Festa Drops Out of DA Race

If, like me, you spent most of the weekend outside with a shovel, then you may not know that on Saturday, Rep. Mike Festa has withdrawn from the Middlesex DA race. I can understand why, since he got a late start on fundraising and was significantly behind both Sen. Jarrett Barrios and Gerry Leone who remain in the race. Not only that, but it seemed as though he was competing for the same voters as Barrios and that, I'm sure, made fundraising all the more difficult. Festa will instead run for reelection.

Both the Barrios and Leone campaigns released statements yesterday. Here is the Barrios statement:

"Representative Festa has long been a leading progressive voice in the Legislature and in his community. The support he received throughout Middlesex County proves that. In the Legislature I have been honored to work with him for marriage equality, affordable prescription drugs and crime prevention initiatives. In his new role as the Chair of the Criminal Justice Board of Directors, I know Representative Festa will continue to be an active voice in our state for sensible criminal justice policy. I look forward to working with him to make our communities safer."

And here is the statement from the Leone campaign:

"I applaud Mike on the spirited campaign he built and his contributions to his community as a committed and dedicated legislator and attorney. I hope Mike will continue to apply his talents, in ably and effectively representing his district as an impassioned voice for the communities of Melrose and Wakefield. Mike's efforts in the state house and his legislative contributions to criminal justice policy on both a local and national level are to be commended and, as the next District Attorney for Middlesex County, I would be eager to build a working partnership with him in the spirit of keeping our communities safe."

Today's Globe has a story on the DA's race that's a good summary of the contest as it stands today.

Middlesex County DA Forum

I just got back from the Middlesex County DA candidates forum at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. Andy from Mass. Revolution Now was also there, and hopefully he'll share his thoughts as well. The event featured all three candidates for Middlesex County DA, state Senator Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge), state Representative Mike Festa (D-Melrose) and former First Assistant US Attorney Gerry Leone.

The format of the event was a question and answer session, where each candidate was asked a different question. I think it would have helped draw a contrast between the candidates if they each had to answer the same questions. That would have made it more like a debate rather than a panel discussion.

First, a couple of impressions. I was impressed by all three candidates, and I think any of them would make a great District Attorney. This was the first time I'd heard Gerry Leone at all, and he certainly stressed his prosecutorial experience. He stressed the role of the DA to speak for those who can no longer do so, and rattled off a list of murder victims whose killers he brought to justice. The implication was that if such a crime ever happened to your family, you'd be glad he was the DA. He also touted his record in increasing diversity during the time he was responsible for hiring at the Attorney General's office and the US Attorney's office.

Leone also said something I didn't expect from him. He was asked about a shortcoming of the current DA's office, and he suggested that if he were DA, he'd have a post 9/11 summit. The problem, he said, was that resources were not being allocated in a smart way since the 2001 attacks, and that there needed to be multi-agency collaboration to improve this. As an example, he pointed out that 2/3 of the FBI agents in Boston are dedicated to anti-terror efforts, and since the total number of agents has stayed the same, there are fewer resources available to investigate other types of crime.

Barrios had to leave early, but he touted his work with the Senate Public Safety and Homeland Security committee. He also stressed that the job cannot be limited to just prosecution, but also needs to address the root causes of crime. That is, it's not just enough to be the DA in the courtroom, but you had to use your influence to reduce the causes of crime. He also spoke out against mandatory minimums for first time nonviolent drug offenders, since if an addict has no opportunity for parole, he has no incentive to enter treatment programs, and is therefore more likely to re-offend.

Festa again mentioned how the DA's job is one that's both professional and political, and he has experience in both worlds. Festa was asked about Criminal Offender Record (CORI) checks, and stressed that law enforcement should have access to those records, but others are not necessarily trained to read them. This can be a problem for non-violent offenders trying to reintegrate into society after they've paid their debt. Festa also was asked about how he would prevent gang violence. He talked briefly about his time in Somerville combatting the Winter Hill gang, and mentioned the importance of community involvement in anti-gang activities. In addition, Festa came out against mandatory minimum sentences, largely for similar reasons as Senator Barrios.

Thanks to the Suffolk Law Dems and the Mass. Democratic future for setting this event up. Hopefully there will be more of these in the coming months. Maybe even some of them in Middlesex County.

Lunch With Middlesex DA Candidate Mike Festa

On Saturday I was invited to lunch in Melrose with Representive Mike Festa, Democratic candidate for Middlesex County District Attorney. I was joined by one of the editors of The Alewife and a couple of Rep. Festa's aides. We discussed Festa's time as a prosecutor in Somerville and the connections he made there. We also chatted a bit about the state political scene in general before settling in on the Middlesex District Attorney's race.

Festa cited the high turnover of assistant DAs as a major problem with the current DA's office. The turnover rate results in not only a lack of institutional memory, but also a lack of continuity of service for victims and witnesses when cases get handed from one ADA to another. In addition, the ADAs end up with large caseloads, a third to a half of which tend to be routine cases such as minor misdemeanors. Those routine cases used to be handled by a police prosecutor, who now performs a mainly administrative function. If police prosecutors handle cases that don't require a law degree, the District Attorney's office can free up salary by reducing the number of ADAs and giving the remaining ones a raise. While I don't think this idea is something Festa can put on a bumper sticker, it strikes me as sensible and shows that he's thought not only about the law enforcement aspect of the job, but also the administrative aspect.

Festa's ability to speak to that administrative role is part of what he thinks will separate him from the other politically progressive candidate in the race, Senator Jarrett Barrios. While the two of them agree on many issues -- including opposition to the death penalty, community-based solutions to gang violence, and the importance of drug treatment in reducing recidivism -- Festa emphasized that, of the two, he is the candidate who has been "in the trenches" and who has "credibility" given that he's been in the system for so long. He also made the claim that his work as a defense attorney would make him an even better DA, given that he's spent the past several years scrutinizing prosecutors as part of his practice.

One of the big questions people have had about Festa's campaign is his fundraising. He mentioned that he raised $50,000 in the past three weeks, and that things have picked up since Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham) dropped out of the race. In addition, big-time Democratic fund raiser Steve Grossman has recently endorsed Festa, and he has the potential to bring in some serious donors. At the end of the day, though, Festa admitted that he'd rather have less money and a bigger field operation than more money and no one on the ground.

I haven't decided on who I'm supporting yet in this race. I find myself facing the same dilemma as Lynne. Here's what Festa had to say to that: If you want someone who comes at the DA's job from a purely prosecutorial angle, there's one candidate in the race for you. If you want someone who comes at it with purely political experience, there's another candidate in the race for you. If you want someone with both, then he's your guy.