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Van Zandt turns up campaign heat |
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By Carolyn
R. Saraspi About 30
people braved yesterday's chilly winds and showed up at a Corte Madera
barbecue to launch the campaign of Marin County district attorney candidate
and Mill Valley resident Tom Van Zandt. With his wife, Patience, and
four children on hand, Van Zandt grilled ribs and hamburgers at Corte Madera
Town Park while fielding questions from voters wanting to know more about the
patent attorney who is vying for the county's top prosecutor job held by Paula
Kamena. "Kamena just wants to
dismiss me as someone fresh out of law school," said Van Zandt, 37.
"I wasn't born a patent attorney. I'm not only fully capable, but willing
to do the job Paula Kamena is not willing to do." A simple majority is all
Van Zandt needs to unseat Kamena in the May 22 special recall election. Van
Zandt is Kamena's only opponent. Van Zandt is the brother of
Carol Mardeusz, a Novato woman who was convicted of attempting to take custody
of her own daughter in violation of a court order. Her case sparked the recall
campaign against Kamena and four county superior court judges. This was the first public
event at which Van Zandt introduced himself to voters. Many attendees were
friends and family as well as supporters of medical marijuana - about which Kamena's
policy has come under fire - and reform of the family court system. A few came
to meet Van Zandt for the first time. "Tom is committed to
restoring the confidence in local law enforcement and government," said
Cindy Ross, a friend of Mardeusz who is a director of the National Alliance
for Family Court Justice. "He has an awful lot
of integrity and he's committed to straightening some things out," Ross
said. Most people interviewed
yesterday seemed more eager to talk about why Kamena should be recalled than
if or why they support Van Zandt. "I find it abhorrent
the extent to which Ms. Kamena chooses to prosecute things that ought not to
be, and ignore things that should be," said Sanford Gossman of San
Rafael. "I'd like to talk to (Van Zandt) about his positions on issues
and his plans for the remainder of his campaign. If I hear from him things
that connect with my beliefs, then I'll support him." Van Zandt said the focus of
his campaign is on Kamena's record and the district attorney "not doing
her job," but didn't cite specific incidents. If elected, Van Zandt said
he would concentrate on keeping "political influence" out of the
DA's office and address "corruption in the family law court." In response to criticism
that he is inexperienced in criminal law, Van Zandt said he has decades of
experience in government administration, including work as an arbitrator in
labor relations when he was in the U.S. Air Force. Many of the cases he handled
involved employee violence and terrorist threats that he said would be
criminal cases in the civilian court. Last week, a group of Marin
police chiefs demanded Van Zandt remove official shields of area law
enforcement agencies from his Web site, www.tomvanzandt.com. The chiefs said
the use of the shields implied the agencies endorsed Van Zandt. "In no way did I
intend to imply the endorsement of police," the candidate said yesterday.
"What I was trying to show was my support for the police in Marin County."
He added that the shields have been taken off his site. Van Zandt said he is
willing to participate in a debate that a local cable channel hopes to air
April 25. He said he is not sure if Kamena has agreed to participate. Email
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