Is DA Dan Dow a prosecutor or a politician? It’s getting tougher to tell

We haven’t always agreed with District Attorney Dan Dow, yet we respect and appreciate the work he is doing as the county’s chief prosecutor.

But we don’t support the way he has inserted himself into a nasty partisan race for county supervisor.

He’s gone far beyond a straight-forward endorsement of the challenger, Dr. Bruce Jones, to align himself with a sleazy campaign of lies and innuendos targeting incumbent Bruce Gibson.

Granted, the campaign against Gibson was bound to get down and dirty — a local Republican official acknowledged that from the start.

We just didn’t expect the county’s district attorney to join the partisan brawl by donating $25,000 from his campaign fund to Back the Badge, a political action committee that’s more about smearing candidates than supporting law enforcement.

Dow’s contribution, together with other donations, is funding campaign ads that twist the truth beyond recognition. Gibson is portrayed as a man who is “dangerous” to the county, who advocates “defunding” police and votes to deny law enforcement needed resources.

Its Facebook ads use bogus crime-scene imagery that clearly doesn’t come from this county to fearmonger about the supposed threat Gibson poses to your safety.

Among other false “evidence,” the ads bring up Gibson’s 2020 vote to trim the sheriff’s budget by $1 million.

They omit pertinent facts: This was during the height of the COVID crisis when county staff anticipated a budget shortfall between $32 million and $56 million; public safety budgets were cut only 1%, compared to 4% for other departments; and two conservative members of the board, John Peschong and Lynn Compton, voted with Gibson to approve the budget.

It’s a tired political trope — making it appear that one member of a board or council is solely responsible for a decision when it requires a majority to get something passed.

Then again, this campaign really isn’t about Gibson’s voting record on law enforcement issues. Claiming Gibson is “pro-crime” is a smokescreen designed to help Jones, a weak candidate, get elected so conservatives can maintain their majority on the Board of Supervisors and their grip on the county.

In that respect, this is just another offensive in the battle that began with approval of the gerrymandered redistricting map and will culminate in Tuesday’s vote to decide which side holds sway in the supervisors chamber.

As it was a year ago, this is about that perpetual power grab, and nothing more.

Dow’s response

Dow has dodged questions about the ethics of funding a campaign based on falsehoods.

He gave this brief written statement to a Tribune reporter:

“As the county’s top law enforcement official, I support the election of candidates who consistently make neighborhood safety the top priority of local government. My campaign committee’s financial contribution to Back the Badge PAC was made for that same purpose.”

But Dow’s money wasn’t spent to “support” Jones, but rather, to attack Gibson by spreading grossly misleading information.

Dow should have been well aware of the PAC’s tactics; Back the Badge waged a similarly dirty campaign against Jimmy Paulding, who defeated Lynn Compton in the June primary. Paulding was portrayed as a Roman emperor — complete with laurel wreath — and falsely accused of voting to increase taxes 15 times on the Arroyo Grande City Council. Never mind that city councils can’t unilaterally raise taxes.

A ‘warrior for the right’

Dow has never attempted to downplay his ties to the Republican Party, and the local GOP has embraced him in return. In the last election, it glowingly endorsed him as a “warrior representing our interests at the state level and county level.”

He appears at Republican events and has made no secret of his strongly conservative values. During the COVID pandemic, for instance, he declared San Luis Obispo “a sanctuary county for worship and praise” and said he would not enforce a ban on singing in church — even though it was known that singing indoors was a prime way to spread the virus.

But trashing a sitting member of the Board of Supervisors — a board that has the final say over the district attorney’s budget, by the way — is a major escalation of dirty politics. It plays right into the us-versus-them mentality, which is the last thing we need given fears about political violence.

Think about it: In the interest of neighborhood safety, shouldn’t law enforcement officials try to calm the volatile situation, rather than stirring it up with more false rhetoric?

If Dow can’t remain politically neutral, the least he can do is be respectful.

If not — if our district attorney feels compelled to enter the partisan trenches — then he’s in the wrong office. Perhaps he should set his sights on Congress or the state Legislature. Maybe that’s already crossed his mind?

In the meantime, San Luis Obispo County deserves a warrior for justice in the District Attorney’s Office — not a warrior for the political right.