Pubdate: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 Source: Marin Independent Journal (CA) Copyright: 2001 Marin Independent Journal Contact: 150 Alameda del Prado, Novato, CA 94949 Website: http://www.marinij.com/ Author: Richard Halstead DA RECALL ELECTION SET: KAMENA, CRITIC TRADE ACCUSATIONS Complying with state election law, Marin supervisors yesterday ordered a special May 22 election to determine whether District Attorney Paula Kamena should be recalled from office. County Counsel Patrick Faulkner told supervisors they had no choice but to order the election since recall supporters gathered nearly 14,000 valid signatures supporting it. The board's vote was 4-0, with Supervisor Steve Kinsey abstaining. It was preceded by comments from advocates on both sides of the controversial issue. "I believe this recall effort is about using political pressure to get the district attorney to make decisions based on whim, on preference and politics, as opposed to the facts and the law," Kamena said. "This is certainly a sad day for this county," Kamena said, noting that the election will cost Marin County taxpayers more than $500,000. But Lynnette Shaw - speaking on behalf of the Legal Abuse Task Force, which gathered the signatures - had a different take. "Today is a triumph for the voters of Marin and the common citizens who have been abused, ignored, persecuted, inappropriately arrested, inappropriately prosecuted and inappropriately jailed," Shaw said. "The people demand the recall of DA Kamena and by the law you must bow to the people." Ron Mazzaferro, who also spoke in support of the recall, urged supervisors to go further. "It's incumbent upon you not only to put it on the ballot but also to ask for her resignation to save yourself the very distinct possibility of a taxpayers' lawsuit that could bankrupt Marin County," Mazzaferro said. Kamena referred to an "outcry from the community of claims of fraud, deceit and misrepresentation in the signature-gathering process," and said, "I'm the target of the deceit and fraud, and therefore my office is precluded from doing the very thing it should do, which is investigate." Kamena added, however, that "all those issues have been referred to the state agencies which are appropriately looking into them." According to county elections officials, an estimated $15,000 in contributions supporting the recall have not been reported - an apparent violation of state campaign laws. The petition drive targeting Kamena was launched in May amid a surge of community resentment about decisions in the Marin courts in cases involving child custody disputes. These cases included the prosecution by the District Attorney's Office of Carol Mardeusz, a Novato woman who was convicted of attempting to take custody of her own daughter in violation of a court order. Four judges were targeted in the recall effort. But as the campaigns against the judges fizzled, a second wave of opposition focused on Kamena, led by critics of her office's marijuana prosecution policies. Shaw, founding director of the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, played a key role. The petition circulated to recall Kamena, however, mentioned only the Mardeusz case. "God help this county if someone is elected in this process who will succumb to this kind of political pressure," Kamena said. "There would be no fairness in this county, and there would be no justice." "This is not a joke; this is very, very serious," Mazzaferro said. - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew