Neil Rombardo
Name: Neil Rombardo
Age: 34
Hometown: Carson City
Occupation: Senior Deputy Attorney General
Family: Married with two children
Political Background: This is my first political campaign
What improvements would you like to see at the district attorney's office?
Since I announced my candidacy in January, I set forth my plan on improving the Carson City District Attorney's Office in the following areas:
1) I will work to improve the relationship between the District Attorney's Office and the Sheriff's Office by working closely with the sheriff and his deputies. I will expect the deputy district attorneys to treat the deputy sheriffs with respect and provide them with the information necessary to make arrests that will lead to successful prosecutions;
2) I will insist upon a victim sensitive approach to prosecution by first implementing vertical prosecution, which means one prosecutor will handle a case from beginning to end, as opposed to the current method of multiple prosecutors handling the same case, which creates confusion for the victim. I will also address victims' needs by adding a victims' advocate position to the office; and
3) I will aggressively fight the drug problem plaguing Carson City by increasing outreach methods to children and teens to absolutely prevent drug use from the beginning, by rehabilitating non-violent users, and by creating a zero tolerance policy for drug traffickers.
These improvements will create efficiency in the district attorney's office resulting in increased prosecutions.
What sets you apart from your opponent?
There are several differences between my opponent and myself.
First and foremost, I have more experience in both criminal law and as a public lawyer. I have prosecuted securities fraud cases, deceptive trade practice crimes, domestic violence, DUI, stalking and code-enforcement cases. I have been a dedicated public lawyer for eight years as of this December.
Second, I am more committed to the position. I announced my candidacy in January, and I was willing to take on a 20-year incumbent for this position.
Third, I stand for progress. I have a platform and a plan for improving the Carson City District Attorney's Office, all of which has been in place since January of this year. I will not accept the status quo, and I am absolutely committed to making the changes needed to improve the district attorney's office.
Finally, I have received the following endorsements:
-Carson City Sheriff's Protective Association,
-Carson City Fire Fighters Association, Inc.,
-Police Officers' Research Association of Nevada,
-Washoe County Sheriff's Deputies Association,
-Nevada Corrections Association,
-California Narcotics Officers Association, and
-Carson City Bipartisan Political Action Committee.
To my knowledge, my opponent does not have any endorsements.
Contact information:
(775) 450-3951
neil@neil4ccda.com
Name: Mike Suglia
Age: 56
Hometown: I was born at Bethesda, Md., Naval Hospital and lived on the East Coast until I was 24 when I moved to Arizona. Carson City is now my hometown.
Occupation: Carson City Senior Deputy District Attorney
Family: My wife, Denise, and I have been together for over 30 years
Political background: I decided to file as a candidate for the office of district attorney and directly participate in the political process for the first time because I believe Carson City is a wonderful place to live. We must work hard to keep our community safe and livable.
What improvements would you like to see at the district attorney's office?
The Sheriff's Department Gang Unit and the prosecutors need to regularly exchange information to ensure more effective prosecution of gang members and affiliates.
The DA's office must make changes in the scheduling of criminal case assignments so that prosecutors have additional time to prepare for trials. This will improve the prosecutor's ability to discuss the case with police officers, witnesses and victims prior to trial.
Once a prosecutor begins a case, the same prosecutor should continue to handle it to resolution. At the same time we need to be flexible enough to realize that when 80-120 matters are handled in court each week, there may be times a case will be handled by a different prosecutor. The judges will not grant continuances, nor should cases be delayed, just because an attorney is home sick, on leave or has a trial in another courtroom.
I will work diligently to obtain funding for a full-time, fully funded domestic violence prosecutor trained to bring these cases to trial or to a guilty plea as required by law. This particular crime can destroy the victim's self esteem and, when witnessed by children, perpetuate the violence to the next generation.
What sets you apart from your opponent?
I consider my extensive legal career and life experiences great assets. I have nearly five years experience in the D.A.'s office and understand how our government functions. I served as general counsel to Nevada's largest passenger transportation carrier, resolving hundreds of personal injury claims, appearing before the Public Utilities Commission and other regulatory agencies, and advising the Board of Directors. I also worked for the State Bar of Nevada and in private practice as a litigator and arbitrator.
I have a realistic understanding of the job and will not make promises I cannot keep.
My opponent claims he will accomplish "absolute prevention" of all drug use by children, "protect children from bullies" and "crack down on school violence." These are laudable goals but so are ending poverty, homelessness and hunger.
The problem with these claims is that my opponent is not running for school trustee or principal. The trustees and their administrators have statutory authority over the schools and are the front line professionals who deal with these issues.
I will work together with our educators to improve our school system, but I defer to their expertise in operating schools.
Contact information:
(775) 841-7128
suglia4ccda@sbcglobal.net