Candidate for
District Attorney; County of San Luis Obispo

Top Priorities

1. Implement as quickly as possible the District Attorney's sentencing guideline revisions in response to the Governor's Criminal Justice Realignment. A major impact of Realignment is that more prisoners who once would have been sent to state prison are being incarcerated in our County jail for longer periods of time. The revised sentencing guidelines must:

i. Protect the rights of victims.

ii. Toughen sentencing to ensure that criminals who commit serious or violent crimes (including gang crimes, sex crimes and white collar/financial crimes) serve their sentences in state prison, rather than our county jail.

iii. Increase the use of alternative sentencing (including treatment) and alternative courts (e.g., Drug Court and Veterans Treatment Court) for non-violent crimes and crimes without victims in order to reduce overcrowding in our county jail and reduce the number of repeat offenders.

2. Expand recent District Attorney's office automation project to include courtroom automation and enable the office to operate "paperless" within the year.

3. Implement a comprehensive diversion program that diverts first time misdemeanor offenders out of the criminal justice process to educational and treatment alternatives which will reduce the unnecessary expenditure of Court and County jail resources.

4. Commit District Attorney's office resources to establish a Community Court that provides needed services and treatment for repeat misdemeanor offenders to address issues of homelessness and mental illness that impact city and business centers.

5. Reorganize and restructure the District Attorney's office to increase efficiency and more equitably distribute attorney and staff work load.

6. Increase the ratio of bilingual and bicultural District Attorney staff to improve services to underserved victims and all members of the community.