O.C. Prosecutor Draws Fire Over Staff Moves

Ten of the 12 promotions handed out by new Orange County Dist. Atty. Anthony J. Rackauckas went to staff members who contributed money to his election campaign, a move that some critics say has left a politicized atmosphere at the county’s top law enforcement agency.

Election records show that Rackauckas’ campaign received nearly $26,000 from 72 of the office’s 240 prosecutors--far more than any recent candidate for district attorney. While many of the lawyers he promoted are respected veterans, it has raised the eyebrows of some political watchdogs.

“It casts a shadow,” said Shirley Grindle, a community activist and author of the county’s campaign finance ordinance. “All of this suspicion could have been avoided by not accepting or soliciting money from within the office.”

Rackauckas strongly asserted that the contributions played no part in the promotions, which he said were based solely on merit and made after an extensive internal review process. Because such a large number of employees made contributions, he said, it is only natural that some in that group would receive promotions. And excluding prosecutors from advancement simply because they made campaign donations would be unfair, he said.

“When I ran for district attorney, it was for the purpose of making changes in the way the office runs,” he said. “And the first step was to look at the management. . . . If I had believed all of my predecessor’s supervisors were doing a good job, I would not have run for office.”

Rackauckas said he decided to accept political donations from department employees because he wanted to give them a voice in deciding whom their new boss should be. Most of the donations were for less than $500, though a few reached the $1,000 contribution limit.

County records show that eight of Rackauckas’ 15 mid-level supervisors gave between $100 and $1,000 to the campaign. All his top level managers--four senior assistants and the chief assistant--also donated.

Soon after taking office in January, Rackauckas streamlined the department’s management structure by decreasing the number of mid-level supervisors from 20 to 15. He said the changes were designed to make the office less “top-heavy.”

But some critics say they are concerned because the changes have increased the number of “at will” managers.

Under former Dist. Atty. Mike Capizzi, mid-level supervisors enjoyed a certain amount of job security after they were promoted to that level. They could not be demoted without a lengthy review process. Rackauckas eliminated those positions and expanded the number of appointed supervisors who now serve at his will.

Bill Mitchell, former director of Orange County’s Common Cause, said the changes disturb him because those prosecutors might feel obligated to the district attorney for their long-term career survival.

“What you have here is Tony doing things that [are] . . . politicizing the promotion process,” Mitchell said. “I am not sure he understands the consequences of what he is doing or how the public will perceive this.”

Rackauckas said he understands the concern but said no serious effort to improve the office is going to please everyone.

“I want to be sensitive to criticism, but I can’t run the office based on whether someone might criticize a decision,” he said. “It is a lot easier to criticize than to build an organization.”

He said his current supervisors were selected because he wanted to infuse more trial experience into management. All current assistant district attorneys are courtroom veterans, something that some former heads of units lacked, he said.

Rackauckas’ challenger last year, prosecutor Wallace Wade, did not accept any contributions from employees and stated the policy on campaign literature.

Grindle said Rackauckas should take the same stance if he runs for reelection in 2002.