Our View

DA race should boost turnout

In 2006, Michael Madeira moved into the Centre County District Attorney’s Office vacated by Ray Gricar and has spent almost four years shaping it as his own.

His actions and performance are well-documented, and his record is the defining issue of this year’s most important race in county politics.

Does Madeira, a Republican, deserve four more years as the county’s top prosecutor, earning $161,000? Or is it time for a change in direction that would come with the election of Democrat Stacy Parks Miller?

Madeira’s top campaign issue is safety, pointing out that Centre County was the second-safest community for a second year as ranked by Congressional Quarterly Press.

Parks Miller takes issue with that ranking, saying only a few categories of crime are included, but her top campaign issue is clearly the overall record and performance of Madeira’s office.

In meetings with the Centre Daily Times editorial board, both stressed how they had experience that makes them best suited for the job.

Madeira said his three top priorities are convicting the guilty, getting involved in the community and standing up for victims. He pointed out the many demands outside the courtroom, answering the public’s questions and explaining the way the system works.

He takes issue with anyone terming the office’s well-documented missteps as “mistakes” and says his major lapse in judgment was not making available evidence in the murder trial of Andrew Rogers. That omission has the case scheduled for a retrial.

“I wish we would have turned it over,” he said. “It wouldn’t have made a difference and I can’t wait to present it.”

As for other missteps, he says they arose even though assistant district attorneys have experience — more experience, he says, than his opponent.

“The disconnect is most people don’t know what goes on in the courtroom. It’s the ‘CSI’ effect — TV is not what it is,” he said.

Parks Miller stresses her experience as a former assistant district attorney in Clearfield County and as a longtime defense attorney. She says she’s seen enough from Madeira’s office.

“Bad decision-making ends up in cases imploding in their faces,” she said.

She faulted Madeira for spending time out of town while serving on state boards and leaving the office unattended. She says assistants lack experience and judgment and that they’re not working in areas of strength.

Specifically, she faults Madeira and the office in prosecuting rape cases, which are on the increase in the county. Madeira, she noted, worked only drug cases before he became district attorney. “We have a DA who has never done a rape case,” she said, pointing out that she brings expertise in that area.

She questions Madeira’s priorities in what cases to pursue. She notes that Centre County has always been safe, and the issue in this election is “how well does the district attorney prosecute cases once they’re filed.”

Centre County voters will decide, with Madeira’s record after Gricar as the most visible issue. This race alone deserves turnout well above the expected one-quarter of registered voters.