Here are our last Sheriff and DA questionnaires, from 2003; note that they also need updating with regards to current issues. These will also be finalized at our Aug 6 CIWG meeting. Sheriff: 1. Please state your background and qualifications for Sheriff and why you are running for this position. 2. Do you support Supervisor Chris Daly's proposal to merge the Sheriff and Police Departments? Please describe any benefits or flaws that you see in the plan, and any corrective solutions that you might make. 3. Do you believe that the Sheriff's Department currently operates with excessive levels of overtime, and if so, why? Are departmental payroll and overtime practices economically prudent, and do you have any practical solutions for reducing staffing expenses and the work burden on departmental employees, particularly in light of current hiring freezes at City Hall? 4. Do you feel that there was any wrongdoing by the Sheriffs Department regarding recent allegations of the two women who were subjected to this procedure as recently reported in the SF Chronicle? What steps would you implement to ensure the civil liberties of those subjected to this procedure? Under what circumstances do you advocate the use of strip searches? 5. What funding sources would you explore in order to re-institute or fully fund rehabilitation and recovery programs that might have been cut under recent budgetary constraints? 6. Please provide us with a list of your current endorsers. 7. Is there anything else that you would like to add? DA: 1. What is your position on the death penalty? Under what circumstances would you pursue the death penalty? Do you think that three strikes cases with capital punishment should include any nonviolent crimes? If so, what prior crimes that are not violent should be considered in charging decisions? 2. What are your suggestions for police reform? Would you support Supervisor Tom Ammiano's proposal to give the Board of Supervisors the power to appoint four members of the police commission? 3. Would you prosecute simple possession of marijuana cases? What marijuana cases would you prosecute? What steps would you take to protect those who are providing medical marijuana from prosecution by federal authorities? 4. How do you define "quality of life crimes"? How would you pursue quality of life offenses such as prostitution, drug possession, vehicles parked in the middle of the street, aggressive panhandling, public urination, and sleeping outdoors? 5. In light of recent scandals, how would you pursue alleged corruption and wrongdoing in city government? 6. Now that many of the diversion programs are going to be cut because of a ten percent cut in the budget of the office of the district attorney and in the sheriff's department budget, what crimes are you going to make it a priority to pursue? Are you going to treat a break-in in the Marina the same as a break-in in the Bayview? JMC -- John-Marc Chandonia (jmc@sfgreens.org) http://sfgreens.org/