Ballots need more than one name
Barring a new challenger (and there's certainly time for one to emerge) Bob Barton's decision not to run for District Attorney could well deprive Kern County of a choice in one of the most high-profile offices in the region. Kern County voters haven't had any competitive options in the DA's race since 1982, an astounding six elections featuring a single, familiar name.
If this were an office devoid of controversy over the past three decades, it would almost -- almost -- be understandable.
But it hasn't been. Ed Jagels has presided over a department that, among counties of comparable size, has been scrutinized like no other. He and the DA's office have been the subject of critical and unflattering analysis by a Pulitizer Prize-winning journalist-author, at least two major national magazines, a CBS newsmagazine program and at least one nationally recognized documentary filmmaker. And that's just in the last 10 years. That's a lot of attention for the chief prosecutor of a smallish rural county.
Does any of that negative attention make Jagels unfit? No. But the sheer weight of all the criticism would seem to demand an occasional referendum on his performance, including the behavior of his lieutenants. It would seem to demand an opportunity for voters to answer the fitness question themselves, with the name of a recognizable challenger or two printed clearly alongside his.
But this isn't about Ed Jagels or the DA's office. It's not about his presumed heir apparent, the competent, experienced and well-regarded Lisa Green (who is the immediate benefactor of Barton's decision to halt his campaign). It's about the basic blueprint for governance in a Western democracy: The people shall have a choice.
We require certain government officers to face periodic voter approval for good reason: It forces them to give an accounting of themselves, of their achievements, failures and goals. It forces them to defend their record, correct their detractors and describe their vision of the job.
County politics doesn't often work that way anymore. In the case of the DA's office, as Barton admits, it's all about endorsements and donations. Barton is withdrawing not because his qualifications or abilities are lacking -- it's because he can see the writing on the wall.
Might voters, for the seventh straight election, be faced with a single name on the ballot? It seems likely, even though the filing deadline is not until March 2010 for the June 2010 election.
Rank-and-file prosecutors are loath to go up against their supervisors, and conservative voters like those in Kern County seem unlikely to favor a challenger who has specialized in defense (many of whom would be taking a pay cut). Perhaps that's why the only two DAs in the state to have served as long as Jagels -- Sutter County's Carl Adams and San Mateo County's James P. Fox -- have likewise never faced opposition.
