Dawn Crawford vs Dirty County Politicians and  Officials

A San Bernardino County judicial candidate lists a Grand Terrace address on her election materials -- a rented $182 post office box inside a Mail Mart U.S.A. store.

Los Angeles County election records show that Bridgid "Briye" McCann, 42, lives in San Dimas, about 25 miles west of the Fontana courtroom where she works as a San Bernardino County deputy district attorney.

"Nobody is being deceptive," said Kimberly Davidson Morgan, McCann's campaign manager. "Deputy district attorneys are very protective of their addresses."

McCann did not return a phone call seeking comment.

McCann is one of three candidates vying for a San Bernardino County Superior Court bench seat being vacated by retiring Judge James Dorr.

The winner will serve a six-year term beginning in January.

California once had a law saying judges had to live in the county where they held office, said Mary Lou Mongar, a San Bernardino County elections official.

But in 1999, a Placer County judge ruled that the residency requirement was unconstitutional, Mongar said. California formally repealed the law the following year, she said.

"The residency requirement went away," Mongar said. "There is nothing in writing now."

Unlike other elected offices in San Bernardino County, such as the Board of Supervisors, Superior Court judges hold state-level posts so they can live anywhere in California.

But hometowns can attract voters to a candidate, said Barbara Morris, a University of Redlands government professor and political campaign expert.

"If everything's equal -- money, experience -- then hometown will be a significant variable," Morris said. "People will care."

McCann's address in Grand Terrace, listed on her résumé as well as on other election forms, is a rented post office box at Mail Mart U.S.A, a small building near Mount Vernon Avenue and Barton Road.

Davidson Morgan, who works for Davidson/St. Pierre Consulting in Riverside, said last week thatshe chose the Grand Terrace address, not McCann, because it's conveniently close to her veterinarian. Davidson Morgan declined to say where she lives.

Unlike McCann's opponents -- private defense attorneys James Gass and Ben Echols -- McCann is not a registered voter in San Bernardino County.

McCann first registered to vote in Los Angeles County in 1992, said Grace Chavez, a spokeswoman for that county's register-recorder/county clerk.

San Bernardino County election records list Gass, 46, as a Redlands resident and Echols, 72, as an Apple Valley resident. Both are Republicans.

Los Angeles County records show that McCann declined to state her political affiliation, Chavez said last week.

Davidson Morgan said standard practice among campaigns is to list a post office box as a mailing address, partially to avoid disclosing a home or office that might attract stalkers or revenge seekers.

McCann has prosecuted crimes involving drugs and gangs since she started working as a San Bernardino County prosecutor in 1991, her biography says.

In that time, McCann's campaign literature says she started the Family Violence Unit in Fontana and spent a decade prosecuting crimes against children.

McCann has received endorsements from a half-dozen police departments as well as her boss, District Attorney Michael Ramos.

Echols, Gass and McCann will appear on the June 3 ballot. The top two vote-getters will compete in a Nov. 4 runoff unless one of the three receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

Reach John F. Berry at 909-806-3058 or jberry@PE.com