Pacific County’s three-term prosecuting attorney is seeking a fourth term and is challenged by his former chief deputy prosecutor.
David Burke was elected in 2004 and has been unopposed in every election before now. His opponent Mark McClain is currently a deputy prosecutor for Lewis County.
Burke
Before moving to Pacific County, Burke was a professor of legal studies at Pacific Lutheran University in 1987, and a professor of political science at Washington State University from 1988-90.
In 1991 he took a job with Pacific County working for the public defender office and the Prosecutor’s office.
From 1994-2002, Burke handled civil matters for the Pacific County commissioners, helping with land use, administrative concerns, employment law and writing ordinances.
He was elected as Pacific County Prosecuting Attorney in 2002.
“I’m not campaigning saying changes need to be done,” Burke said. “I’m talking about what I’ve done and budget issues.”
Given the department budget, cases have been prosecuted appropriately, he said. “The budget drives what we do. We’ve done a lot with the resources we have. If we can charge a case, we charge a case.”
Burke said he prosecutes 200-300 cases each year.
Some cases can’t be prosecuted because they can’t meet the test of being proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and in other cases plea deals are given when appropriate (an example he gave was if the family of a victim doesn’t want to go to trial).
Easing the burden on local resources is a priority.
If it’s possible to get a prison sentence rather than jail time, Burke pushes for it.
“Our jail’s not big enough — it’s always full,” he said. “Whatever I can do to send someone to prison, I do.”
In addition, Burke is looking to punish offenders with fines rather than short-term incarceration.
Burke asked what McClain’s vision is — how will he get civil work done, how will he represent the entire county, how will he deal with other elected officials?
“I’ve been here since 1990,” Burke said. “There’s a lot of experience you lose if I go out the door.”
“My vision is more comprehensive and because of hard work we can get done the cases that need to be done.”
McClain
Currently the deputy prosecuting attorney for Lewis County, McClain was an adjunct professor at Central Washington University form 2002-2006.
In 2001, He became senior deputy prosecutor in Kittitas County and held that position until he was elected as a county commissioner in 2006.
While serving as a commissioner, he also had a general practice law firm that included land use, family and criminal law.
He continued the practice until he was hired as Pacific County chief deputy prosecuting attorney in 2011.
As deputy prosecuting attorney, McClain worked for Burke, brought on to help with high-profile murder cases.
This February, McClain left the position in Pacific County to take the Lewis County position he currently holds.
McClain hadn’t planned to run for office.
“We need a change in the prosecutor’s office, but I hadn’t thought to run until every police chief asked me to,” McClain said.
His solution for budget issues involves focusing the Pacific County office through partnerships.
“We can partner with another county, like Lewis County, who has a greater number of civil attorneys, so we can actually have more focused representation in land use areas and employment law,” McClain said.
In Pacific County, prosecutors are ex officio coroners and, again, a partnership would be beneficial.
“Lawyers don’t have expertise in the medical field,” McClain said. “We could partner with a nurse or a hospital and have law enforcement officers contact them and that way we’re ensuring that we truly understand why somebody died.”
Partnerships will ease the working load and thus the budget.
“We can’t afford three civil prosecutors,” McClain said. “It’s a matter of looking beyond our border.”
McClain has spoken with the Lewis County prosecuting attorney office about a possible partnership.
Endorsement is telling, McClain says.
“The most important issue in this race is why does every police chief endorse me,” he said. “I’m surprised that hasn’t been the focus of the race.”
Support and opposition
Those who support Burke tout his years of experience as prosecutor, his budget sense, and his years of residency in the county.
“David is a longtime resident of our county and a successful prosecutor for almost 12 years,” Sallie McKay of Long Beach said in a letter to the editor of the Chinook Observer. “He has provided justice for all the citizens of the county while saving tax dollars for the taxpayers.”
Burke’s opponents accuse him of putting the budget before justice.
“Prosecution, police, fire and a number of other things that protect our community cost money,” Kevin Colburn of Raymond said in a letter to the editor of the Observer. “Justice isn’t free and a just result shouldn’t be for sale.”
A case involving a government employee in which Burke prosecuted only one of several potential charges (misconduct and embezzlement charges) has been brought up by his opponents.
Burke says it’s another case of limited resources and time.
“If I had had another deputy, we would have been able to do it,” he said.
“Can I afford to shut down my office for a month? I needed one more body to handle the case.”
Burke cites a similar case in which the offender was prosecuted to the full extent of the law, was sentenced to 33 months, and was released to in-home detention after eight months.
Another concern was focusing all available resources on one case, he said.
“We are not set up to do month-long trials unless it’s for murder,” Burke said. “If it was a murder case, we would have dropped everything.”
Burke also would have liked to see things handled differently, but resources would not allow it, he said.
“It’s the only case in 12 years where I had not had the resources to get it done, and I’m not happy with the outcome,” he said.
“If there’s any implication that this always happens, it doesn’t — we put lots of people in prison and we do better than a lot of counties our size.”
More than 450 offenders have been sent to prison since Burke took office.
McClain has been publicly endorsed by South Bend Police Department Chief Dave Eastham.
In endorsing the challenger, the chief also has stated his opposition to the incumbent.
“My fellow police chiefs and I have done something unprecedented by publicly endorsing a sitting prosecutor’s opponent,” Eastham wrote in a letter to the editor of the Observer.
“This is not only a vote of no confidence, but a genuine request to our community for change.”
Opponents to McClain have accused him of lacking compassion for victims, prompting McClain’s mother to write a letter to the editor of the Observer upon her son’s behalf.
“He is kind, compassionate and appropriately hard on violent criminals,” Chris McClain of Placerville, Calif., said.
Political parties
While some have homed in on party lines, both candidates agree it’s not an appropriate argument given the duties of the elected position.
Opponents to McClain have pointed out that he ran as a Republican in Kittitas County.
“I did run as a Republican, but I don’t fit well into either party (Republican or Democrat),” McClain said. “I am indeed a middle of the road person when it comes to national politics.”
McClain currently is running with a non-partisan preference, and Burke is running with a Democratic Party preference.
Both candidates have said political affiliations are unnecessary for the position.
“These races should be non-partisan,” McClain said. “The parties should be in national politics, not in local politics. Are you telling me that a Democratic county clerk would do something different than a Republican clerk? I think everybody would agree that it makes no difference.”
Burke agrees.
“People have said all sorts of things on both sides,” Burke said. “I’m not much for character assassination. What we do is different from what’s being talked about,” Burke said.
The prosecuting attorney position holds a four-year term.
Registered voters will receive their ballots by Oct. 21. The general election will take place Nov. 4.
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