DA leaning toward not opposing motion for recusal
Blog note: this article references a civil grand jury accusation.
MARTINEZ — Though he did not appear at a Wednesday court hearing in a civil misconduct case against him, embattled Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer said through his attorney he would prefer the district attorney bow out of the case.
Kramer, the longtime county assessor who ran unopposed last year, is facing a grand jury accusation of making “sexual” comments multiple times to female employees in his department and once making an ethnic slur to a worker.
He faces a count of “willful or corrupt misconduct” and could be removed from office if it is sustained.
Both attorneys said they agreed Kramer need not show up to court on Wednesday, but Superior Court Judge Theresa Canepa seemed displeased by his absence.
“I understand you two had an agreement, but the court ordered him to be here and he needs to be here,” Canepa said, adding she expects Kramer, 68, to be present at his next hearing in July. Kramer’s attorney, Michael Rains, told the judge it was his fault Kramer did not appear.
Kramer told this news organization after the hearing his lawyer told him it wasn’t necessary to attend Wednesday. “I would have been more than happy to show up, but I was told I didn’t need to be there,” he said.
Rains said he may file a motion to recuse the Contra Costa County district attorney’s office from the case, but did not say why. If his motion is approved, the state attorney general would likely take over the case.
Deputy District Attorney Chris Walpole, who is handling the case, said after the hearing he is leaning toward not opposing Rains’ motion, but wants to read it first.
Among other things, the grand jury accused Kramer of telling one employee she looked “really hot” in a photo and referenced a vibrator around another employee. He also allegedly called that employee an ethnic slur and told him “white males would never vote for a (expletive) Mexican.”
In an interview earlier this month, Kramer forcefully denied the charges and said he was looking forward to his day in court.
“They claim to be the victims,” Kramer said. “I’m the victim here.”
Last year, county supervisors asked the grand jury to investigate Kramer after an investigator hired by the county determined he “more likely than not” made comments in the workplace of a sexual nature that the involved employees found unwelcome and inappropriate. Kramer insists he was “exonerated” of sexual harassment by that report.
Kramer, a former Martinez city clerk, was first elected to the non-partisan assessor’s position in 1994.
June 19, 2019
The Mercury News
By Nate Gartrell
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