Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said that barring evidence to the contrary, he believes the 2020 election was fair and that the county election office has done an effective job, in answer to questions posed at a Post candidate forum Tuesday might.
His Republican primary challenger David Greenwald, however, faulted Howe for not making those feelings clear much sooner.
In the forum hosted by the Johnson County Post at Lenexa City Center Library, the two sparred extensively over Sheriff Calvin Hayden’s controversial investigation into the county’s election proceedings, and what role the district attorney should play in that probe.
“There has not been any evidence submitted to me to lead me to believe that the 2020 election was not fair. So I’m taking the approach, until shown otherwise, that I think the Johnson County election system does an effective job of allowing people to exercise their right to vote,” Howe said.
He demurred on whether he thought Hayden’s investigation was a good use of taxpayer dollars. The sheriff has so far not offered an exact estimation of how much the exercise has cost.
In nearly three years, no criminal charges have been filed. There was one case of alleged election intimidation referred to Howe’s office, but Howe previously told the Post there was no evidence to support bringing criminal charges in that instance.
On Tuesday night, Howe said: “I’m not in the middle of that. You would have to ask the sheriff that. I don’t like to nitpick or micromanage law enforcement,” he said, adding that he will support law enforcement when there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. “So far that has not been presented to me in that area.”
“I don’t play politics” vs. “Say there’s nothing to this”
Greenwald said he doesn’t know what evidence was presented to Howe, but he said a prosecutor needs to be honest and show leadership when talking to law enforcement.
“There’s times when you have to say, ‘There’s not enough. Stop pursuing it,’” Greenwald said.
“I can only infer based on conversations I’ve seen over the last seven months that that conversation wasn’t had between Steve and Cal Hayden,” Greenwald said. “I understand the idea of staying in your lane, but as one of the top elected public officials in law enforcement in this county, you have a duty to the people to come out one way or another. I think that conversation should have been had three years ago.”
Greenwald said Howe could have called a press conference to clarify that he thought the election was fair.
Howe has been largely quiet as Hayden shared his suspicions about the election, but Greenwald said he should have done more to boost public confidence.
“If you as the DA think that there’s credibility behind the sheriff’s investigation then it’s your responsibility to help move that along. If there’s not, it’s your responsibility, whether it gives credibility or not to the sheriff, to come out and publicly say there’s nothing to this.”
Howe countered that the sheriff is an elected official.
“It’s not my job to be in the sheriff’s business,” he said. “He is an elected official. I have no power or authority over the sheriff. He has the ability to do as he wishes as the sheriff in Johnson County.”
Greenwald said he believes the sheriff’s investigation has undermined the credibility of law enforcement more broadly in Johnson County, but Howe said he didn’t think that applied to the district attorney’s office because he’s been transparent about his role.
“I don’t play politics with my job,” he said.
Howe has been district attorney since 2008 and is running for a fifth term. Greenwald is a former assistant district attorney who has worked in Johnson County and Wyandotte County and is now head of the drug unit in the Douglas County prosecutor’s office.
They will face each other in the Aug. 6 Republican primary. The winner will go on to run against the Democratic nominee – either Vanessa Riebli or Zach Thomas – in the November general election.
The two GOP candidates sparred over several other issues during the hour-long session Tuesday.
On staffing and turnover in the DA’s Office
Greenwald said during the time he worked in Howe’s office, there was a “mass exodus” of attorneys.
“They replaced us with attorneys who had less than five years experience. As far as recruiting staff I think office culture matters, in creating a culture where people want to be there,” he said.
Howe countered that his office of 42 lawyers is the only one in the region that currently has no openings. Average years of experience has ticked up from 11.7 years to over 12, he said.
The office lost attorneys during the “great retirement” post-COVID-19, Howe said, but after he got approval for a pay increase, things have stabilized.
“So this is a lot to do about nothing. We have experienced people who are doing great work in the district attorney’s office. Again, a great story but not based on fact,” Howe said.
Greenwald discounted Howe’s assertion that the loss of staff was because of the COVID-19 aftermath.
“It’s easy to recruit staff when you pay so much more than the competing offices, and the benefits are good,” he said. “But that doesn’t speak to the office culture, it just speaks to how deep the pockets are.”
The two were also asked a question submitted by an audience member about diversity, equity and inclusion hiring and meritocracy.
Both said they believe in meritocracy based on hard work.
Greenwald said it’s important to search out promising graduates and train them. Howe said he makes decisions based on merit and not skin color or sexual identity. But his office has become more diverse along with the county population, he said.
“I’m very proud of the fact that the number of minorities in my office is actually higher than the percentage for Johnson County,” he said, adding that can have an impact in working with the community.
On investigating officer-involved shootings
Officer-involved shootings became a big issue in the county after police shot and killed John Albers, an Overland Park teen in crisis, as he backed his family’s minivan out of his driveway in 2018.
Greenwald mentioned that it has been less than a year since Howe was cautioned by the state office of the disciplinary administrator that his statements to the press needed to be accurate.
Albers’ mother, Sheila, had filed a complaint saying Howe did not give an accurate portrayal of the incident to the press. The complaint was dismissed, but the disciplinary office said it was not without merit.
Greenwald pointed out that the DA’s office also no longer posts trial statistics or how many cases they filed.
“They’ve gotten less transparent in the way in which they present information to the public. And I think that undermines any belief in the DA’s office which is why public confidence is at an all-time low in the DA’s office,” he said.
Howe noted that his office presented videos explaining what happened in the Albers shooting.
“So as far as letting people know what happened on that day, I think I’ve gone way above what most prosecutors do. I take a lot of pride in that,” he said.
On drugs as a public safety issue
On the danger of drugs, Greenwald said he would aggressively prosecute dealers and would be proactive in messaging to teenagers.
He said prosecutors in Douglas County, where he currently works, have had success by focusing on intelligence gathering from arrestees to find out who is selling the drugs.
Howe said his office does aggressively prosecute drug cases.
Three fentanyl dealers have gotten between ten and twenty years in prison from prosecutions in Johnson County, he said.
He added that his office follows a multi-faceted approach by pushing legislators for tougher penalties, getting Naloxone available to the public and working with nonprofits that help people suffering from addiction.
