Letters
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- Written by: Rob Brown
When I read Farrington’s response, my first thought was that this isn’t a letter, but a menu. The special of the day is red herring with a side order of Farrington word salad.
He blathers on about things that are meaningless and tries even harder to make his civil law practice sound like it somehow qualifies him for DA.
He still hasn’t accepted my challenge and provided a list of the criminal trials that he has completed through jury verdict. Getting a plea bargain in a drunk in public case, as he proudly lists, is not a qualification for district attorney.
He speaks of the irony of someone in my profession being concerned with the outcome of an election that would have a substantial impact on public safety.
Someone with any level of criminal experience at all would understand the importance of the bail industry in guaranteeing that defendants are held accountable to show up for their court proceedings.
Apparently this very important element of the criminal justice system has been lost upon Anthony Farrington, a family law attorney. Maybe they didn’t cover that in his online law school.
Farrington has demonstrated a new low in seeking an office that should never be made political by either candidate.
I admire District Attorney Susan Krones for the reasons that she is not politically motivated and she has made a conscious decision to commit her entire adult life to public safety as opposed to her opponent who dances around for political and financial gain.
No amount of threats or frivolous lawsuits from Farrington will prevent me from sharing my concern regarding the safety of Lake County. Do not be fooled by his misuse of words like “prosecute” and “quasi-criminal.” Only the district attorney or her deputies are able to prosecute criminal cases. Anyone with even a bare minimum level of criminal law experience would know better.
Again I issue my challenge to Farrington to provide a list of criminal cases that he has taken to jury trial and seen through to a verdict. It shouldn’t take long.
Rob Brown is a retired Lake County supervisor. He lives in Kelseyville, California.
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- Written by: Anthony Farrington
I was very reluctant to respond to Mr. Brown’s self-serving endorsement for the upcoming district attorney’s race which was filled with vitriol, hate and false statements. However, in the interest of truth, it is imperative that I respond and pull back the curtain.
After reading Mr. Brown’s propaganda, you may have asked yourself what is Mr. Brown’s problem? One can easily expect that there are many petty personal and political reasons, but I suspect that the most compelling reason would be due to Mr. Brown possibly learning that I have been retained to represent his 80-year-old mother Marilyn Brown against Mr. Brown in a legal action for elder abuse and fraud (Case No. CV-422695). In addition, I also represent Mr. Brown’s ex-wife Kim Brown (Manning) for her application to hold Mr. Brown in contempt for unpaid court ordered spousal support in the amount of $57,000 (Case No. FL-210467).
This contempt action is a quasi-criminal proceeding. As such, given Mr. Brown’s misleading statements about me having limited to no criminal experience, I am optimistic that my successful prosecution of this contempt action will change his naïve perspective. This information can be confirmed with the Lake County Superior Court.
Unfortunately, Mr. Brown should have taken his own advice and stayed out of politics so that he can remain focused on his full-time job freeing criminals. Voters in this district attorney election should be very leery about taking any election advice from a bail bondsman. In my opinion, taking election advice from Mr. Brown would be like taking spiritual advice from Ted Bundy.
As a county supervisor, I provided 16 years of budget oversight for the District Attorney’s Office, sheriff’s department, jail, juvenile hall and probation department.
Mr. Brown stated that I have limited to no criminal law experience. This claim is patently false. For 10 years, I have handled a number of criminal cases ranging from resisting arrest, domestic violence, battery, public intoxication, DUIs and illegal cannabis matters. I also have state and federal jury trial experience, and I have a 100% prosecution rate for contested domestic violence protective orders on behalf of abused women and children. Through a state contract I also currently represent children who have been abused and/or neglected by their parents and/or care providers as a result of crimes committed against children. All of this information can be obtained by a public records request with the Lake County Superior Court and the County.
Unlike Mr. Brown, I like to focus on the big picture and make policy decisions for the betterment of our entire county, while Mr. Brown may see the grand opening of a new Dollar General store as economic progress. In regard to my efforts to place cold medications containing pseudoephedrine (used to make methamphetamine) behind store counters. Contrary to Mr. Brown’s allegations this ordinance had nothing to do with cough syrup or Nyquil; nor did I ever claim it would be a panacea to end meth addiction. This ordinance was merely a tool to help reduce the chronic theft of pseudoephedrine medications and the personal manufacturing of meth. This information can be obtained by a public records request with the county.
In reference to my request for the county to develop GIS website documenting the locations of registered sex offenders. Lake County had one of the highest numbers of registered sex offenders per capita in the state. This was my effort to enhance public safety and keep our children and families safe. I never claimed to take credit for the Megan’s law state website, only that our website was the first of its kind. This information can be obtained by a public records request with the county.
In regard to the issue of water rights. As a candidate, I did promise to work to secure water rights to Clear Lake. Mr. Brown’s statement that I did nothing to keep my promise is false. Through my efforts our county entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Yolo Flood and Conservation District which resulted in better management of the Clear Lake dam and a reoperation of the dam using better weather forecasting and technology with the benefit of keeping a fuller lake.
