Every District Attorney stands at society’s crossroads

And Rob Galibois should be there for the Cape and Islands

Galibois for DA (from left): Bruce Bierhans, Michaela McCuish, Rob Galibois, Manuela Hir, Dan Wolf, Rachel Walman

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Mixing it up at a spirited gathering at the Old Yarmouth Inn along Route 6A on Tuesday, April 26, people supporting Rob Galibois for Cape and Islands District Attorney, I had a revelation:

The best, most important political opportunity we have to improve our community is to elect this guy as our new DA in November.

Why?

For starters, he’d make a great DA.

Then there’s the job itself, not often understood yet pivotal, crucial, so full of potential:

The District Attorney’s office impacts hundreds of lives week after week, on the front lines facing the epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse, interacting with every police department and judge on the Cape and Islands.

Meanwhile, a big staff of assistant DAs has an amazing amount of discretion about how to prosecute people, what to propose and what to accept:

Lock’em up? Make them get treatment? Handcuffs? Support? Second chance? Tough love? Restraining order? Probation? Back on the street? Throw away the key?

Day after day, in courtrooms and backrooms, these gritty, intimate decisions play out, almost always out of the limelight. They change lives forever, and case by case express our society’s values about how we intervene when people are in trouble, stopped at the crossroads – because no one encounters a District Attorney when everything’s going right.

There’s one more reason why this is such a great opportunity for our community:

The DA we have had for so long, now retiring, set such a low bar, personally and professionally, that dramatic improvements are well within reach.

Galibois stood in front of his early, stalwart supporters and laid down a platform that was commonsense and inspiring. Here’s one of a handful of initiatives he promised:

• Every person who works in his office -- and there are 65 believe it or not, a bigger staff than many town halls – will be asked to commit to four hours a month of community service, however they choose to define that.

Refreshing, proactive, community-oriented, win-win; great energy for non-profits, myriad contacts and context for the DA’s office, a network informing law enforcement.

A few more promises and building blocks:

• Committing to focus on veterans, with special services and court initiatives; the Cape and Islands has more veterans per capita than any area in the state.

• Forming groups in every town that bring community leaders and activists to the table with the DA to explore issues – “DA and Us.”

• Cooperating and communicating with every town police department, backing them up from streets to courts.

• Ramping up engagement and enforcement to fight the opioid scourge; diversion and treatment as key tools.

• Hiring a full-time ombudsman to monitor and report directly to Galibois on community concerns.

None of this is rocket science, all straightforward public policy, priorities, and engagement, none demanding big public spending.

That’s what makes Galibois such a hopeful opportunity; someone with more than a quarter century of legal experience, from assistant DA and prosecutor to hardcore defense attorney to running his own shop, who understands what the office can and should do, nitty-gritty to big picture. The overarching message is that being pragmatic, realistic, and experienced can combine with idealism.

When our former Cape and Islands Senator Dan Wolf agrees to become honorary campaign chair for someone running for District Attorney, that gets my attention. Here’s in part how Dan described his reasons for full-tilt support for Galibois:

“Our next DA needs to face our challenges with strong, creative leadership. That means proactive engagement, understanding how almost all criminal activity is one way or another related to drugs and alcohol, how opioids have destroyed lives, how all of us need to be protected from those scourges.

“Rob understands there are times when locking people up is required, but recidivism being as high as it is, we have proof positive that prison alone is no answer.

“We have so many creative leaders in health care, social services, education, clergy who help turn lives around. Wouldn’t it be great if they had a district attorney they can partner with every step of the way?

“Rob Galibois will be that partner.”

This race is what they call “down-ticket,” meaning it won’t get big headlines; a recent survey showed that less than 20 percent of Cape Cod residents know the name of the sheriff let alone district attorney, let alone what either really do.

But in terms of impact, standing at the crossroads where vision, judgement, and resources alter the direction of lives family by family, neighborhood by neighborhood, town by town, there is no more important public official, no more important election.

Check this guy out: Rob Galibois.

https://www.galiboisforda.com/

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