Hmmm.
In 2014, Vern Pierson was able to intimidate his opponent in to capitulating. Joe Harn’s opponent hired a crank addict as a campaign manager. So, here we are.
As seen on a local El Dorado Blog – Vern Pierson and Joe Harn got blown to pieces. (I love the headline)
In addition – the El Dorado Mountain Democrat, a paper that is usually biased in favor of incumbent officeholders not named Ray Nutting did a write-up on the lawsuit that was pretty good for the plaintiff Dan Dellinger.
Mr. Dellinger lit up Joe Harn and Vern Pierson pretty good in his press release:
DA & Auditor-Controller’s Vendetta Generates Lawsuit against County
Cameron Park, CA – Nearly a year to the date after losing their Soviet style show trial for self-aggrandizing publicity against, Dan Dellinger, a government relations and political consultant often on opposite political sides of the District Attorney and Auditor-Controller, Joe Harn and Vern Pierson are at the center of a lawsuit filed this week in El Dorado County Superior Court. In this lawsuit, officially filed as “Dan Dellinger v. Joe Harn, et al” and assigned the number PC 20150251, Dellinger is seeking to collect $12,000 still owed him for work successfully completed for the Pioneer Fire Protection District in 2011and recovery of his expensive legal bills resulting from Harn and Pierson’s two year long bad faith prosecution of Dellinger. Joe Harn, the County of El Dorado, and the Pioneer Fire Protection District are named as defendants in the lawsuit; however, the complaint makes it clear that Harn has ignored the Fire District’s instructions to pay Dellinger.
“I want everyone to understand that the Pioneer Fire Protection District has acted honorably throughout my struggle to get paid by Joe Harn who is supposed to pay all of the bills authorized by the District,” said Dellinger, “so I included the District in the lawsuit very reluctantly and only on advice of legal counsel”.
“Before resorting to this lawsuit I tried to settle this matter with the County”, explained Dellinger, “but my own representative of the Board of Supervisors, Brian Veerkamp, refused to meet with me and the County’s high priced risk management office sent me an incorrect last minute form letter denial that makes me think they didn’t even bother to look into my payment requests”.
In addition to Breach of Contract against Harn, El Dorado County, and PFPD, the lawsuit alleges seven other civil charges or “torts” against just Harn and El Dorado County including Conversion, Deceit and Bad Faith, Abuse of the Grand Jury Process, and Bad Faith Prosecution.
Under California State law, the County would be prohibited from reimbursing Harn for any punitive damages awarded against him by a jury, however, as a District Attorney Pierson has absolute immunity from personal liability.
Dellinger had been falsely charged by Pierson and Harn of expending public money and public resources for express advocacy, receiving or granting a gift of public funds, and engaging in unfair business practices while assisting the Pioneer Fire Protection District place the Measure F parcel tax on the November 2011 ballot. Measure F successfully passed with a near 80% approval vote.
On May 22, 2014, a jury took only 47 minutes to return a unanimous 12-0 verdict clearing Dellinger of any wrongdoing.
Dellinger has a long history of political clashes with El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson and his political ally EDC Auditor-Controller Joe Harn including helping elect EDC Sheriff John D’Agostini and others over Pierson and Harn’s strongly backed candidates.
I have blogged in the past that Vern Pierson is an idiot and Joe Harn is a bully and have lampooned their Dead Fish Handshakes. I wonder how much worse it needs to smell before the voters of El Dorado County wake up and send them packing.
Meantime, an innocent man has nearly been bankrupted by this BS.