A New Day. A New D.A.
5 reasons we need a new DA:
- Ms. Miller wastes taxpayer dollars that should be used to keep our neighborhoods safe.
- The DA insists on pursuing personal vendettas and filing frivolous lawsuits, wasting taxpayers’ money.
- Ms. Miller has been distracted by scandals and personal issues.
- The DA has politicized the office and put her political agenda over justice.
- Lohra Miller’s lack of leadership skills has caused a “brain drain” on her office.
In less than four years, Lohra Miller, quite simply, has made a mess of things in the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office. Hardly a few weeks go by before she’s making news again for all the wrong reasons.
You’ve read the headlines. You’ve seen the stories. Personal vendettas. Incompetence. Scandals and personal issues. Things that distract her from doing her job. And things that distract her office from doing what is really important: keeping our neighborhoods safe. Listed below are just a few examples of her continued lack of judgment and leadership in the office. This is why we need a new District Attorney.
1. Ms. Miller wastes taxpayer dollars that should be used to keep our neighborhoods safe.
- Three people on the payroll for PR for the DA? That money should be used for additional prosecutors.
(“D.A. hires broadcasting boss” – Salt Lake Tribune 12/8/09) - Thankfully, county officials rejected her request for looking at the feasibility of a $12 million to $15 million office in Murray.
(“County turns down D.A.’s offices plan” – Salt Lake Tribune 6/20/07) - In her first few months in office, she requested more than 50 new staff (a 25% increase) for a total budget increase of nearly $6 million for taxpayers
(SL County records)
2. The DA insists on pursuing personal vendettas and filing frivolous lawsuits, wasting taxpayers’ money.
- The firing of veteran prosecutor Kent Morgan (who ran against Miller for this office). Twice an independent council ruled that Miller not only unjustly fired Morgan, but also retaliated when re-instating him by refusing to assign him cases or let him appear in court.
(“Panel: D.A. retaliated” – Salt Lake Tribune 9/27/09) (“Newsline: Panel orders reinstatement” – Deseret News 9/28/09) (“Salt Lake District Attorney in trouble for retaliation against prosecutor” – ABC4.com 9/28/09)
- The recent case of DJ Bell, who was not only found innocent of kidnapping a neighbor by a jury, but left members of the jury asking how the $100,000 case went to trial, because it was such a “complete waste of taxpayer money.”
(“Bell’s jury indignant” Salt Lake Tribune 9/26/09) (“Kidnapping trial ends in acquittal” – Deseret News 9/26/09) - A West Valley case involving Gabi Idowu, a 24-year-old Nigerian student, who was involved in a fatal automobile accident but insisted he was not intoxicated. The DA erroneously filed charges while he sat in jail for three months, at taxpayer’s expense, awaiting toxicology results that showed he was not under the influence of a depressant.
(“After three months in jail, felony charges dismissed against Salt Lake man” – Salt Lake Tribune 8/27/09)
3. Ms. Miller has been distracted by scandals and personal issues.
- Using federal stimulus dollars to hire three attorneys who were let go by her husband’s law firm, thereby forgoing competitive-hiring practices
(“District attorney hires staffers her hubby’s firm let go” – Salt Lake Tribune 1/14/10) - Attempts to solicit support from area police chiefs for her decision to fire prosecutor Kent Morgan. All who received her email declined to comment.
(“D.A. sought support from cops against prosecutor” – Salt Lake Tribune 1/15/10)
4. The DA has politicized the office and put her political agenda over justice.
- Refusing to consider prosecuting against a Granite School District Police officer who shot and wounded an unarmed man
(“New, ex DAs clash on shooting case” – Salt Lake Tribune 1/13/07) - Inflating crime figures to artificially strengthen her case over budget requests with the mayor
(“D.A.’s crime wave a fantasy” – Salt Lake Tribune 11/19/07) (“Controversy Over Crime Stats Used for DA Office Funding” – KSL.com 11/20/07)
5. Lohra Miller’s lack of leadership skills has caused a “brain drain” on her office.
- Nearly 20% of experienced prosecutors have left the office. That’s decades of experience no longer there, because of what former employees call a “lack of leadership” and favoritism.
(“D.A. departures cause a stir” – Salt Lake Tribune 11/11/07) - She has created a hostile work environment for current employees, people who feel micro-managed with no real support, resulting in prosecutors who can’t work at optimum levels
- Morale is at an all-time low in an office of good people who are committed to public service.
The lists go on and on. Unfortunately, the bottom line is this: Lohra Miller has to go. Very good people still work in the District Attorney’s office. But the leadership is missing to help them be as effective as they can be. We need to restore the public’s trust in the office.