The Humboldt County DA Recall - A Corporate Affair

Background

The campaign to recall Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos has a proud sponsor. Maxxam/Pacific Lumber Co. have funded over 93% of the campaign – a campaign that began just days after the newly elected DA filed a $250 million lawsuit against the timber corporation charging fraud.

When recall proponents found there was little community support to get the recall on the ballot, Pacific Lumber hired a professional signature gathering company, US Petitions, paying them a whopping $8 per signature. Many who signed have come forward claiming signature gatherers, who claimed the petition was against rape or regarding a car tax, misrepresented the petition to them. Nonetheless, enough signatures were gathered and Humboldt County voters will decide on the recall March 2nd.

The Candidates Debate

In the event that DA Paul Gallegos is recalled, voters have a choice between three possible replacements.

Steven Schectman, a civil attorney from Eureka, was the first to enter the race. Schectman is staunchly against the recall, calling the whole thing “abhorrent” due its funding by the DA’s richest defendant. “This recall is bad – bad for everything good Humboldt County stands for,” Schectman said during his opening statements at a debate between the candidates Monday night on the campus of Humboldt State University.

Following Schectman’s lead, long-time deputy DA Worth Dikeman threw his hat in the ring, citing his two decades of experience and his contention that Schectman is an “unacceptable” choice for the office of the District Attorney. At Monday’s debate he said he didn’t want to discuss the merits of the recall because “it’s here,” meaning it’s just a reality we have to deal with. Although Dikeman maintains he is against the recall, he has taken endorsements from several of the county’s law enforcement agencies, which are backing the recall. Sitting side-by-side during the debate, Schectman asked Dikeman to say he is against the recall, and that everyone including law enforcement, should vote ‘NO’ on March 2. “Will you say that now?” Schectman asked. “No,” Dikeman answered.

Third to join the race was Gloria Albin Sheets, an ex deputy DA who worked eight years under the previous DA, Terry Farmer, and who was laid off from the Gallegos DA office because of budget cuts. She is the only candidate who admits to being for the recall, claiming Gallegos is “soft on crime,” a stance taken by recall-backers several months ago as they sought to distance themselves from the obvious reasons for the recall – the lawsuit against Pacific Lumber. Albin Sheets openly criticizes Gallegos, going so far as to say he’s “disgusting” and that he has “grossly mishandled” important cases. She blames this on Gallegos’ lack of experience as a prosecutor. “Mr. Gallegos is a defense attorney,” Albin Sheets said. “He will always be a defense attorney.”

Monday’s debate was held in front of a packed room on the Humboldt State University campus. Questions ranged from whether the candidates would prosecute the fraud case against Pacific Lumber, to which they all said they would, to how they feel about medical marijuana. This being Humboldt County, where it would be political suicide to take a stance against the drug for medicinal purposes, all voiced their support. Albin Sheets said she would recommend it to a friend who was suffering from Parkinson’s. The room erupted in laughter when Schectman pointed out "you have to be a doctor to recommend medical marijuana."

The candidates were also questioned about the controversy surrounding treesitter Jeny Card, also known as Remedy, who was arrested after sitting in a 1,200 year-old redwood for a year, but only received a $10 fine. PL has made this a major reason for their support of the recall, though they did not try to recall former District Attorney Terry Farmer who never pressed charges against Julia “Butterfly” Hill following her treesit of two years and eight days. Dikeman pointed out the many things that have to be taken into consideration – like prior convictions and recidivism. He also noted that the fine for an infraction is set by the state, not the DA.

The disagreements are most pronounced when it comes to the recall itself. It is obvious that without Schectman’s involvement, Dikeman and Albin Sheets would have an easier time sliding their premises by the public that this recall is about Gallegos’s alleged “soft on crime” stance, or Mr. Dikeman’s opinion that the public has a “lack of confidence in the DA’s office,” which he says is evidenced by the 17,000 signatures that got it on the ballot. Schectman maintains that at eight bucks a pop, enough signatures could be gathered to recall any elected official. Albin Sheets, after saying “I don’t care how the recall got on the ballot” was booed by a majority of the audience, who evidently does care.

“Fear cannot rule this community.” ~ District Attorney Paul Gallegos

Following the debate of the candidates, host Dave Silverbrand asked some questions of Paul Gallegos, as did members of the audience. Gallegos described some operational procedures of the DA’s office, and countered allegations leveled by Albin Sheets as being inaccurate. Gallegos pointed out that Pacific Lumber has supplied 93% of the funding to the recall effort, and if you add the contributions of Steve Will’s Trucking, a company contracted exclusively by Pacific Lumber, it comes to 97%.

When asked what affect the recall will have on the community, Gallegos said, “that depends.” If the recall is soundly defeated, elected officials will be confidant in doing their jobs without losing their jobs. If the recall is defeated but is close, elected officials will be cautious in how they do their duties. And if the recall succeeds, there will be a “chilling affect” on officials whose courage will be undermined by fear that they will be recalled if they try to evenly apply the law to corporations and citizens alike.

Gallegos said the two most powerful urges in human beings are sex and fear. “In Hollywood they sell sex and in politics they sell fear," he said. “Fear cannot rule this community.”