Daniel issue. If it is true, that in a 2-person race, Daniel’s bankroll would have allowed him to get somewhere near 50% of the vote, how then does it follow that my entry into the race helps him? Not to beat the point to death, but I did get a respectable share of the vote when I last ran. If Lance Daniel were to get that 50% in a 2-person race, at least half of his vote would be people holding their noses and simply voting to get Ramsey out. My own opinion is that Lance Daniel has zero chance of winning the primary outright.

Some say I entered the race on behalf of Ramsey to “spoil” it for Daniel. Some say that my quixotic entry will harm Ramsey and allow Daniel to take it. I say that Daniel is my spoiler, and with his lance in Ramsey’s side I might yet be able to take the old bull elephant down.

Johnny Reb speaks

Way back in the day, I used to get together with certain friends and play a strategic board game. It was cut-throat competition, no quarter asked or given. Somewhat to my bemusement, I acquired the sobriquet “Johnny Reb.”

There’s an old adage that sometimes a nick-name is a better reflection of one’s self than a given name is. Years later, I gave it some thought, and finally concluded that a little bit of my heritage was showing its true colors.

According to my family history, my great-great granddaddy was an officer in the Confederate army. His son, my great-grandfather Bill, moved to L.A. around 1900, after running down to Mexico to avoid some “trouble”. Bill married a woman from the Tennessee hill-country and my paternal grandmother was a result of that union.

Some 50-odd years later, my family ended up in Corning. The generations, the years, and the miles had never completely erased our Tennessee/Texas twang. Once we got to Corning, we found that almost everyone talked just like us.

We preserved other remnants of our Southern heritage. I grew up eating pan-fried steak, boiled greens, and green beans cooked with bacon grease. We had guns and I learned how to hunt. And I’m still kinda nuts about cars and driving.

So despite my patina of acquired education and status, I’m still a little bit Southerner. I understand rebellion, especially against authority and government. It’s not always a bad thing, but a little bit goes a long way.

I’ve also seen racism and blind hatred, and I utterly reject them. Hatred is the most destructive of emotions. It is as strong and intense as love, yet it poisons those who harbor it. Racism is the ultimate statement of “us versus them”, and it is a dysfunctional mind-set.

The present District Attorney’s office still operates on the old “us versus them” premise. It is good guys vs. bad guys, the clean and virtuous against the dirt-bags, the men in white hats at war with all the dirty grays. We need a new paradigm for government. In this new millennium, “us” has to include everybody.

You know, I can still talk like a good ol’ boy when I need to, but I just can’t bring myself to be one.

politics and dirty money

Wall Street bankers may be rolling in dough once again, but Butte County is still in a recession. There are people here without jobs, some are losing their homes. Meanwhile, the advocates of politics as usual are asking for contributions to their campaigns. “Experts” say it takes about a hundred thousand dollars to win a county-wide race. Forget about the small amounts extorted from the working class. The real action is where fat checks pass from the well-heeled, and into the eager grasp of hungry politicians.

Consider what it means when one person receives money from another. In the real world, he who hands over money wants something back. It matters not whether it goes to a panhandler, a prostitute, a plumber or a politician; some good or service is expected in return, large or small. Things haven’t changed much over the centuries either; consider the Latin phrase, “quid pro quo”, which literally means “something for something.”

What happens to all that campaign money? Well it buys such goodies as yard signs, larger signs along highways, and expensive t.v. commercials. Oh yeah, don’t forget those unsolicited last-minute mailers, jamming up your mail box, too slick and nasty to re-cycle. The only “re-cycling” that occurs is when there is money left over from an election. Politicians rat-hole that money and stash it away for their next campaign.

I am informed that both Mike Ramsey and Lance Daniel are actively seeking campaign donations. Every time you see one of their mass-produced signs, think about the damage to our over-burdened land-fill. Every time you watch one of their studio-produced t.v. commercials, think of the implicit promises that purchased it.

I’m not accepting contributions. When you’re not seeing crap, think of me.

promoting the social contract

As a new and relatively young lawyer back in the early 90’s, I did a number of special appearances for other attorneys. On more than one occasion I found myself in the Glenn County Superior Court, observing Judge Roy McFarland while I waited for my matter to be called. Judge McFarland was everything you would expect a judge to be: He was old school, he had authority, he was folksy. And one other thing, he generally knew everybody in the courtroom, including the criminal defendants before him.

