LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County’s district attorney said he will go before the Board of Supervisors next week to respond to questions about his spending, including vehicle costs and travel for conferences.
District Attorney Don Anderson, who will leave office at the end of this year once his second term expires, came under fire at the board’s Nov. 20 meeting, which he did not attend because he was returning from a conference in Southern California.
However, Anderson told Lake County News this week that he didn’t have time to prepare a report for the board’s meeting last week and that he intends to provide the requested information at the Dec. 4 meeting.
Supervisor Rob Brown asked that the matter regarding Anderson’s spending – including use of county credit cards, reimbursements, mileage and maintenance of county vehicles – be put on the Nov. 20 agenda, and at that meeting he told his colleagues that the situation had been going on for some time.
Since May of 2017, Brown has been researching issues with Anderson’s spending. Beginning in the spring, Brown has been submitting Public Records Act requests to the county seeking information on Anderson’s use of his county-issued credit card and vehicle.
Brown accused Anderson of using his county credit card and vehicle for private purposes ranging from campaigning to out-of-county trips for his private law practice. He also alleged that he’s seen Anderson drinking alcohol at various bars and restaurants and then driving his vehicle, which he has reported to law enforcement.
Acknowledging that the issue should have brought this up sooner, Brown said he had not been brought to the board before the Nov. 6 election so as not to appear political.
Anderson was on the ballot this year in the race for Lake County Superior Court judge. He ultimately lost to Deputy County Counsel Shanda Harry in a runoff decided earlier this month. Brown’s son, Steven, ran for district attorney this year but lost to Senior Deputy District Attorney Susan Krones in the June primary.
Brown questioned why Anderson is continuing to go to conferences to learn to be a better district attorney when he’s about to leave office. “There is no purpose for the county to be paying for that, especially given the financial situation that we’re in.”
He added that it’s important to address so as to maintain some level of public trust and to hold everyone – including public officials – accountable.
Sheriff Brian Martin told the board that he also has a county-issued credit card and explained that it’s used for a variety of things, including day-to-day operations.
“Taking that away from a department head is going to have some unintended consequences,” Martin said.
Martin said that the state attorney general has authority over the district attorney and sheriff, so that would be an appropriate agency to consider any possible misuse of funds, as would the civil grand jury. He said there is no statute of limitation for misappropriation of funds.
Brown complained during the meeting that the District Attorney’s Office did not give him the information he wanted in response to his Public Records Act requests. He said mileage wasn’t accurately reported and he got reams of records about things like toner purchases.
County Counsel Anita Grant said she didn’t believe there is a current protocol to record the mileage information Brown was seeking, and that county staff has supplied the information she had requested after reviewing the requests.
Brown told the board that he thought that any conferences during the remainder of Anderson’s term shouldn’t be attended by him but by the district attorney-elect, Krones.
“I don’t think Don Anderson should be going anywhere at our expense from now on except out the door,” Brown said.
Upper Lake resident Gene Paleno asked the board about what role the public should have if there is malfeasance in office. Brown said he will ask for an independent review.
Supervisor Tina Scott was concerned that the board had no evidence in front of them as proof of misconduct by Anderson.
Board Chair Jim Steele said that, for him, the charge from Brown was enough. He said the board owed it to the community to perform budgetary oversight.
Brown moved to direct County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson to advise Anderson that he is to make no further purchases for training and travel for himself through Dec. 4 unless it’s approved by Huchingson.
The motion included the board’s invitation to Anderson to come and give a report on spending on Dec. 4. If he declined, the prohibitions on spending would remain in effect through the end of his term, an action the board can take under its budgetary authority.
The board approved the motion 4-1, with Supervisor Moke Simon the lone dissenter.
On Wednesday, Anderson said he received an email from the county about the spending prohibition. “It doesn’t mean anything,” he said, explaining that there is no training coming up.
He said that on Nov. 15, the day the board’s agenda was posted for the Nov. 20 meeting, he was at a conference in San Diego. He didn’t return to work until the afternoon of Nov. 20, after the board had met.
Anderson said no one has asked him why he attended the California Narcotic Officers' Association annual conference in San Diego.
So Lake County News asked him the reason.
He responded that there were many little reasons, from reviewing new equipment for investigations to lobbying.
But the main reason he cited was meeting with members of a training company that he’s used before, who have tentatively agreed to come to Lake County and provide classes on search warrants and police officer testimony for free. It’s a training opportunity Anderson wants to open up to law enforcement agencies in addition to his own staff. He said he hopes to finalize an agreement with the company on Dec. 6.
In answer to Brown’s allegations about him doing private practice cases out of county, Anderson acknowledged that he has done such cases, and said he legally can do them. He said in eight years, he’s probably done five or six different cases and only been paid for one of them.
When he makes the trips to do such work, he combines them with county-related work, such as a recent meeting he had with other regional districts attorney regarding wildland fire-related cases.
He called the questioning of his spending the results of a “personal vendetta” by Brown, adding, “I don’t know why.” Anderson said he also was aware that Brown has been following him around and “kind of stalking” him.
Anderson said he and his staff are now preparing a report to present to the board on Dec. 4, and that he’ll present all the records of his vehicle and credit card use, including records pertaining to his personal credit card.
“I don’t care. I’ve got nothing to hide,” Anderson said.
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District attorney says he’ll give Board of Supervisors full report on spending
- Elizabeth Larson
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