by PACIFIC SUN | October 31, 2018 —

Marin County District Attorney: Anna Pletcher

This is not an easy call, but we’re going with Anna Pletcher over Lori Frugoli for Marin district attorney. Frugoli, currently a deputy district attorney with the county, has gotten a raft of endorsements from around the state and the county, including from outgoing District Attorney Ed Berberian, the Marin Independent Journal, Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle, and district attorneys from around the region (Solano, Alameda, Sonoma and Sacramento district attorneys have all endorsed Frugoli).

Pletcher’s got her share of endorsements, too. Most notably is the embrace of her campaign by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. The Sierra Club’s on her side too, given Pletcher’s stated emphasis on going after environmental crimes in Marin County. She’s also pledged to bring back rape kits to Marin County so that victims don’t have to travel to Vallejo County for an exam after they’ve been sexually assaulted.

Frugoli is a former deputy with the Marin County Sheriff’s Office (she worked there while attending law school), while Pletcher’s professional experience includes executive-management posts at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Obviously a key part of the job of district attorney is to work with police in bringing perpetrators to justice, and both candidates’ campaigns highlight that key aspect of the job, but Pletcher says that the relationship “has to be a bit of an arm’s length relationship” when it comes to investigating police misconduct. That’s exactly right.

This is not to say that Frugoli has a too-cozy relationship with the police or that there’s anything in her campaign that would indicate a bias toward cops—except for the raft of endorsements she’s gotten from law enforcement agencies. Frankly, we’d be entirely comfortable with either of these strong female candidates taking the reins with Berberian’s retirement. But we’re leaning in the direction of Pletcher because of what we see as a pretty strong independent streak when it comes to how she perceives the district attorney’s relationship with local law enforcement.

Posted in Endorsement, Pacific Sun