NEW FACES : ’30 Years of Name Recognition’

A few months ago, most of them were all but unknown to most county residents. But when the votes were tallied early Wednesday, they had marched into the limelight.

John F. Dean, a Whittier College professor of education; Joy L. Neugebauer, a veteran of the Westminster City Council, and James G. Enright, chief deputy district attorney, stunned incumbents by winning enough votes to force November runoffs. None captured a post outright, and two, Neugebauer and Enright, face uphill struggles. But these three will be among Orange County’s most talked-about and debated public figures in the next few months.

On election night, James G. Enright was asked how he managed to force a November runoff with his boss, Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, in the prosecutor’s race.

Enright, jubilant over the election results, laughed as he answered: “I wish the hell I knew.”

Capizzi, who was appointed district attorney in January, had big money and big-name endorsements. Enright was a last-minute candidate with no organization or money.

But Enright has a serious answer to his strong showing Tuesday.

“Maybe it was 30 years of name recognition and good will in the community,” he said.

Enright, 63, has been in the district attorney’s office since 1960. When Cecil Hicks was appointed district attorney in 1966, he made Enright his chief deputy. He’s been chief deputy ever since.

Capizzi gained stature as Hicks’ protege in those years, and Enright was effectively forced into a lesser role within the office. When the supervisors appointed Capizzi as district attorney in January when Hicks became a judge, Enright was not even a serious challenger for the post that pays slightly more than $100,000.

“Jim just never grew with the job,” one of his longtime associates has said.

But Assistant Dist. Atty. Edgar A. Freeman, a close friend of Enright, calls that “baloney.”

“If Jim had been more concerned about office politics than what was going on in court, he would have been D.A. by now,” Freeman said.

Enright’s interest in the courtroom part of the job has won him many friends among judges and defense lawyers. He specialized in helping build a strong reputation for the district attorney’s panel of homicide prosecutors and took several cases himself.

It was Enright who prosecuted “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez in a Mission Viejo rape and attempted murder case. Technically, it’s still pending, though it’s not likely to go to trial with Ramirez under a death sentence in Los Angeles County.

Enright’s political career suffered a setback in 1984, when he unsuccessfully ran for a Superior Court judgeship.

“I was very naive about politics then,” Enright said.

Enright almost didn’t run for district attorney this year, even though he admits, “I’ve wanted the job a long, long time.”

He was convinced that Capizzi was probably unbeatable after the appointment by the supervisors, but he finally filed for the race just hours before deadline.

His strong showing at the polls had courthouse lawyers talking Wednesday.

“Jim surprised a lot of people,” said defense attorney Richard Schwartzberg. “Now that they see he really does have a chance, I think a lot of folks are going to come forward to help him.”