Dawn Crawford vs Dirty County Politicians and  Officials

The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles has done away with a specialized public integrity unit and reassigned about 17 lawyers to two other divisions.

But a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien said Thursday that the move will not affect the workings of the office and will not translate into fewer public corruption prosecutions in the district, which includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

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Student continuing effort against DA

COREY A. WASHINGTON
Staff Writer
Monday, February 23, 2004 - REDLANDS - It's not quite over.

After terminating her recall effort against District Attorney Mike Ramos, Dawn Crawford now plans to take another route to oust the DA.

Crawford said she will ask the County Board of Supervisors to take action against Ramos for allegedly violating the state conflict of interest law, the same law under which former supervisor Jerry Eaves was prosecuted.

Last year, the 32-year-old San Bernardino Valley College student filed a complaint with the District Attorney's office alleging she was a victim of racial discrimination.

She later discovered Frank Vanella, the assistant District Attorney investigating her case and head of the Public Integrity Unit, is a part-time instructor at San Bernardino Valley College.

Crawford drafted a petition to recall Ramos earlier this month, alleging his department engaged in corrupt activity. A week later she dropped the petition effort via e-mail to the county registrar of voters office.

Ramos sees no issue with his department's actions or method of operation in the matter, adding, "I see absolutely no conflict of interest here."

According to Ramos, Vanella does not participate in any policy-making decisions at San Bernardino Valley College, exempting him from such allegations.

Ramos' office also forwarded Crawford's case to two separate attorneys following her complaint about Vanella's role with San Bernardino Valley College.

"We bent over backwards giving her the benefit of a doubt," said Ramos.

Crawford feels it's not enough.

"I still want him thrown out of office," she said. "His office lacks integrity, the same thing their department was supposed investigate."

Crawford says she also plans to file a lawsuit against Ramos under government code USC 42 1985, conspiring with others to interfere with a person's civil rights.

"I feel like he is trying to blame me as if I did something wrong. His department is at fault," she said.

The situation began in 2000 when Crawford said her complaint about being the victim of racial slurs was ignored by the community college district board of trustees. Crawford, who is black, was kicked off the Associated Student Body Senate for "non-performance" shortly after she was elected by her peers.

"I had refused to perform my duties because of the degrading comments a fellow senator had made toward me," said Crawford in response to being removed from her student government position.

Crawford has nine civil lawsuits pending against administrators at San Bernardino Valley College. These suits also name three students.

But Ramos says the latest efforts to remove him from office will not steer him off course from his duties. Moving forward is Ramos' primary focus.

"My department is investigating about 6,000 cases right now. I can't take any more time away from the people in this county who deserve justice."

Crawford said she will attend the regular March 2 meeting of the County Board of Supervisors.