Office of the District
Attorney
Alameda County Nancy E. O' Malley,
District
Attorney
Rene C. Davidson Courthouse 1225 Fallon Street , Suite 900 Oakland , CA 94612
September 28 , 2010
OCT 0 6 2010
Michael Colantuono & Levin , PC 11406 Pleasant VaIley Road Penn Valley, California 95946- 9001 RE:
AlEDA
CIT OF MAYOFrS OFFICE
City of Alameda
Dear Mr. Colantuono:
I am in receipt of your letter dated September 20 , 2010. I am disturbed by the unprofessional tone of it and also feel compeIled to address the mischaracterizations you have made , as weIl as the false or inaccurate presumptions you have attempted to proffer.
Your effort to assign a nefarious motive to the actions of the three senior lawyers on my staff involved in this review , Senior Deputy District Attorneys Larry Blazer , Ann Diem and Jeff Stark is misplaced. All three enjoy sterling reputations and their work is highly regarded. AIl three invested substantial time in evaluating both the evidence you submitted , and the relevant legal authorities , including those you submitted and those you chose to ignore. At the conclusion they presented me with their conclusions and recommendation , which I accepted. While you may argue that Steiner has misplaced relevance , I do not agree. Steiner is good law and provides a sound legal framework. I find your comments regarding a potential conflict of interest on my part bizare. Your
suggestion that my ratification of a thoroughly professional and objective evaluation conducted by my senior attorneys was biased was particularly offensive. Upon reviewing your aIlegations I find them based on false facts , inaccurate assumptions and exaggerations. I am hopeful your comments were made out of ignorance and not malice. To set the record straight the incident that you describe never took place.
To be clear
the car incident you described is completely false. It appears exceedingly odd that you base such a serious aIlegation on unnamed sources and rumor. My relationship with members of the Alameda City Council and other leaders in Alameda is respectful and professional. I do not have a social relationship other than to see some of the City leaders at community events. I have worked with Council Members on public safety issues , such as the criminal court closure and advocacy for youth programs. I am even more disturbed to find you making aIlegations that because certain of Ms. Tam s political supporters , a
Phone: (510) 272- 6222
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org .. www. alcoda. org
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Colantuono
number of them Asian- American , also supported me in the recent election , in which I ran unopposed , I have a personal bias. Nothing is further from the truth and I find it offensive that you have singled out Asian- American leaders. Your reference to the involvement of the media is also misplaced. It is you , Mr. Colantuono , not I or the Alameda County District Attorney s Office , who has courted and manipulated the media in this matter.
This sort of thinly veiled , political attack has no place in modern society. I am personally deeply offended that you would suggest that either I , or any member of this Office , would make a decision for political reasons. The Alameda County District Attorney s Office since well before the time of Earl Warren , has stood firmly for the proposition that we enforce the law equally for all. Likewise , I am committed to the principle that all members of our community have access to justice. This sort of racially charged accusation has no place in professional dialogue. Frankly, having reviewed your investigation personaIly, I am not surprised you would make wild and completely unsupported aIlegations like these. Whatever your motives in making these false claims I remain mindful of our role in this process: to objectively and dispassionately evaluate the facts and the law so that a just decision can be reached. We have done so in this case.
In conclusion , this Office considers the matter closed and plans to take no further action. I consider the comments you made , both in your letter of September 20 , 2010 and in a public session of the Alameda City Council on or about September 8 , 2010 to have been made out of ignorance and disappointment , not out of malice and accordingly plan no additional action against their maker. cere1Y yours
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NCY
Distrt'Attorney "Cc:
Mayor Beverly Johnson Ann Marie GaIlant Theresa Highsmith