Politics & Government

Brunner and Parker Square Off in Oakland City Attorney Campaign

Last-minute statements from candidates Jane Brunner and Barbara Parker are making the final days of the campaign contentious. Here's the most recent statement from Brunner's campaign and a response from Parker's political consultant.

The race for Oakland City Attorney — to be decided in Tuesday's election — continues to be a contentious one.

Candidate Jane Brunner issued the following statement Monday morning in response to a statement by her opponent, incumbent City Attorney Barbara Parker — which was, in turn, a response to an announcement by Brunner that she plans to sue Parker and her campaign consultant Doug Linney for libel over an allegation in a campaign mailing piece. 

Here's the complete text of the most recent statement from Brunner campaign:

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"Statement from Jane Brunner’s Campaign for City Attorney

"In her last minute mailer saying Jane Brunner 'has been suspended by the California Bar Association', Barbara Parker clearly lied, with malice – the definition of libel.

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“'Suspension'” is a type of punishment that the Bar Association can impose. Here is the Bar Association’s official definition of 'suspension': 'A disciplinary action that prohibits a member from practicing law or from holding himself or herself out as a lawyer for a period of time set by the California Supreme Court.'

"The Bar Association defines the types of punishment it can give out as follows: 'Depending on the seriousness of the offense, a lawyer can be given a warning, put on probation, suspended from practicing law for a period of time, or disbarred (prohibited from practicing law in California)'.

"Jane Brunner never has been subject to a disciplinary action of any sort. She has never received any kind of punishment.  She never was suspended and she is not suspended now.

"It is clear that Barbara Parker wrote this mailer to try to get people to believe that Jane Brunner is suspended now. This is an outrageous lie.

"Barbara Parker knows Jane Brunner was never suspended and is not suspended now. Yet, with malice and for her political purposes, she lied. Therefore she is a reasonable target for a libel suit.  

"No amount of wriggling by Barbara Parker’s campaign consultant can get around this fact."

Linney, Parker's campaign consultant, issued the following reply Monday:

"This is such rich irony. After running an entirely negative campaign, Councilmember Brunner shouts libel when we point out something provably true: that she was suspended from practicing law.

"Again, according to the California State Bar, Councilmember Brunner was 'not eligible to practice law' from July 31, 1995 to January 23, 1997 because of ‘MCLE noncompliance.’

"It is important to note that Councilmember Brunner did not voluntarily place herself in the 'inactive' category, which is an option. Instead, she didn’t comply with the MCLE (Minimum Continuing Legal Education) requirements and ‘involuntarily enrolled as inactive’ under State Bar Rule 2.32. In other words, she was suspended from the practice of law by the Bar Association.  

"Furthermore, she didn't acknowledge this suspension in her ballot statement, where she claimed she has practiced law for 25 years, which is clearly not true.  

"The use of the term suspended is entirely appropriate, under both the common definition and as it is used in the legal community. According to an article published by the California Bar Journal, the official publication of the California State Bar in July of 2008, ‘Hundreds face suspension for not paying dues or complying with MCLE’

"The California State Bar’s own official journal defined the penalty for failing to comply with MCLE requirements — the very same thing Councilmember Brunner did — as ‘suspension.’

"Our campaign stands by our earlier statement, and by our mailer."

Brunner said in a press release Saturday evening that she plans to file a multi-million dollar libel lawsuit because Parker's mailer asserts that Brunner “Has Been Suspended from Practicing Law by the California State Bar.”

In response, Parker's consultant Linney said in a statement Sunday, "The facts are, according to the website of the California State Bar, Jane Brunner was ‘Not Eligible To Practice Law’ between July 31, 1995 and January 23, 1997. In other words, she ‘has been suspended from practicing law by the California State Bar.’"

According to the California State Bar Association website, Brunner was admitted to the bar on Aug. 10, 1988, but listed as "Admin Inactive/MCLE noncompliance Not eligible to practice law" on July 31, 1995. (MCLE noncompliance means not meeting continuing education requirements.) She was again listed as active as of Jan. 23, 1997.

Brunner has said that she was inactive as an attorney during the run-up to her first campaign for a seat on the Oakland City Council and that she became active again within weeks of being sworn in as a council member.

Parker, formerly Oakland's chief assistant city attorney, was appointed Oakland City Attorney in 2011 after City Attorney John Russo resigned to take a job as city manager with the City of Alameda. Brunner is currently in her fourth term as the District 1 representative on the Oakland City Council, representing Rockridge, Temescal and other parts of North Oakland. Parker and Brunner are the only candidates for city attorney on Tuesday's ballot.

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