San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar told the Manteca City Council on Tuesday that she was “their neighborhood DA.”

And true to her word several days later she was meeting with the Manteca Police command staff as well as touring Manteca’s homeless encampments with resource officer Mike Kelly to get a better handle on issues the city is dealing with.

Verber Salazar appeared Tuesday before the council after learning the elected leaders were considering sending her a letter wanting to know why the plug was pulled on the Neighborhood District Attorney program that Manteca leaders wanted restored.
The program that Verber Salazar rolled out to assign assistant DAs to various communities to help get a handle on homeless individuals that were creating the most egregious problems for communities saw immediate success in addressing problems, according to city officials.

But then the city said it stopped.

Verber Salazar on Tuesday explained the department was hit with staffing issues. She also noted that the department planned to recruit and hire more assistant DAs to allow the positions to be filled.

She also told the council Tuesday that she appointed herself as Manteca’s neighborhood DA and that she would be working directly with the city herself on homeless issues in addition to overseeing the DA’s office.

City leaders — who chalked up the proposed letter to miscommunication based on  what Verber Salazar told them at Tuesday’s council meeting — said Friday they were pleased that the DA had stepped up.

City leaders had met with DA representatives in April 2021 to discuss the City of Manteca participating in the Neighborhood District Attorney Program. The purpose of the program was for an attorney from the District Attorney’s Office to be assigned to South County to work with the Manteca Police Department and the City Attorney’s Office on high profile/legally sophisticated quality of life code enforcement matters that may also entail additional criminal aspects.

In September 2021, the assistant DA assigned to the South County  was removed from their assignment. The city, in the letter the council was considering authorizing to be sent  to Verber Salazar, expressed the belief there was no longer a neighborhood district attorney assigned to the South County.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com