PORT ANGELES — Two Democratic Party opponents of incumbent Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly went on the attack at a primary election forum Tuesday, describing an agency in disarray and arguing for change at the top.
Kelly, a Republican, said instead that she is “tough on crime and a demanding administrator” who has produced a 91 percent conviction rate over her two terms in office.
She also said she has established a no-cursing-in-the-office policy. She added that the policy upset some employees but was the right thing to do.
The three candidates were guests of the Port Angeles Business Association weekly breakfast meeting at Joshua’s Restaurant & Lounge.
Larry Freedman, 72, a Sequim attorney and former law professor, and Lauren Erickson, 54, an administrative law judge, former Clallam County deputy prosecuting attorney and former Port Angeles City Council member, are challenging Kelly, 57, of Port Angeles, in the Aug. 17 primary.
Ballots in the all-mail-ballot election will be sent to voters countywide two weeks from today, on July 28, and are due Aug. 17.
The top two winners advance to the Nov. 2 general election regardless of party affiliation, though when candidates file for the position, they may declare a “party preference,” which all three did.
The salary for the position is $122,000 this year. The winner will be responsible for a budget that in 2010 is $1.6 million and will supervise a staff that totaled 24 as of Tuesday.
Freedman, with 47 years of legal experience, said he was urged to run “by a number of people.”
In an interview later Tuesday, Freedman refused to name those supporters but said they numbered about 10 people in the legal profession including law enforcement officers, former deputy prosecuting attorneys and one judge.
Freedman talks of issues
Problems in the office “are causing a lot of problems all the way down the line,” Freedman told about 30 business association members at the breakfast.
He pointed to the loss of 39 employees over eight years, 33 of them lawyers, and an ongoing age-discrimination lawsuit filed by four employees that has cost the county $100,000 and the county’s insurance risk pool another $300,000.
“That’s not normal turnover,” Freedman said, adding that the age discrimination suit alleged “a hostile work environment” exists in the prosecuting attorney’s office.
“Ask people who have left the office, and they will tell you that’s what exists there,” Freedman said.
The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in June 2011, Kelly said in an interview, not disputing the turnover numbers.
Conviction rate
Freedman also criticized Kelly’s conviction record for 2005-2010, saying 39 percent of felony defendants were found guilty after trial, 37 percent pleeded guilty to the original charge or lesser charges and 24 percent were found not guilty.
“I don’t know what 91 percent she’s talking about,” he told the group, referring to Kelly’s assertions about her office’s conviction rate.
Kelly said her 91 percent conviction rate is the average over the eight years she has been in office and that the totals are available from the state Administrative Office of the Courts at www.courts.wa.gov.
Erickson
Erickson said the office’s criminal division needs beefing up with a chief criminal deputy and accused Kelly’s office of not being forthcoming with a public disclosure request on the costs incurred by the age discrimination lawsuit.
She also accused Kelly of “overcharging” certain defendants.
“It’s not proper to throw the book at everybody and hope they will plea,” Erickson said.
Kelly said Erickson’s public records request was not handled by her staff.
Kelly’s office handled a peak case load in 2005 of 650 cases that has since dropped to 550, she said.
She defended turnover in her department.
One-third were fired, one-third were “disgruntled” and one-third left to take higher-paying jobs or for reasons not related to dissatisfaction with her office.
“Two policies caused the most disgruntlement,” Kelly said.
In one, employees were told “they can’t curse their co-workers,” Kelly said.
Account for time
In the other, employees were told “they have to account for their time,” Kelly said. “So be it.”
In a later interview, Kelly said she established an overall employee conduct policy that some employees were not happy about.
Not cursing “is such an obvious rule” with members of the public often in the office, Kelly said.
“There were a number of new conduct rules, but that seems to irritate people the most.”
Of the turnover in her office, “it would not surprise me if it is high” compared with other county offices, Kelly said.
Marge Upham, county human resources director, said Tuesday the number is “probably slightly higher” than other departments but that comparative data was not available.
She added that being a deputy prosecuting attorney “tends to be a big burnout job” that often attracts lawyers just out of law school who often tend to move on.
“Prosecutors tend to be transient,” she said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