In addition, a water rights application was submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board for the appropriation of new water rights. This application was filed for the Middle Creek Restoration Project. After I left the board, it appears that Mr. Brown did not take any action to advance this application to the detriment of Lake County residents. This information can be obtained by a public records request with the county.
Mr. Brown also made unfounded comments about my performance as a board member in particular where he accused me of not attending various committee meetings. I find his allegations comical. Mr. Brown and other board members appointed me to these committees. If my performance back then was such an issue for Mr. Brown, he should not have reappointed me. To confirm my attendance for the public defenders’ oversight committee one should make a public records request; or contact retired County Counsel Cameron Reeves and/current County Counsel Anita Grant. In addition, contact Duane Furman. Mr. Furman is a local resident from Lakeport who also served on the committee with me.
Mr. Brown also alleges that I have “faked” my way as a county supervisor. I find his comments insulting to the intelligence of the Lake County residents that elected me four times where I often garnered more than 66% of the vote. To date, I cannot explain what fuels Mr. Brown’s deep-rooted hatred for me. In fact, it is also ironic that Mr. Brown publicly opposes me while his mother and other immediate family members have signed my nomination papers and are publicly supporting my candidacy for district attorney.
Mr. Brown was correct about one thing. My father was killed while he was in jail after he was picked up for a bench warrant after being previously arrested for a DUI. While in jail my father prevented two men from raping another inmate. Subsequently, he received death threats and was later found hanged in his cell. My father was a Marine who served during the Vietnam War, and I find it despicable that Mr. Brown would diminish the significance of his death because he was an inmate.
Mr. Brown also made some flippant comment about me discovering my “new found manliness” in response to me publicly listing some of my hobbies such as shooting guns, working on my ranch and working on my classic cars. Mr. Brown said that he found my comments “offensive” and that I did so as some type of “subtle reminder” to the voters that I am running against a female candidate.
In reality, it is Mr. Brown’s misogynistic statements that are offensive. Apparently, he does not believe that a woman can enjoy the same hobbies that a man may enjoy.
When it comes to discovering “new found manliness,” Mr. Brown has it all wrong. A man does not attain manliness by his choice of hobbies; rather the true test and measurement of a man is how that man treats others during a time of disagreement and, in particular, how that man treats his own mother.
Anthony Farrington lives in Lakeport, California.
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- Written by: Jon E. Hopkins
I speak from a career as an attorney of almost entirely criminal practice on both sides from 1972 until 2018.
The voters of Lake County need to understand the importance of having an elected district attorney with actual experience in the criminal justice system at a high level. The district attorney must know what they are doing!
The Lake County District Attorney’s Office is woefully underfunded and everyone is overworked, so the head of the office has to get their hands and elbows into the work!
As an uninvolved boss in title only, the district attorney cannot ask for all of the staff to go all out to represent the interests of the people who live in Lake County when it comes to the crimes committed against them as individuals and as members of the community.
How long do you expect these overworked people to sacrifice and give it their all if their boss exhibits no leadership, has no experience, is just along for the ride and does not pitch in to help with the load.
Also quite importantly, if the district attorney has no experience in coordinating with law enforcement agencies and personnel, no experience handling serious criminal cases, and no experience making decisions affecting the entire criminal justice system, how can this boss even intelligently participate in important decisions affecting the entire system and county population?
How could such a boss convince all of those others involved how important the district attorney’s view of the issues is with respect to success in dealing with criminal behavior.
The district attorney’s position is not a figurehead in the criminal justice system; it is an extremely important leadership position and critically impacts the ability to successfully deal with crime and protect the people who live in Lake County.
The importance of leadership and experience cannot be overemphasized when choosing a district attorney!
Jon E. Hopkins is a former Lake County district attorney. He lives in Lakeport, California.
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- Written by: Bev Westphal
We have continuously strived to serve the elderly, low-income and homeless families with food to supplement their meals.
We are very fortunate to receive commodities from the USDA as well as from our local grocers, i.e., Safeway, Bruno’s Shop Smart and Grocery Outlet. All are providing a valuable contribution to our distribution process as we are supplying approximately 3,000 Lake County families with food each month.
Our volunteers are dedicated to serving the public and on distribution days some are on the site to load trucks as early as 3 a.m. The trucks leave the Finley site by 5:30 a.m., traveling to Lucerne and Spring Valley on the north, Clearlake and Middletown on the south. Cobb Mountain food is picked up by the site manager and her volunteers, which is greatly appreciated.
We have applied for a grant to purchase property with a large warehouse and have received numerous donations toward that goal. To all who have made monetary and food donations, we thank you. Without your support we would be unable to provide our elderly, low-income and homeless families with the support they need.
We appreciate all who have been so supportive of the Clear Lake Gleaners and invite you to visit our headquarters at 1896 Big Valley Road, Finley to observe our operations.
Bev Westphal is president of Clear Lake Gleaners Inc., based in Finley, California.
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