I witnessed scenes similar to this:

The bailiff would usher in a man in his late twenties, shackled and wearing an orange jumpsuit. The parents of the defendant would sit in the wooden pew with stoic resignation, dressed in their best clothes. Judge McFarland would speak to the defendant, fixing him with a stern and piercing look:

“Well, Bobby, I see you’re coming before me again for sentencing---looks like it’s your third violation of felony probation. I see your folks sitting out there in the front row, and you know they’ve always been there for you. This time around you were once again caught with meth, in a probation search. And I do appreciate you being honest with this Court and admitting the violation. But as I told you last time, that was your last chance. So I’m going to have to send you to prison.”

There would typically be no surprise or anger evidenced by the defendant or his family. All of the players knew what to expect and recognized the inherent justice of the sentence.

The point of this fictional, but typical tale is the inter-connection of the community that can be observed in small counties. Part of this connection is an understanding of what the community will tolerate, and what the consequences are when a person engages in conduct that cannot be tolerated. Ideally, there should be a strong correlation between the unwritten rules of society and the codified technicalities of the law.

In small counties, there is an incessant and free flow of information from those with legal knowledge to the general population. Police officers, probation officers, judges, deputy DA’s and public defenders become impromptu teachers to the community. Almost everyone understands what will get them in trouble, and why.

In bigger counties, society gets more stratified and information is not dispersed. The situation is aggravated if the District Attorney’s Office displays an attitude of contempt and arrogance towards those it prosecutes. The result is that there exists no unified community agreement on what is allowed. There is no “social contract.”

In Butte County, the District Attorney’s office has, over the last generation, shown an inability to meaningfully communicate with the citizens of Butte County. A consensus is growing that it is time for Mike Ramsey to step down.

On Gregory Wright

Here’s the sum of my understanding about the Greg Wright case:

He was 17 years old. He came to a high school in Oroville with a gun. He briefly held some students hostage. He fired two shots into a ceiling. It does not appear that he pointed the gun towards any person with the intent to shoot or kill.

The District Attorney charged Wright as an adult. One of the charges was attempted murder. Wright was offered two different plea bargains. One carried a potential sentence of seven years to life. Wright chose the second plea bargain, which had a potential of 22 years. Wright actually received the whole 22-year sentence. The entire case was over in a matter of weeks.

Several questions come to mind:

(1) Did the case seem to be “over-charged” by the DA’s office? Yes.

(2) Did the ultimate sentence seem to be excessive? Yes.

(3) Did it appear that there was a “rush to justice”; that the authorities wanted to get the case dealt with and out of the public eye? Yes.

(4) Did the entire court process constitute a “kangaroo court” that was a sham of Due Process?

No. In a criminal proceeding, the judge may only rule on a case after it is presented to the court by the District Attorney. The Court’s job was to see that the rules were followed. Wright was represented by counsel. When a defendant accepts a plea bargain and assures the court that he understands the nature and consequences of his plea, the Court must accept the defendant’s responses at face value.

__________

The overall flavor of this case is distasteful. There is the appearance that the Butte County District Attorney’s Office slammed Greg Wright hard simply because it had the power to do so, and because he was of lower income and education status.

A key component of justice is a consensus that justice is actually dispensed. That perception is lacking in the Greg Wright case.

Country Connection

For the last 24 years, I’ve been connected with the law, either going to law school, working as a law clerk, or practicing as an attorney. It is perhaps foreseeable that others might type-cast me as a “suit”, or a member of the liberal intellectual elite. When that occurs, I feel a certain wry irony.

You see, I grew up on 20 acres in Corning that our family called The Ranch. When I was a kid, I raised pigs and goats, calves, ducks and a gazillion chickens. When I graduated from high school, I wanted to go into agriculture. I even qualified for a small cash scholarship offered by the Tehama County Prune Growers. Had to get a haircut, go up on the podium and stumble through a little speech.

That fall, I enrolled in what was then Chico State College, heavily concentrating on the Ag courses. I took Feeds and Feeding, Plant Horticulture, and Ag Mechanics that first semester. More Ag classes followed in the spring. Then reality set in. I came to the realization that modern-day agriculture is a capital-intensive industry, and you need a lot of land to do well.

In the years that followed, my college progress waxed and waned. I learned a lot about agriculture from the bottom end of the ladder, wielding a shovel, throwing around bales of hay. I worked at a prune dehydrator out in Ord Bend. I learned an enormous amount about myself and working with other people. But I always found opportunities to spend time out on The Ranch, and to renew my relationship with the land.

A lot of folks do not realize it, but you can start up Highway 32 from Chico, stay on major roads, and not see a good-sized town until you get to Idaho. The land rolls out unobstructed. empty and free. We are truly blessed to live here in its midst.

Today I live in the suburbs with my wife. We are directing our yard away from the constrictions of lawn and shrub, and seeking to provide friendly environments to wildlife. At night in my back yard, I can only see the very brightest stars. I miss the country and daydream about being back on the land.

