District attorney?s race: Fireworks start as candidates lash out
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?My question is how can she be tough on crime when she?s being actively supported by the families of Sherri Mathis and Josh Jacobs, both of who are charged with murder, and the last of which is facing the death penalty,? said District Attorney Dale Potter during a candidate forum Tuesday before McMinnville?s Noon Exchange Club. ?The sign is in their yard. Go look.?
Democratic challenger Lisa Zavogiannis denied Potter?s claim, noting she understood Potter had called the families of the victims and told them she was being supported by the alleged murderers families. Mathis is charged with the death of a 6-year-old girl who died in her care, while Jacobs is charged with raping and murdering an 89-year-old neighbor in the Centertown area.
?I?ve never even met the Jacobs family as far as I know,? Zavogiannis responded.
While Potter leveled questions of Zavogiannis? support, she countered by questioning the high turnover rate within the district attorney?s office, suggesting his office has also come up short in child support issues.
?Between 1998 and 2002, there was a turnover of 38 in his office,? Zavogiannis said. ?How can you run an effective office without experienced personnel??
Potter said he was unsure the numbers, but said the 38 is not incredibly high given the low rate of pay offered by the state for workers in the child support office. He added much of his staff, such as assistants Tom Miner and Larry Bryant, have pretty much been there his entire term.
?During 1996 and 1997, the district attorney?s office was considered the best office in the state in collections of child support,? Zavogiannis said, using the last years of former district attorney Bill Locke as her example. ?I will work to get us back to that.?
Potter countered by noting in 1998 there was $2.2 million in child support collected in the district and last year there was $3.8 million.
Prior to the fireworks between the rivals, both laid out their plans for the office.
Zavogiannis said she has overcome long odds since growing up a poor farm girl, saying she will fight hard for the people of this district.
?I intend to be the best DA this district has ever known,? Zavogiannis said. ?I am a fighter. I will work nonstop to see you receive justice.?
Zavogiannis added the drug problem is one of the overwhelming issues facing the area.
?I?m tired of our community being the epicenter of meth,? Zavogiannis said.
Potter touted his nearly eight years on the job.
?We have a great working relationship with law enforcement, perhaps the best ever here,? Potter said. ?There are no unsolved murders in Warren or Van Buren County which have occurred since I?ve been in office.?