Troy Clements Tops Republican Party Rankings For Yakima County Prosecutor

Update DEC 10: Yakima County Commissioners will hold a meeting on Friday, December 12, 2008 to consider the candidates for Prosecutor.  A final decision is expected by December 26th.  See the story from:  KNDO/KNDU

This past Saturday, Republican Precinct Committee Officers held a special meeting to consider the candidates for Yakima County Prosecutor.  Troy Clements came out on top of the rankings with 17 votes.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Hagarty got 13 votes, Ken Ramm got five votes.  These rankings and PCO vote totals will be sent to the Yakima County Commissioners to consider when filling the Prosecutor position.  Whoever is named will then stand for election in November 2009.  In 2010, the Prosecutor will again be on the ballot, this time for a full four-year term.

I was at this special meeting, and also voted for the rankings, as Precinct Committee Officer for #1708, in Sunnyside.  Each candidate had mailed me a letter prior to this vote, detailing their interest and qualifications for the position.  In addition, each candidate had 15 minutes to speak to the PCOs at the meeting, with a five minute question & answer segment at the conclusion of their presentation.

Although 36 PCOs attended, only 35 marked a choice on the ballot for the candidates.  I was only one of the voting PCOs, and can not speak for others in attendance.  The opinions I am about to share are mine alone.  I was impressed with all three candidates, and feel each would be qualified for the position.  Now that the rankings have been made, the ball is in the commissioner’s court.

Congratulations are in order for Troy Clements, who garnered the most votes.  Clements, who like me is 33 years of age, was the youngest of the three men.  He mentioned that some people might consider his relative youth to be a weakness, but he said it can also be a strength as well.  Clements talked about the importance of attracting more young people to be involved with the Party, to keep it viable in Yakima County.  He discussed how juvenile crime leads to adult crime.  Clements mentioned that repeat offenders keep the Prosecutor’s office very busy, and would make getting longer sentences for them a priority.  He also stated that meth addicts need stricter sentencing and supervision to get them off the drug.

One story Clements shared that was very moving to me, was about an uncooperative witness in a gang crime of murder.  The witness would not testify because it was against his values, coming from the gang culture himself.  (Most if not all of the candidates mentioned uncooperative witnesses make it difficult to prosecute gang crime.)  Clements told of how he could not get this person to talk to him on the phone, or call his office.  Not satisfied with this, he tracked the person down himself, and eventually got him to testify.  The murder case is now going through the court system.  Clements said he would be the candidate most likely to get out of the office, and check on things in the local courts, as well as local neighborhoods when necessary.  He said he could not expect witnesses just to come to him, if he did not make an effort to go to them to secure testimony in important cases.

Clements also would like to see funds set up to relocate witnesses.  This would also help in prosecuting gang crime.  In the legislature, he would like to see more action taken on the Anti-Gang Bill.

Jim Hagarty stressed the leadership role of the County Prosecutor, and how important it is to have a chief that will demand performance from his subordinates.  He said the Prosecutor’s Office needs to have a strong policy of response to local law enforcement, letting them know quickly if a crime will be charged, or if it needs investigation.  Hagarty mentioned budget cuts will eliminate four positions in the office by 2010.  He feels that his prior experience as a County Prosecutor would best enable him to manage the budget and personnel of the office.

Ken Ramm had what I felt like was the best resume of the three.  His relatively low vote total was perhaps due to a weaker oral presentation at the meeting.  The candidates drew lots for speaking order, and by random chance Ramm was the first to speak.  He said that biggest issue besides budget for the office, is gang violence.  If selected for the office he would like to establish a Gang Unit that works across multiple courts to prosecute gang crime.  Currently, each attorney works on an individual basis to prosecute crimes.  He also felt that improving communication with local law enforcement should be made a priority.

Time will tell if the Yakima County Commissioners follow the rankings of the PCOs or choose a different candidate.  I wish all three the best of luck going forward, regardless of who is ulimately selected.

For additional information, see the Yakima Herald story: Clements Favored To Become Next County Prosecutor