Primary election Q&A

Editor’s note: As the Aug. 16 primary election draws near, the Observer will publish profiles and Q&As from each of the candidates who will represent the area.

In this week’s issue, we profile candidates for the 12th Judicial State Attorney’s post.

In the race for the 12th Judicial District’s State Attorney Office, Republicans Ed Brodsky and Peter Lombardo will compete in the primary for a chance to challenge Democrat John Torraco in November’s general election. Longtime incumbent Earl Moreland is retiring.

Brodsky, who has worked with the state attorney’s office for more than 20 years, began his career prosecuting misdemeanor and juvenile defenses, such as DUIs and domestic disputes. After several promotions, he was named Felony Division Chief, before becoming the chief assistant state attorney in Manatee County. Today, he oversees day-to-day operations of attorneys and staffs at offices in Manatee, Sarasota and Desoto counties.

Lombardo, a former prosecutor who worked up the ranks to felony division chief with the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, worked for the attorney’s office from 1988 to 1996.

Lombardo has more than 18 years as a local prosecutor and five-and-a-half years as owner of the Law Office of Peter Lombardo.

Ed Brodsky
Age: 47
Family: I’ve been married to my wife, Kim, for 18 years, and we have a 14-year-old son named Evan, and an 11-year-old daughter, Alexa.
Hometown: Bradenton
Education: Associate’s degree in criminal justice from St. Petersburg Jr. College; bachelor’s degree in criminology from the University of South Florida; and a law degree from Nova University Law School.
Who is your favorite author: John Grisham
If you could meet anyone dead or live, who would it be: Abraham Lincoln
Website: edbrodsky.net

What would be your top priorities if elected?
My top priorities as state attorney will be multiple. To strengthen our gang prosecution, I’ll continue to partner with the office of the statewide prosecutor’s office. We currently utilize attorneys who work in conjunction with their agency, but we must increase the number of prosecutors who specialize in gang prosecution so that we prosecute gang members to the fullest extent of the law and to eradicate all gang violence and gang-related crimes working in partnership with statewide and in stand-alone fashion without them.

I also believe it’s important we specialize in white-collar crime and exploitation of the elderly cases. These are typically very complex investigations and prosecutions, and it’s important to have highly-skilled prosecutors tackling those cases.

I will also ensure that career criminal, habitual offenders and violent offenders are prosecuted to fullest extent of the law.

We must also be committed to being responsive to the needs of law enforcement and the community to address all quality-of-life crimes that bring down our quality of life, such as battling the prescription pill epidemic and the scourge of metal theft recyclers.

In Sarasota, I believe Newtown must be a priority, as well, for the next administration. I was also a part of a delegation of 12 that traveled to High Point, N.C., to study a model that has been implemented there and has seen a 54% sustained reduction in violent crime over six years. I joined members of the Sarasota Police Department, the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office and other city leaders in reviewing that model. I’ve spoken to Manatee Sheriff (Brad) Steube, Palmetto Police Chief Rick Wells and Bradenton Police Chief Mike Radzdilowski about possibly implementing this program here in Manatee County.

What changes need to be made in the State Attorney’s Office?
In implementing my goals on battling gangs, the office will need to continue to implement and expand the number of prosecutors devoted to prosecuting gang members.

We will also need to implement attorneys that are highly trained and skilled to go after white-collar crime and the exploitation of the elderly. In doing so, we’ll need to partner more closely with law enforcement during the investigative stages of prosecution to ensure better investigations and prosecutions.

We will also not condone any crimes of violence, and we must ensure that violent offenders are put away for the maximum amount of time possible. We must also seek maximum sentences for all career or habitual offenders.

We must also remain committed to going after those who sell, deal or traffic in prescription pills or controlled substances.

What cuts would you make if budgeting requires it?
Our prosecutors battling crime in the courtrooms and working side-by-side with our law-enforcement partners are our greatest asset. So, I believe it’s vital we do everything to protect our number of prosecutors, currently 72, and increase the number and not allow it to diminish.

