SAN CLEMENTE TIMES 2018 VOTER GUIDE
Spitzer, Rackauckas Showdown Approaches The fiery prosecutors will leave it to the voters to settle their score By Eric Heinz, San Clemente Times Incumbent Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will face Todd Spitzer, current Orange County Supervisor of District 3, who was once employed by Rackauckas. For the past 20 years, Rackauckas has held the position of Orange County’s top prosecutor, and he prides his work on the hundreds of convictions for which he’s been responsible. His office has been working recently on a sober living task force that has already resulted in the arrest of 11 people accused of being involved in illegal activities occurring within the addiction treatment industry. “I will be running on the strong track record of our office where I oversee and am responsible for the performance of hundreds of attorneys, investigators and professional staff who work tirelessly to ensure the administration of justice in our county,” a statement from Rackauckas’s campaign website states. Spitzer, like his opponent, is very vocal about justice systems and bringing convic-
tions to violent criminals, gangs, all kinds of abuse and more, as he did during his time as a deputy and assistant district attorney. “As Supervisor, I’ve Todd Spitzer already pioneered policies in our county to help address these issues and make our communities safer,” a message Spitzer’s campaign page states. “It’s time to focus on rebuilding the DA’s office, including modernizing it by bringing the latest in crime-fighting tools to our hardworking prosecutors.” Spitzer is also staunchly committed to discrediting Rackauckas. On social media sites, in press releases and just about any other media, he chastises the actions of his once-colleague. “Rackauckas has been in office for 20 years. This breeds corruption, complacency and a public failure of leadership,” Spitzer’s
website states. “Twenty years is long enough. While crime rates rise and the DA’s absence of leadership is causing cases to be botched murderers to Tony Rackauckas and be let free, the real tragedy is that victims and their families are not getting justice.” Rackauckas isn’t sitting on the sidelines and taking this political bout quietly. Earlier this year, he released a television ad with the theme being that Spitzer was untrustworthy and cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars due to his own legal snafus. “The job of a district attorney requires someone who has impeccable ethics and maturity. Todd Spitzer continues to prove he lacks both,” Rackauckas said in a press release that pointed to Spitzer’s social media posts. Both of them have their own baggage
coming into this hotly contested race. Spitzer made an unusual citizen’s arrest of a man who was rambling at a Wahoo’s Fish Tacos in 2015 when the man was staring at Spitzer with a nearby table knife, according to emails obtained by media organizations. Rackauckas was under scrutiny by the ACLU in the last couple years for what the organization called “unethical” use of incarcerated informants. If you haven’t kept up with the latest rhetoric, be sure to dig through the minutiae of what they say and their agendas. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is one of the most coveted seats in the county, and it’s also inundated with cases and state policy changes, technological advances and must have a transparent and ethical working relationship with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. These considerations are likely to be the difference between them. To learn more about the candidates, visit www.toddspitzer.com and www.ocdistrictattorney.com.