Law and ardor

Ganging up: Yolo County Deputy District Attorney Jeff Reisig, mastermind behind the West Sacramento gang injunction, is about to put another notch in his briefcase.

Back in February, Woodland Police arrested 20-year-old Jose Manuel Fierro for a tagging spree that police Sgt. Dan Letamendi said resulted in an estimated $3,000 worth of damage.

Reisig, who hopes to get elected as Yolo County district attorney in June by making an example of Latino youths, tacked on a special “gang enhancement” to Fierro’s graffiti and vandalism charges. Fierro now faces up to seven years in state prison.

In a press release, District Attorney-wannabe Reisig said, “Our unit … will aggressively pursue and prosecute any individual who commits such acts and we will seek the maximum penalties provided by law, including prison.”

Bites thinks seven years in the can is a little steep considering that Ryan Daniel Lewis, a supporter of the so-called eco-terrorism group Earth Liberation Front, was sentenced to just six years in federal prison for placing firebombs in several buildings in Placer and Amador counties and causing $243,000 worth of damage.

Reisig, who prefers for reporters to just stick to the press releases, didn’t return Bites’ call for comment.

None of the above: The filing period for the June primary election has come and gone, and Undersheriff John McGinness still has no serious opponents in the race for sheriff. Sure, there’s last-minute entry Bret Daniels, who seems sheriffy enough. But Daniels, a former deputy and Citrus Heights City Council member, got fired from the sheriff’s department a while back. Daniels said it was retaliation for running a failed campaign against current Sheriff Lou Blanas (his first of two). Blanas said it was because Daniels is a goofball who lied to internal-affairs investigators.

Either way, it’s just too much baggage to mount a serious challenge to McGinness, which is why Bites is officially beginning a campaign as a write-in candidate for sheriff. Bites is eminently qualified because Bites has never been fired—from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Also, Bites is handy with a Taser and can cook a mean “loaf”—made from leftovers pureed together in a blender and then baked—a dish we understand is very popular at the main jail.

Still, Bites could be persuaded to endorse a better candidate, if one emerges. What about public defender Tommy Clinkenbeard? That would liven things up down on I Street. What about SN&R cover boy Bob Moricz? Talk about scared straight. Send your nominations for a write-in candidate for sheriff to <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> </script>.

A series of unfortunate events: Embattled Representative John Doolittle just can’t catch a break. Bites once assumed the Roseville Republican didn’t know Jack, but that was before Doolittle’s longstanding friendship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff was revealed. OK, so he knew the guy; took $130,000 in campaign donations from him; and put in a good word for the Mississippi Band of Choctaws, one of Abramoff’s many American Indian casino clients, even though Doolittle himself says he abhors gambling. So frickin’ what? Doolittle has gone so far as to invite U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to investigate him. Would a guilty man do that, knowing Gonzales’ reputation for fairness and impartiality? Hardly!

But, you say, what about Doolittle’s longstanding relationship with Mitchell Wade and Brent Wilkes, co-conspirators in the Representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham case, as recently reported in the San Diego Tribune’s award-winning and ongoing investigation of the convicted Southern Californian Republican? OK, so Wilkes gave $118,000 to Doolittle, more than even Duke received, while Doolittle used his position on the House Appropriations Committee to wrangle $37 million in military contracts for Wilkes. Merely a coincidence, as is the $14,400 Doolittle’s wife, Julie, received in commission for Wilkes’ campaign contribution. And why drag Julie into this anyway? Ever heard of family values?

Adding insult to injury was the envelope full of white powder that mysteriously appeared in Doolittle’s Granite Bay office two weeks ago. The anthrax turned out to be phony, but you can’t be too careful. Bad things just always seem to happen to good people.