Before Rio Arriba County commissioners even called the election official, Angela “Spence” Pacheco ran into her future home, the district attorney’s office, and handed out pink slips in the form of letters asking attorneys to resign.
A couple of the requests we all saw coming. A.J. Salazar and Joe CampBell ran against Pacheco and she probably didn’t think they’d be too supportive. Others may have needed to go or perhaps moved to different positions where they’d be more effective.
However, some are just jaw-droppers. All politics aside and forget about who supported whom for district attorney, why on earth did Pacheco fire David Foster, who was named the State Bar Association’s 2008 Prosecutor of the Year? Her answer: personnel matter, can’t discuss it.
Lloyd Drager is another questionable firing. He’s done some good work in the office, tackled some tough cases, some he couldn’t win because of poor law enforcement work, some because his boss Henry Valdez just doesn’t have the management and leadership skills to run a successful office.
Tom Banner had the guts and ethical compass to report former magistrate judge Tommy Rodella’s improper behavior to the state judicial review. You don’t find attorneys with that kind of intestinal fortitude and morals. Gone. Out the door.
Linda Lonsdale has been with the office since 1989. Many SUN reporters have come through the newsroom during Lonsdale’s employment in the D.A.’s office. She’s hard to talk to and harder still to get a quote out of but all the reporters agree she’s a good prosecutor and attorney.
To Lonsdale’s credit, she’s going to show up for work after Pacheco takes office and force Pacheco to fire her in person for no reason. The other fired attorneys should do the same.
The most puzzling change is the firing of office manager Shirley Lujan. We’re not familiar with her abilities and don’t defend them here. But replace her with Leroy Garcia? He was a work horse for the city but knows little-all about running the district attorney’s office. That will be a steep learning curve.
The blog on our website seems to run along political lines. They’re missing the point. Addressing the impropriety of Pacheco’s action and the huge hole left behind is the point. A house cleaning may have been in order but it should have been done properly, respectfully and over a time line that kept the office in some sort of order.
Some of these people deserved proper recognition for a lot of hard-fought battles and long hours worked while in a political snake pit. Some of them were doing the job because they feel a calling. Lawyers make a whole lot more money in the private sector. And you get to pick your clients.
To kick some of these long-time warriors to the curb in the fashion Pacheco chose is just classless and a little cowardly. A face-to-face discussion, a handshake and, “Thank you for your service and commitment,” was a minimal requirement.
We hope Pacheco has some sort of master plan that will make that office a crime fighting machine we desperately need in this part of the state. She’s starting off on a sour note and has a little making up to do to the public.