Superior Court Judge Dolores Carr is the lone outsider in the
race
Gilroy – She is the lone outsider in a competitive race for Santa Clara County District Attorney, and Superior Court Judge Dolores Carr is hoping that will make the difference this summer.
She is among four candidates running for the top seat and entering the race with the support of numerous police and political endorsements and the only one with experience serving as a judge.
But interestingly enough, she never intended to run for the office.
“It had not been my ambition to be DA,” she said. “But I didn’t want to look back and say, ‘I could have made a difference.’ ”
District Attorney George Kennedy is retiring after 16 years of service, leaving three other candidates vying for the open position, including Chief Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu – who Kennedy is backing, Assistant District Attorney Marc Buller and Deputy District Attorney Jim Shore.
Both Carr and Sinunu have already established campaign Web sites. While Senator Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) has penned support for Sinunu, Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy and Gilroy City Council member Roland Velasco have endorsed Carr.
Carr’s campaign slogan is “Honor the Office,” and with more than 25 years experience in the court system, she holds the position in high regard and believes she offers the most balanced perspective for the job.
“I’ve been outside the DA’s office,” she explained. “I’ve been in private practice, I’ve been a judge. Coming in from the outside means I’m more invested in not keeping everything the same.”
For the past three years, Carr has served as Supervising Judge of the Superior Court’s Family Division, and in 2003, she developed a program providing services to children ages 5 and younger whose parents have a case in Family Court.
She is most proud of her work in helping establish methods making the system easier for families to understand and utilize.
According to Carr, 85 percent of family court clients do not have attorneys because they can’t afford it.
“To me it cried out for someone to do something,” she said.
She helped establish the Family Treatment Court, which supports parents recovering from drug and alcohol abuse to create greater family stability.
This past January, she was selected to develop the county’s first Unified Family Court, which is designed to bring all of a family’s legal issues involving children before a single judge.
Carr believes she offers effective leadership to the DA’s office.
“I’ve been in the system for 25 years – I have a reputation, I have a proven track record,” she said. “I think if the other candidates are elected it’s going to be business as usual. I just think the office could do better.”
If elected, Carr said she will work to improve community outreach and gather feedback on how to make the office better, and establish a liaison between the office and those who use it, from defense bars to victim’s rights groups.
“Most people don’t know who the DA is and why they should care about it,” she said.
She encourages people not to wait until someone they love is the victim of a crime, or arrested for a crime to learn how the district attorney’s office operates.
“I’m committed to public service,” Carr said. “I’m on leave without pay. I’ve given up my ability to run for re-election, so when I ask for a commitment from people to vote for me, they know I’m committed … No matter what happens, I know I made the right decision to run.”
To learn more about the candidates, log onto Carr and Sinunu’s Web sites at www.judgecarrforda.com and www.sinunu4da.com, and check with Smartvoter.org
as the election nears for additional information about Buller and Shore.
