District 5 Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez accused the Kern County District office of intimidating her staff as investigators tried to conduct an illegal search of her Bakersfield office on at least three occasions.
“I believe these Gestapo tactics that are being done by the Public Integrity Unit of the DA’s office are illegal, immoral, and unethical,” said Perez at the start of a special Board of Supervisors meeting Monday morning.
The 5th district supervisor said investigators from the DA’s office showed up at her office the morning of Friday, October 18 with cameras. The office was empty and locked. Investigators asked the County Administrative Office to open her office and that of her chief of staff, Christian Romo. CAO first consulted with Kern County Counsel Margo Raison for advice.
“Certain portions of county facilities are open to the public, not every corner or office is open to the public, and private offices such as the Supervisors are not open to the public. Based on that analysis, if law enforcement wanted to come in for some reason, a search warrant would be necessary,” said County Counsel Margo Raison in a phone interview.
According to Perez, DA investigators twice attempted to enter her office without a warrant that day and attempted a third time. “Investigators appeared at my office and attempted to bully their way past my 21-year-old staffer telling him they wanted to take pictures of my office and of Christian Romo’s office,” said Perez. Romo serves as Chief of Staff and is also Kern County Democratic Party Chairman.
Perez said she called Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer to find out why the investigators wanted to enter her office, but Zimmer never responded. She added she never consented to her office being searched without a warrant. Monday morning, DA investigators arrived at Perez’s office armed with a search warrant and conducted their search. Perez abruptly left the board meeting in progress and went to her office to check on the search.
In an email, Kern County Assistant District Attorney Joe Kinzel wrote, “When parties with access to information or evidence relevant to a criminal investigation decline to voluntarily consent to a search, the next step in an investigation is often to seek judicial authorization to conduct the search. Such judicial authorization takes the form of a search warrant, which, when properly based on probable cause and approved by a judge.” Kinzel declined to say the motive for the search warrant or say what prompted an investigation of Perez by the Public Integrity Unit.
Perez said she believes the investigation was the result of public comments made during the board meeting on October 8. David Brust, a local Bakersfield businessman accused Romo of violating a county ordinance that prohibits county employees from participating in political activity on county property with county resources. According to Brust, Romo violated the ordinance on at least two occasions in August. During his comments, Brust provided a screenshot of the meeting to the county clerk that showed Romo in an office during a video meeting, claiming the meetings took place in Romo’s office which is housed inside Perez’s office.
Perez is currently running for reelection on the Board of Supervisors on the November 5 election. She suspects the timing of the investigation is no coincidence, and is meant to discredit her, and noted that the Kern County Prosecutors Association endorsed her opponent, Kimberly Salas.
Perez ended her remarks with a plea for help. “I am begging the federal government and the Department of Justice to please intervene, please investigate and please help me, because I don’t know what they’ll do next,” said Perez.
