DA, CHALLENGER CLASH DURING FEISTY DEBATE

Marin District Attorney Paula Kamena and challenger Thomas Van Zandt
engaged in their first face-to-face duel last night in a turbulent forum
marked by harsh accusations, outbursts from the audience and a
door-slamming exit by a disgruntled protester.

Moderator Greg Brockbank, president of the Marin Democratic Club,
repeatedly appealed for order as some audience members lashed out at
Kamena, who is facing a recall election on May 22.

About 80 people attended the event at Whistlestop in San Rafael. Both
rivals were peppered with tough written questions from the audience - which
was stacked with supporters on both sides - about Kamena's record and Van
Zandt's lack of prosecutorial experience.

"I have serious concerns about Ms. Kamena," Van Zandt said. "I'm raising
four children with my wife in Marin County. I don't want them to grow up in
a Kamena-like world."

"I have worked in the criminal justice system for 31 years," Kamena said.
"I absolutely refuse to have my integrity batted about by people who think
this is funny."

The recall began as a protest against several family-law judges. That
effort died out, but Kamena's name was attached to the recall by
medical-marijuana advocates who say her policies violate Proposition 215,
which legalized compassionate use in 1996.

Van Zandt, whose sister was indicted on suspicion of abducting her own
child after an unfavorable family-court ruling, then filed to challenge
Kamena in the election.

Last night's forum touched on the medical-marijuana and family-law issues,
but equal attention was paid to specific cases like Joyce Kennard, the
state Supreme Court justice who was suspected of drunken driving on Highway
101 but never charged.

"It was political favoritism at its worst," Van Zandt said. "This is
another example of political favoritism at the district attorney's office."

Kamena said the case was simple - Kennard had a blood-alcohol content of
less than .08, the legal limit.

In another exchange, Kamena, discussing her initiatives against identity
theft, asked the audience whether anyone had ever illegally used their
credit cards.

"Annette Rose!" someone shouted.

The reference to the county supervisor, who is also facing a possible
recall over alleged county credit-card abuses, was a prominent issue during
the 105-minute forum.

A notice of intention to seek a recall was filed by Rose's critics on Tuesday.

Van Zandt said the alleged credit-card abuses by Rose - and Kamena's
decision not to prosecute her - are evidence that Kamena is "twisting the
law" to protect her political allies and prosecute her enemies.

A county audit last year showed that Rose had accumulated $32,000 in
charges on her county credit cards over five years, including personal
charges such as $3,500 for cabinets from Home Depot. The personal charges
were made despite repeated warnings by the county Auditor-Controller
Richard Arrow.

"You know you cannot use public money for personal use," Van Zandt told
Kamena. "You know it's wrong, I know it's wrong, the Board of Supervisors
knows it's wrong and - most importantly - Paula Kamena knows it's wrong."

Kamena defended herself by saying the repeated warnings by the county
established an accounting practice that essentially permitted the spending,
making the case unwinnable.

"You need unauthorized expenditures," she said. "No jury would have
convicted for credit-card abuse."

Rose repaid the money, apologized and was re-elected by a wide margin in
March 2000.

Kamena tried to emphasize Van Zandt's inexperience - he is a patent
attorney who joined the bar in 1998 - and lashed out at him for helping to
stage a recall election that is expected to cost the county $500,000.

"I wish they'd shut up about the $500,000," Van Zandt told the audience.
"Twenty thousand people signed those (recall) petitions. If we have to
spend $500,000 to protect the integrity of our quarter-billion-dollar
(county) budget, it's money well spent."

At one point Van Zandt conceded that he has never tried a criminal case. He
also said he has no policy on handling medical marijuana cases.

"It's not something I walk around working on," he said. "I'll have a
position on medical marijuana as soon as I'm district attorney. I'll have
it the first week."