To achieve that, support services and staff must be examined. We currently operate on 2007 funding levels, and I remain committed to providing maximum benefit to our community and being good stewards of your tax dollars.

What makes you a better candidate than your opponent?
I’m the only candidate endorsed by the law-enforcement community. I’m the only candidate who currently serves as a prosecutor because I’m passionate and committed to protecting and serving our community, and who has hands-on experience prosecuting serious crimes as a courtroom litigator, and who has the administrative experience running an office of 72 prosecutors, with a staff of 150 in four offices covering three counties. I’m the only candidate board certified by the Florida Bar in criminal trial.

I’m also the only candidate in this race who has had administrative responsibilities first overseeing the Manatee County office, and now all four of our offices in our three counties.

My job currently entails the supervision of all of our office, along with budgetary, policy-making decisions and the hiring decisions of the office. One opponent has never served as a prosecutor, while the other has not served in any capacity in six years.

I am also the only candidate endorsed by the three sheriffs of the three counties we serve, as well as the Fraternal Order of Police, as well as many of this community’s retired police chiefs.

I am also the only candidate with hands-on experience working on the implementation of criminal justice policies being implemented in our community by closely collaborating with our sheriffs, our chiefs of police and top officials in court administration. As such, I believe my qualifications and experience set me apart from my opponents.

Peter Lombardo
Age: 52
Family: Wife of 25 years, Maria; sons, Peter, 23, and Ryan, 19
Hometown: Norwalk, Conn. Currently lives in Manatee County
Education: Bachelor’s degree from State Leo College; law degree from St. Thomas University
If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would it be?: Ronald Reagan
Website: peterlombardoforstateattorney.com

What would your top priorities be if elected?
Prosecuting gang members and other violent and habitual felony offenders to the full extent of the law. We also need to start prosecuting white-collar crimes and those who prey on the elderly.

We also need to get drug treatment to those in need. If someone is arrested for a battery with no injuries and is never convicted of any crime, they are forever barred from getting in our drug court. However, if someone has been convicted of numerous felonies, such as burglary or grand theft, they are eligible to get into drug court in the future. That makes no sense and must change.

What changes need to be made in the State Attorney’s Office?
We need to have a local prosecutor handle all prosecutions of gang members under the RICO statute. Right now there are far too few gang members prosecuted under RICO. Assistant statewide prosecutors have tried five cases over the past five years, and two of those cases were reversed. We need an experienced prosecutor handling these cases, not prosecutors learning on the job.

Out of 20 circuits in Florida, our circuit (ranks) No. 18 in felony trial convictions. That is pathetic. However, in DUI trials, the conviction rate over the past two-and-a-half years is only 44%. These prosecutors need proper training in how to win trials.

What cuts would you make if budgeting requires it?
Stop paying secretaries $83,000 or more a year. This is more than most of the attorneys and has created a serious morale problem in that office.

We also need to have all supervisors handle case loads. Many supervisors now make well more than $100,000 a year, and they handle few, if any, cases. This will open the way for prosecutors specializing in white-collar, gang, elder abuse and drug-distribution cases.

What makes you a better candidate than your opponent?
Our current state attorney, Earl Moreland, was both a prosecutor and defense attorney before becoming state attorney.

Having extensive experience on both sides of the criminal justice system has made me a better lawyer and will make me a better state attorney. I have done more than 200 jury trials, and I am the only candidate with experience in running a business, my law firm. I had a 100% trial conviction rate in murders and sex crimes.

I authorized Florida Statute 92.565, which closed a legal loophole which was allowing confessed sexual offenders to escape prosecution. The law passed unanimously in the Florida House and Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush. Because of this law, hundreds of confessed molesters have been successfully prosecuted and gone to prison instead of staying on our streets molesting countless other women and children.