 | Gallegos Celebrates With Hundreds [Eureka Reporter] |
March 3, 2004
by Christine Bensen, The Eureka Reporter
District Attorney Paul Gallegos was met with cheers from hundreds as he walked through the door at Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
As he stopped to shake hands with his numerous supporters, Gallegos said he had one thing on his mind, his wife Joan, also an area attorney and the mother of his three children.
All smiles, Gallegos relaxed after exchanging a hug and kiss with his wife. As results came in the brewery erupted with more cheers.
Measure F — the measure on the Humboldt County ballot to recall the district attorney — was defeated 61.21 percent to 38.79 percent.
“It's a great day for democracy,†said Friends of Paul Gallegos Campaign Manager Richard Salzman.
“What we learned, hopefully, is if we work and we sacrifice, democracy will work for us,†Gallegos said.
“What I prepared is an immense list of thank-you's,†he said as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. “This is not my victory, this is Humboldt County's.â€
Gallegos began serving as district attorney in January 2003. In March of last year his office filed a fraud lawsuit against The Pacific Lumber Co., the second-largest employer in Humboldt County.
Soon after, an effort to recall the district attorney was afoot.
In December, three candidates, prepared to replace the district attorney, should he be recalled, entered the race: Gloria Albin Sheets, a former deputy district attorney, who was let go from the District Attorney's Office due to budget cuts in May; Steven Schectman, an Arcata civil attorney, and Deputy District Attorney Worth Dikeman.
Albin Sheets campaigned against Gallegos from the beginning, Schectman in favor of him and Dikeman first entered the race as a reluctant candidate, but later told The Eureka Reporter, “I want to be district attorney. There is no doubt in my mind.â€
By March 1, just a day before the election, PALCO, an affiliate of the Houston-based MAXXAM Corp., had donated approximately $250,000 — more than 90 percent of the total money donated — to the recall effort.
In February, Recall Paul, the committee to recall Gallegos, changed its name and hired a Sacramento-based campaign consultant Rob Flanigan.
“I don't have anything to say,†Flanigan said of the loss, in a phone interview Tuesday night. “I think it speaks for itself.â€
Safety Yes! Recall Gallegos — Supported By Law Enforcement and Humboldt County Community Leaders; Major Funding By Forest Product Producer, Pacific Lumber Co., Additional Support From Families Of Crime Victims — received other sizeable donations from Columbia Helicopters Inc., Steve Wills Trucking and Logging and Lewis Logging, all companies that contract with PALCO.
“It's not about me, it's not about them, it's about us,†Gallegos said Tuesday night.
As of mid-February, Friends of Paul Gallegos spokesman Patrick Riggs said more than 2,500 Humboldt County residents had contributed to FOPG. By Tuesday the group had raised almost $200,000, the largest donation — $12,000 — coming from Eureka business owners Rob and Cherie Arkley.
Included in the array of guests at Gallegos' event were Humboldt County Third District Supervisor John Woolley, Arcata Mayor Bob Ornelas, Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen, the head prosecutor in charge of the PALCO lawsuit, and Schectman.
“It's always good to be around a winner,†Woolley said.
He said the failing of the recall showed that corporations do not always have as much power as may be thought.
“Democracy worked in this case,†Woolley said.
He said now Gallegos can get back to his job and the “healing process†can begin in a community that has experienced such divisiveness from the recall.
“It's been an interesting race,†Woolley said. “He's still got a heck of a job in front of him.â€
Stoen said he will focus all his attention on the lawsuit.
“It's not just going to continue,†he said. “We're gonna win.â€
Of Gallegos' win, Stoen said, “I believe it is the Lord's will.â€
“It's been a battle,†Gallegos said. “It's been effort versus money.â€
Gallegos said now that the recall election is behind him he can “try to fulfill (his) obligation (as district attorney.)â€
However, Gallegos said his first priority is to “get some sleep.â€
As people began to leave the brewery late Tuesday night a woman on her way asked another woman, “Do you know who won tonight?â€
“Humboldt County,†the other woman said.
(Rob and Cherie Arkley own Security National, which owns The Eureka Reporter.)
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