WEEK IN REVIEW : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS. : POLITICS : Gates Asks Judge to Disqualify Himself From Sheriff’s Cases

Orange County’s district attorney said that in his 20 years in office, he’d never seen such a thing: a sheriff asking that a judge be disqualified because of alleged political activity.

But county Sheriff Brad Gates said that’s exactly what he wants--removal of Harbor Municipal Judge Russell A. Bostrom from all cases involving the Sheriff’s Department.

Bostrom is prejudiced because he is involved in the campaign of one of Gates’ election opponents, Gates said.

Not so, said that opposing candidate, Sheriff’s Sgt. Linda Lea Calligan. Bostrom has no official standing in her campaign and only gives “political advice,” Calligan said. “He tells me: ‘That’s a good idea (or), no, don’t bother with that.’ ”

Gates pointed out that before Bostrom became a judge, he was attorney for the Orange County Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn., which clashed with Gates and supported his opponent during Gates’ reelection campaign in 1978.

Bostrom considered running against Gates this year but decided against it, according to Calligan’s campaign manager, Robin Reisdorf.

An associate in Bostrom’s former law firm contributed $2,500 to Calligan, more than a quarter of what she reported raising during the last reporting period.

And while Bostrom has appeared at Calligan’s campaign functions, he was there to accompany Reisdorf, not the candidate, Reisdorf said.

“We do a lot of things together,” she explained.

“For a sitting judge to do something like that is appalling to me . . . ,” Gates said. “I have to question the ethics.”

Bostrom’s presiding judge, Brian R. Carter, said he would not comment on the allegations until the district attorney filed a formal disqualification petition.

Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks said he would file no such petition until Gates formally asked him to. And Gates said he wasn’t going to ask him to. Bostrom should disqualify himself voluntarily, Gates said.

There was no statement from Bostrom about that possibility.