DA RECALL FAILS

Marin County District Attorney Paula Kamena easily crushed an
unprecedented recall attempt yesterday by a stunning six-to-one margin.

Nearly 86 percent of the voters answered "no" on whether to recall
Kamena, saving her job until 2003 and easily defeating the campaign of
the only other candidate, Thomas Van Zandt of Mill Valley.

"I'm back!" Kamena declared about 20 minutes after the polls closed,
when the victory became obvious.

Contributing to the blowout was the fact that only half the registered
voters who signed the recall petition cast votes for Van Zandt
yesterday. That could add even more weight to the allegations that
recall organizers misled residents about the true purpose of their
petition.

Those allegations are the focus of a criminal investigation by state
authorities. The special election cost the county an estimated $500,000.

"This is a victory for the county of Marin," Kamena told a crowd of
giddy supporters at the Falkirk Cultural Center in downtown San Rafael.
"The voters have said they will not be misled and deceived into letting
the district attorney's office become a puppet of politics."

Van Zandt, who hosted an upbeat party for about 50 supporters at the
Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael, said his candidacy succeeded in
getting his cause before the public.

"The whole idea was to get the whole message of corrupt government out
to the people," said Van Zandt, 38, a patent attorney who works in Santa
Clara County.

Asked whether he plans to run for DA again in 2002, the next scheduled
election, Van Zandt only said: "I think the results of the election are
going to bring some good candidates out for district attorney."

Lynnette Shaw, the medical-marijuana activist who spearheaded the recall
movement against Kamena, said the campaign was still a success in some
respects.

"We've educated the public to the fact that patients are suffering and
in pain," said Shaw, the founding director of the Marin Alliance for
Medical Marijuana in Fairfax. "I wanted to wake them up. There's been a
reprieve for the patients throughout this process. If it stopped the
busts for six months, then the patients have been protected."

Turnout was 33.37 percent, in line with earlier predictions by the
county elections office. By comparison, last year's presidential
election drew an 85 percent turnout in Marin.

Kamena drew 40,777 votes - or 85.82 percent - to keep her in office.
Voting to recall her were 6,735 voters, or 14.18 percent.

Only 6,519 residents voted for Van Zandt. That was despite the fact that
Kamena's critics collected some 20,000 signatures on their recall
petition. Some 6,000 signatures were disqualified by the elections
office, but there were still just enough to force the recall election.

"Did people understand what they were signing? That's the question,"
said Michael Smith, the county's registrar of voters.

Kamena's resounding victory closes one of the more bizarre chapters in
Marin political history. The recall movement was originally launched
against several family law judges by residents who lost bitter
child-custody disputes.

One of those litigants was Van Zandt's sister, Carol Mardeusz of Novato.
Kamena's name was added to the recall effort because her office
prosecuted Mardeusz for attempting to abduct her own daughter in
violation of a court order forbidding her from contacting the girl.

The recall campaign against the judges fizzled out, but a group of
medical-marijuana supporters - led by Shaw - took up the cause and got
enough signatures to force yesterday's recall election against Kamena.
Shaw's claim was that Kamena's marijuana policies were too harsh and
violated Proposition 215, which legalized compassionate use of the drug.

In fact, Kamena's policies are in line with many other California DAs
trying to balance Prop. 215 against the federal government's prohibition
of marijuana.

Random exit interviews conducted throughout Marin yesterday revealed
overwhelming support for Kamena and considerable dismay with the costly
recall effort:

* At the San Geronimo Cultural Center, Rod Brown said he saw Van Zandt
on television and found him "really scary."

"I think (Kamena has) done a good job and I think there's a lot of
misinformation out there," said Brown, 55, an electrical contractor and
a former Fairfax planner. "Clearly, there's a lot of misinformation. I
think she's done the best job she could."

* At the Point Reyes Station firehouse, Sally Mays said she has
questions about Van Zandt's abilities.

"I don't think the recall is a valid effort," said Mays, 60, a
real-estate appraiser. "She's a competent district attorney and the
person they're trying to put in her place does not seem competent."

* At the Fairfax public library, Myra Ballantyne said the money being
spent on the recall is money that should have been spent elsewhere.

"I have a major problem with all this expense to recall someone, unless
she's terrible - and I don't think she's been terrible," said
Ballantyne, 48. "She hasn't really been in her position long enough to
tell."

* At the Bolinas public library, Roger Peacock said the recall effort
seemed unsubstantiated.

"I felt that Karmena, or whatever her name is, is doing a good job,"
said Peacock, 55, a building contractor.

But another Bolinas resident, 29-year-old Pamela Springer, said the
Mardeusz case compelled her to cast a vote for Van Zandt. Springer has a
4-week-old baby.

"I just think she should have done more," said Springer, who decided on
Van Zandt by reading the sample ballot. "Not that she's a bad district
attorney or whatever, it just seems like she should have done a little
more, made it thorough."