William Fazio joined the district attorney’s race less than one week before the fil- ing deadline. After three pre- vious tries, the former pros- ecutor and long-time criminal defense attorney decided to run again after attending sev- eral debates and hearing from friends at the Hall of Justice.
“The reality is that the peo- ple commit crimes,” Fazio said. “We need someone to deal with that.”
Fazio earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at San Francisco State University. As an apprentice journeyman pressman, he attended the University of San Francisco School of Law at night and earned his law degree in 1973. He started his career at the San Francisco district attor- ney’s office in 1975 and opened his own criminal defense practice in 1995. As a result, he said, he brings institu- tional knowledge to the race.
Fazio did not support the sit-lie measure and said there are sufficient laws already covering those problems. He also favors decriminalizing all drugs, except those with inherent dangers, such as PCP and methamphetamines. Although he has prosecuted death penalty cases, he now believes that they do not provide closure to victims and would not employ a Special Circumstances Committee to advise him on something he would not seek.
Fazio said while prison realignment is more a concern for the sheriff ’s and probation departments, the district attorney should “reevaluate whom he’s sending to state prison.” Particularly in narcotics and alcohol cases, he said, “The DA should prevent people from getting into the system.”
Fazio would make “better use” of diversionary programs and design community courts that are “cheaper and more effective.” Individual prosecutors should adopt their local police stations and work out the problems that frequently crop up between police officers and district attorneys. Line prosecutors should also attend community meetings
convened by the police and get involved in local schools, he said. In addition, Fazio said he would better manage district attorney investigators to free up police officers to work their beats.
The challenge of the job is that there are “great young men and women in the office,” he said. “They need a leader. They need to be inspired. They want someone who has been there and done that—not unlike what [Public Defender] Jeff Adachi has done.”
While he has enjoyed his private practice, Fazio had “un- finished” business and decided for another run. “The time is right for me now.”
George Gascón grew up in a working class neighborhood in Havana, Cuba, and immi- grated to Los Angeles in 1967 at age thirteen. He learned Eng- lish and joined the U.S. Army. Afterwards, he took a job with the Los Angeles Police Depart- ment and rose to assistant chief.
As the office’s second-in-com- mand, he promoted reforms in the wake of the Rampart Division police misconduct scandal by revamping train- ing, teaching proper police procedures, and improving the CompStat crime data system. In the meantime, he earned a law degree from Western State University Col- lege of the Law.
In 2006, he was tapped as chief of police in Mesa, Arizo- na, where he successfully refuted Maricopa County Sher- iff Joe Arpaio’s erroneous charge that illegal immigrants were to blame for the rise in crime. He also achieved a 30 percent reduction in serious crime during his tenure.
In 2009, San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom appoint- ed Gascón as police chief and appointed him district at- torney two years later.
“I have moved public policy forward,” Gascón said. “You are not hiring a trial lawyer. You are hiring someone to lead and to manage the organization.”
THE BAR ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY 23
Photo by Pete Geniella
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