Friends & neighbors,
Next Tuesday the Yolo County Board of Supervisors will make a historic decision, appointing a new District Attorney after longtime right-wing DA Jeff Reisig suddenly stepped down last month. Word on the street is that in the name of “continuity” the frontrunner for the appointment is Acting DA Melinda Aiello, the lawyer Reisig put into the office’s number two position. It’s important for Yolo County residents to understand exactly what continuity of the past 20 years of prosecutorial leadership means for us.
If you’re not an earnest observer of the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, you might be familiar with Melinda Aiello from her Fox News appearances where she used her position as a leading member of our local law enforcement system to prop up Fox News’ divisive rhetoric. So if you saw Jeff Reisig’s MAGA tweets and thought we were getting away from that, we’re not; continuity means continuing to have right-wing ideologues leading the DA’s office. Or maybe you know her from the major murder trial she screwed up right before she became the acting head of Yolo County’s law enforcement system. So if you thought we were getting away from the incompetence under Reisig of dragging a mentally ill young man through a still ongoing trial for a crime committed 3 years ago, we’re not, continuity means continuing failed tough-on-crime policies regardless of how much our taxpayer dollars are wasted or how much public safety is compromised.
The best part of all of this is that there’s an alternative. The most recent Democratic Nominee for Yolo County DA, Cynthia Rodriguez of Winters, has put her name forward. Cynthia is an attorney with more than 40 years of experience in the areas most relevant to the work of the District Attorney. She began her career with over a decade of practice in criminal law, was a law professor at UC Davis teaching students how to handle appeals, then spent over 20 years in state government leading large agencies. In one budget cycle Cynthia was able to develop a new hiring method that saved California taxpayers $20 million, so she’ll be well prepared to reform the DA office’s bloated budget & ineffective prosecution. In the 2022 campaign Cynthia marshaled a broad coalition of support from labor unions, many local officials, advocacy organizations, & residents from every corner of Yolo County because she understands the needs of our communities.
If you, like me, are concerned about the price of continuity for Yolo County, if you, like me, want to see a Yolo County that is safe for all regardless of race, religion, socio-economic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status, or disability, a Yolo County that truly is as the signs say, “FOR EVERYONE”, I urge you to reach out to your Yolo County Supervisor & urge them to appoint Cynthia Rodriguez to be the next Yolo County District Attorney.
Oscar Villegas District 1 – (916) 375-6440 – oscar.villegas@yolocounty.org
Lucas Frerichs District 2 – (530) 757-5557 – lucasF@yolocounty.gov
Mary Sandy District 3 – (530) 666-8230 – mary.vixiesandy@yolocounty.gov
Sheila Allen District 4 – (530) 757-5554 – sheila.allen@yolocounty.gov
Angel Barajas District 5 – (530) 666-862 – Angel.Barajas@yolocounty.gov
” I urge you to reach out to your Yolo County Supervisor & urge them to appoint Cynthia Rodriguez to be the next Yolo County District Attorney. ”
No thanks, Melinda Aiello is the right choice.
That article wasn’t convincing. I kept waiting for the explanation of the implications of the implied examples given, and there were only like ‘MAGA bad’ sorts of hints. The picture with the ‘killer released’ tv caption didn’t explain who did what or why. And as the signs say, “FOR EVERYONE”, hasn’t proved proved true for my people or those who don’t lean far left. So let me say I’m spectacle :-|
Cynthia Rodriguez ran against Jeff Reisig four years ago. She received 41% of the vote compared to 59% of the vote for Reisig. She won only one precinct in the entire county. It would be politically hard for the Supervisors to choose someone who ran and lost as badly as Cynthia, and in doing so, they would upset the status quo.
If people are unhappy with the DA’s office they should lobby for an outsider to be chosen by the supervisors, but asking them to appoint someone, who was clearly not favored by the voters, is asking a lot of the people elected by and responsible to the voters.