Dale's current employment

Since August of 2005, I have been a public defender in the Dependency Court, which is a fancy name for the CPS court. Dependency cases typically start when children are taken (detained) by Children's Services and placed in temporary foster care. At the first court hearing, the children (of one family) are appointed a public defender to reresent their interests. Parents who show up are each appointed a separate public defender.

There are five public defenders in our court. In any given case, each of us may represent a parent or children, depending on the rotation of appointments. At the present time, I represent approximately 150 children, and roughly twice as many parents. Besides myself, Dale Rasmussen, the other public defenders are: Myra Bailey, Christine Zebley, Tamara Solano and Amy King. Jennifer Beck is associated with Tamara Solano and shares her caseload. David Kennedy represents the interests of Children's Services. Our current judge is Tamara Mosbarger.

I feel that we have a very good group of attorneys in our court. Because of the varied nature of our appointments, we may take opposing positions with a certain attorney on one case, but be in complete agreement on the next. We cooperate together and harmonize well as a group. We back each other up and share information. There is a friendly and collegial atmosphere amongst the attorneys, the judge, court personnel and CSD workers.

We see terrible family situations in our court. Simple neglect of children is standard for our court, and it gets worse from there. Typically, the parents may be addicted to drugs or alcohol. Methamphetamine use is common. Sometimes children have been physically or sexually abused. Occasionally, children have been abused to the point of death. No matter what the situation, or the individual culpability of parents, the duty of the public defender is to protect the interests of his or her client.

I feel that the variety and complexity of these dependency cases has provided me with valuable insights. If I am elected as DA of Butte County, I will miss my colleagues in the Dependency Court, but will look forward to new challenges in my career.

Why I am I running for DA?

Several months ago, it became known to me that a group of business owners had formed a coalition, aka "CEB", for the stated purpose of electing a new District Attorney for Butte County. Soon thereafter, a spokesperson for the CEB called my office. This person identified himself as an Oroville businessman, I'll call him Mr. X.

Mr. X and myself had a conversation about the need to replace Mike Ramsey as DA, with the emphasis on who the CEB should back as a candidate. Mr. X informed me that the CEB was composed primarily of Butte County business people. Mr. X also implied that the CEB was supported by prominent conservative Republicans. Mr. X was aware of the fact that I had run against Ramsey in the 2002 DA race, and that I had made a decent showing with 40% of the vote. He wanted to know more about me.

I pride myself as being a "tell it like it is" kind of guy. And if there's one thing I'm not, it's a conservative Republican along the lines of Rick Keene or Wally Herger. So I told Mr. X that, based on my political views and personal philosphy, I was probably not the best fit as a CEB candidate for DA. I also invited Mr. X to contact me in the future for further discussions. I never heard from Mr. X again.

A short time thereafter, Lance Daniel announced his candidacy for Butte County DA. Obviously, the CEB had found a candidate more to their liking. As you can imagine, I followed this news with some interest. It turned out that Mr. Daniel was a DUI attorney from Sacramento. A coalition of business interests was bankrolling him. And judging from his Facebook page, Mr. Daniel was reaching out to conservative Respublican voters.

I now need to inject a short squib on the history of Mike Ramsey, DA.

Ramsey attained office by appointment in 1987. He easily crushed an opponent in the 1990 election. No one stepped up to oppose him again until 2002, when I did, unsuccessfully. He ran unopposed in 2006.

So, up until this year, throughout the last two decades, only one person had opposed Ramsey in an election; and that person was yours truly. That would make me the expert, in my opinion. And the announcement of Lance Daniel put me into a quandary.

I truly believe that Mike Ramsey needs to be removed from office, and since he won't step down gracefully, he must be ejected by popular vote. I also believe that public support for Ramsey has continued to erode since the election of 2002. However, the more I pondered the situation, the more I became convinced that Lance Daniel could not defeat Ramsey. And if Ramsey were to be beaten in 2010, it would require me stepping up to the plate.

It needs to be understood that running for county-wide office is not a spur-of-the-moment type of decision. In particular, it takes a certain amount of personal grit and moxie to challenge an embedded public official. In the 2002 race, I learned that I did not like the grubby business of soliciting contributions, nor the distasteful commerce of tv ads and campaign mailers. And I had made a personal promise to myself that I would not thereafter take money from others in a political campaign. That meant that the necessary fees to file for candidacy would have to come out of my own pocket. On March 7th, 2010, my wife (Kristy Cowell Rasmussen) and I jointly decided that we would ante up the fees for both filing and a ballot statement, and that I would run for DA. FYI, those fees were $1748.85 and $829.19, respectively.

This concludes my first blog entry. More to follow.