Richard Gammick
Washoe County District Attorney
P.O. Box 30083
Reno, NV 89520

On February 19, 2010 you announced your candidacy for Washoe County District Attorney.  Mr. Gammick you have served as District Attorney for Washoe County for 15 years.  A former police officer, you have run unopposed in the last three elections and you now seek a 5^th term in office.  In your announcement you said that you wanted to continue your fight against lawlessness at the “highest standard the community has come to expect.”

Well, unfortunately Mr. Gammick the community has come to expect less than the highest standards of you.  What the community has come to expect is that you will continue to act outrageous.  You have editorialized that you will continue to act outrageous.

In a North Tahoe Bonanza editorial you wrote that your outrageous conduct in securing a confession in violation of the United States Constitution would continue.  Mr. Gammick you secured a confession in violation of the United States Constitution in the Darren Mack case.   Mr. Gammick that is not the high standard that the community wants you to continue.  Darren Mack killed his wife and attempted to kill a judge and your recklessness made his confession inadmissible.  Shameful.

High standards should be expected by the voters.  Your standards have cost the voters a great deal of money.  Voters are also homeowners and taxpayers and Mr. Gammick you like to take issue with the property taxpayers of this County.   Why do you continue the fight against those who have already won twice before?  Is this to set a high standard that the community should expect?   Mr. Gammick you wage a war against the community of property taxpayers who stood up against you.  Why?  Your editorial never made that clear.

Mr. Gammick you should better respect this community and the taxpayers who pay your salary.  Your assault on the taxpayer includes even the Truckee River.   The Truckee River is polluted with chemicals used by dry cleaners.  PCE is a cancer causing agent.  The PCE pollution is being remediated (cleaned-up) by the taxpayers.  Mr. Gammick you were offered the services of a person who had previously succeeded in getting the chemical companies to pay for the clean-up in Modesto, California.   You said no.  The word returned upon the offer,  “the taxpayers are already taking care of it, it is not an issue.” $30 million worth of  taxpayer funded clean-up is an issue Mr. Gammick.

Feeling “safe” in our community sir does not just rest upon you putting away the criminals.  This community would feel more safe knowing that they have a District Attorney that looks out for their health and welfare in more ways than defining the good guys as cops and the bad guys as criminals.  The community needs to look in a different direction to find the higher standards that you mention.

I hereby advise you of my candidacy for the peoples’ office-Washoe County District Attorney.

Sincerely,

Kenneth  A. Stover

Three years ago, an environmental lawyer offered Mr. Gammick his services in litigating this PCE contamination against the chemical manufacturers of PCE.  He had previously filed a similar suit on behalf of the citizens of Modesto, California.  In that lawsuit the court ordered that the PCE remediation was the responsibility of the chemical manufacturers.   Besides being ordered to clean the water and rebuild the Modesto Municipal water supply, the chemical companies were ordered to pay an additional $100 million in punitive damages.

Mr. Gammick refused the offer stating that the Truckee River clean-up was already being financed by the taxpayers so it was not an issue he cared to address.  And this is the exact reason why the citizens of Washoe County will have to wait 30 years to have this chemical removed from the water.  Callous to the needs of the citizens and inconsiderate to the taxpayers, Mr. Gammick chose not to make our community safer.

As well, Mr. Gammick is involved in two federal lawsuits that have expended untold sums of money and time away from his responsibilities. The citizens of Washoe County simply can’t afford to retain Mr. Gammick.

If elected, I would not accept a county vehicle and I certainly wouldn’t want a red light in it so I could stop people for traffic violations.

That lunch conversation alone made the District Atorney a potential witness in the subsequent murder case. Mr. Gammick then communicated with Mack while he was a fugitive from justice multiple times. Mr. Gammick went on the Nancy Grace show while Mack was still a fugitive and advised her that he had 8-10 conversations with Mack. Those conversations could never be used against the defendant because of their illegal and unethical content. The judge called Mr. Gammick’s conduct “outrageous.”

And now, even today, Mr. Gammick defends himself and his conduct. He even promises the citizens of this community that he will continue to be outrageous. http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20091026/NEWS/910269992

As your next District Attorney, I would never act in a manner that would jeapordize a criminal investigation. Nor would I appear on shows like Nancy Grace to publicize any ongoing investigation no matter how high-profile the case may be.