Johnson County deserves strong new leadership in the district attorney’s office | Opinion
For those of you who don’t know me, I am Vanessa Riebli, and I am a candidate for district attorney in Johnson County. I am running against Steve Howe, who is looking for his fifth term in office.
Let me be clear: I respect Steve Howe. I worked in the Johnson County district attorney’s office as an assistant district attorney for more than 20 years, and more than half that time was under his leadership. He’s devoted a lot of his time and energy to the office.
After 16 years, though, Howe has lost his edge. He’s not the same attorney who entered the office in 2009, and his ability and drive to keep Johnson County safe and secure has diminished. I believe that it is time for fresh leadership that will reinvigorate the district attorney’s office.
Here is why I am the best candidate for that task:
When you work in law enforcement or as a prosecutor, you are faced with tough situations such as murders, overdoses and other violent crimes. It’s hard and stressful to handle those types of cases — and you want to know that you aren’t alone. You want to know that your boss is going to be in the trenches right alongside you.
That’s not the case under Howe’s leadership. In 16 years, Howe has tried six jury trials — three of which I worked on. You can’t inspire your employees — or support them during hard cases — if you refuse to do the hard work yourself.
Don’t take it from me. You can ask Howe about the 20 prosecutors that have left the district attorney’s office over the past four years — more than half his staff. This included four sex crimes prosecutors, the entire drug unit and multiple charging attorneys. He replaced many of these experienced attorneys with lawyers with less than five years of experience.
As an assistant district attorney, I worked difficult cases such as the She’s a Pistol gun shop murder, the Mr. G’s Liquor Store killing and the Roxy Bar homicide in Johnson County. If I’m elected, I would take on difficult cases myself because I would do anything to motivate and support my staff — and secure justice for victims and their families.
District attorneys also need to have strong relationships with law enforcement. The Fraternal Order of Police for the three of the largest cities in Johnson County — Olathe, Lenexa and Overland Park — endorsed me, instead of Howe.
The rank and file trust me because I was willing to pursue cases that Howe was reluctant to charge. I would not be afraid to go after criminals and those who seek to do harm to our community just because the odds of the case are not in my favor and it might damage my conviction record.
In addition to my strong relationship with law enforcement, I have worked as a criminal defense attorney for the past several years. This has given me an outside perspective on how we can improve the district attorney’s office.
Right now, a traffic attorney could be assigned to an elder abuse or sex crimes case. Without the proper training or support, we are setting up our junior prosecutors for failure under this system. I would rebuild specialty units so attorneys can be experts in what they prosecute.
We would create a transparent data dashboard similar to the one the Jackson County prosecutor’s office has so the public can view statistics and see the status of pending and active cases.
We need to increase access to substance abuse treatment and diversion programs to reduce recidivism and increase community safety.
These are some ideas I’d get started on when elected.
Despite what my opponent claims in his advertising, I am not running to advance a political ideology or secure power and prestige. I’m running because the Johnson County district attorney’s office has the chance to be the best prosecutor’s office in the Midwest — where community safety and security are at the forefront of everything we do.
But we can’t do that under Steve Howe’s leadership. I ask for your vote on Nov. 5 to usher in a new era of leadership in the Johnson County district attorney’s office.