Saturday, March 23, 2013 – 09:00 a.m.
A little more than two-years ago it was then-Superior Court Judge Paul Zellerbach who ousted Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco in a very public and heated battle.
Now it’s Zellerbach’s star that may be falling.
The next contest for District Attorney is expected to be a contentious race, according to a well-placed source familiar with the situation.
This week Senior Deputy District Attorney Michael Hestrin announced he will challenge his boss, Zellerbach, in 2014.
Hestrin, who also holds a leadership position within the Riverside County Deputy District Attorneys Association, will reportedly have the backing of the group. I’ve been told to expect a no-confidence vote, on Zellerbach, from the unions membership shortly.
The term “Highly-Respected” is used to describe Hestrin, a fifteen-year veteran, who has handled several high-profile criminal cases over his still-young career.
At this point, the Riverside County legal community is described as being torn between the two gentlemen.
Many local attorneys feel Zellerbach has been a disappointment. One source says Zellerbach seems to have not gotten off on the right foot, and has struggled during his first two years in office.
One key factor here? Prosecutor morale is said to be poor.
Out-raising Zellerbach will be a must for Hestrin, if he’s to succeed.
Stay tuned……
Zellerbach was always known as an insufferable jerk.
Zellerbach & his predecessor Pacheco are cut from the same cloth: Egotistical, arrogant, power-hungry, self-promoters who surround themselves with political cronies who, because they are “at will,” must do their bosses bidding.
This style of “leadership” has destroyed the morale of hard-working, ethical prosecutors, investigators, victim-witness advocates and clerical personnel — all of whom are simply trying to do the right thing for the right reason.
It is very unusual for an elected public official to be the subject of scorn from the public servants that work under his authority. But Zellerbach will be the exception as he will soon have to explain to the voting public why the people who work for him resoundingly, and overwhelmingly, gave him and his hand-picked executive management team an unequivocal vote of “NO confidence”
Zellerbach is his own worst enemy, just listen to him speak. He will become angry at nothing in two minutes. Jeff van Wagnen needs to keep him reined in. This campaign will be lost by these two clowns when the public hears them open their mouths….
Morale at the DA’s office is incredibly poor!! There exists an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. His own management derides Zellerbach in private and avoids him in public for fear that his incredibly short fuse will blow. Zellerbach avoids speaking or even looking at his own employees. Recently Zellerbach hired a consultant –on the taxpayer dime — to tell him to talk to his own employees and go to the office more often to actually meet with them. Seriously, he needs to be told to be a human being??
I love the “anonymous” comments left by a few disgruntled employees. Hestrin is good in trial, but so was Pacheco. Hestrin is nothing but a Pacheco clone. Zellerbach is a good DA and will still be there when all is said and done. Hestrin and his cronies in the DA union will be looking for new jobs!
Interesting that Anonymous #5 questions the anonymity of the previous commments but then posts anonymously themselves. I am wondering where this conclusion of Hestrin being a “Pacheco Clone” has come from? I have seen no evidence of it. I have followed Mr. Hestrin’s career and found him to be a very accomplished prosecutor. What is it that makes him a Pacheco clone? What I have heard is that both Pacheco and Zellerbach are similar — in that they both are/were slaves to their ego and that the office is suffering from poor morale due to their failure in leadership. What’s more interesting is that commentor #5 also indicates that the “cronies” working with Hestrin will be looking for new jobs. Why? If Hestrin is good in trial why would Riverside County have to lose him because he challenged his boss. I guess because the comments of “fear and intimidation” are true and one gets punished for not going along with the dictator.
In all of the time I have lived in Riverside, I have never heard of prosecutors not supporting the incumbent District Attorney. Why not support a District Attorney who is doing a good job?
On paper, Hestrin seems like a top quality, ethical prosecutor who would make a good DA. But that will not get him elected.
The question remains: Does Hestrin have the guts and political savvy necessary to take on an incumbent and the incumbent’s at will followers — all of whom will be fighting for their jobs and their pensions?
Time will tell.
Exactly Peggy — if Zellerbach was doing great, the prosecutors would be rallying around him. But, it appears that they are not. I would be interested in seeing what law enforcement is going to do. I am not interested in the elected officials because they all stick together but the street officers … what do they think of this guy?
I am a criminal defense attorney. I have appeared before Paul when he was a judge and dealt with him as a District Attorney. Either way, Paul is a poor leader with a hot temper. Mike Hestrin has my vote.
Joe, rest assured, Hestrin presumably would not have taken the career ending step of running against his boss unless he had already secured a wide commitment of support from many influential people and organizations, including the vast majority of DA employees, major county and city law enforcement associations, and respected county and city officials.
Hestrin would be well advised to publicize the depth of his support sooner rather than later. Once the voting public knows (if it is in fact the case) that Zellerbach does not have the support of his own employees, influential law enforcement organizations, and/or other elected officials, Hestrin’s chances of winning are increased exponentially.
I am a Deputy District Attorney who has worked under both Pacheco and Zellerbach. While neither were a “great” leader or boss, Zellerbach has been much worse. During the past years I can count on my hands the number of conversations I’ve had with him. And during each and every one of these conversations his ego has taken center stage. He simply does not care about his employees or (I would venture to say) the residents of the county. He is more concerned with the title and power.
In speaking with Mike Hestrin he at least he seems to have his heart and head in the right place. He can’t change everything overnight, and he can’t make grand promises without first seeing what he’s working with… But he comes from the place of being a human being, a citizen, and a prosecutor. Not a Judge who took a (in his words) “demotion” to be the District Attorney.
Words are cheap. If, as anon#12 states, Zellerbach is such a terrible DA, one would expect to see an indisputable affirmation of that claim by other DA employees. So, “Where’s the beef?
I work as a Deputy District Attorney in the Riverside District Attorney’s Office. I have done trials before DA Zellerbach when he was a judge and have had several meetings with him when he became a DA. As a judge, he was volatile and as a DA he is the same. I will add that Zellerbach has zero respect for any of his employees and does not speak to them unless he is forced to speak to them. I have been present in meetings with law enforcement detectives and watched him yell [and I mean yell] at his managers so disrespectfully that it was painful and embarassing to be in the room. I have heard him yell at his secretaries. He is mostly MIA from the office. His only true vision for the office has been talking [or obsesssing] about Rod Pacheco and keeping the title of District Attorney. Public safety or victim’s rights do not seem to be of great concern to him. I have watched him belittle and demote senior attorneys because he decided they were “Pacheco believers,” which means they did not support Zellerbach. A Deputy District Attorney should support justice and advocate for victims not have to swear an allegiance to a District Attorney to maintain their jobs.
If #15 is correct, one would expect that Zellerbach is going to turn up the heat on his at-will managers — his ADAa & CDDAs — to do his political bidding to maintain his power as DA.
So, what will these people do: Will they simply give Zellerbach lip service to his face, while trying, behind his back, to ingratiate themselves with Hestrin, in case Hestrin wins? Or will they put all of their chips on the table and go all out for Zellerbach hoping that he wins and they keep their positions of power?
Bottom line: Hestrin & Zellerbach better be aware of this dynamic, lest they be fooled as to who are their true friends and who are their enemies.