By REBECCA ADLER and BEN ANTONIUS/Democrat Staff Writers
Daily Democrat - April 07, 2006

District Attorney and Supervisor hopefuls faced off at the first debate of election season Wednesday night.

The talk, sponsored by the Yolo County chapter of the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill, focused primarily on mental health issues and the question of homelessness.

A long-running challenge for the Yolo County District 3 supervisor has been balancing community concerns with the need to provide shelter for Woodland's homeless residents.

Candidate Brenda Cedarblade pushed the use of "scattered site programs" around the city to reduce the impact on any single neighborhood. As owner of the Tack Warehouse downtown, Cedarblade previously battled to limit the construction of the nearly Yolo Wayfarer Center and has requested changes at Freeman Park, a frequent hang-out for transients.

"What I've seen, at least in Woodland, is 'Here's a neighborhood where we can get away with it,' and you put everything there," she said.

Incumbent Frank Sieferman Jr. and Woodland Mayor Matt Rexroad touted their accomplishments in office. Rexroad pointed to the Wayfarer Center expansion and Sieferman cited efforts spearheaded by District 4 Supervisor Mariko Yamada to find temporary homes for the cold weather shelter and charity meals program.

"NIMBYism is not a problem if you have courage as an elected official," Rexroad said, arguing that government has a responsibility to do what's best for the entire community.

During a question-and-answer session with the audience, the candidates were asked how they would engender good morale among county employees.

Sieferman suggested overhauling the current "top-down" employee evaluation system but his speaking time expired before he could elaborate.

Rexroad continued to advocate a business-like "CEO" model that would transfer much authority from the Board of Supervisors to the top non-elected official.

Cedarblade said the big concern for the employees she has spoken to was financial stability - in particular, the status of their retirement money and the threat of being furloughed.

In addition, district attorney hopefuls answered questions concerning the prosecution of those with mental illnesses and the possibility of a jail diversion program and mental illness court being brought to Yolo County.

Mental Illness Court, similar to Drug Court, would hear criminal cases of only those inflicted with mental illness and would find programs and probation answers, rather than sentencing the offender to prison.

Both Pat Lenzi and Jeff Reisig conveyed their support for such a court.

Lenzi, who specializes in sexual assault cases, said the best solution is "to keep the person stable in their community and prevent them from committing future crimes through treatment."

"Our jails and prisons, all facilities in the county are overcrowded and we need to look at other options," she added.

Reisig said a jail diversion program and the mental illness court would go "hand in hand."

"If someone is mentally ill and they're sent back to jail, that makes no sense," Reisig said. "It's in the best interest of the person and society to work out a plan and find treatment."

Both candidates said they are not aware of any policy in place at the District Attorney's office to guide in the prosecution of the mentally ill.

Lenzi said the District Attorney would make the decision whether to prosecute by looking at each case individually and she would recommend introducing a policy defining when a case should be referred to a mental illness court or specialist.

She said she's had previous experience in other counties working with criminals suffering from a mental illness and worked with probation officers to make an agreement which identified the illness and allowed for probation as long as medication was taken regularly.

This was the first forum for the District Attorney candidates. While both shared similar views on mental illness, they told the audience they differ on where they sought support in the community.

Reisig has received support from several law enforcement agencies and associations within the county, which he says is paramount to accomplishing the job of District Attorney.

"Without the backing of law enforcement, the District Attorney can't accomplish anything," he said.

Lenzi countered saying, "You don't want someone who is only the voice of law enforcement ... the District Attorney needs to be the voice of the community."

- Ben Antonius can be reached at 406-6233 or bantonius@dailydemocrat.com. Rebecca Adler can be reached at 406-6232 or radler@dailydemocrat.com.

Source: http://www.dailydemocrat.com/search//ci_3685020