Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee this week survived a challenge from Republican John Greiber in one of the dirtiest races of the season. We think the voters made the right choice, but Mr. Weathersbee shouldn't consider his win an enthusiastic endorsement of the way he has handled his job. This campaign pointed out that Mr. Weathersbee has his flaws; we hope he will learn from his close victory and set about making changes in his office.
Mr. Weathersbee must first try to communicate more effectively with the citizens of the county. Crime is now the residents' No. 1 fear, and the chief prosecutor hasn't helped inspire much faith in the judicial system. One reason for the distrust is that Mr. Weathersbee has dropped or reduced charges against suspects, without explaining his actions to the public. When he dropped murder charges against a man suspected of killing Arnold nightclub owner Joanne Valentine, Mr. Weathersbee appeared weak and ineffective. When he refused to pursue auto manslaughter charges against a man who confessed to driving a truck that struck and killed a pedestrian, Mr. Weathersbee appeared complacent in pursuing criminal convictions. He may have had good legal reasons for these decisions, but he didn't let the public know what they were.
Mr. Weathersbee also needs to improve the image of his office. When a man charged with attempted murder was set free because one of the assistant state's attorneys did not schedule his trial fast enough, Mr. Weathersbee seemed unconcerned, replying "I'm not going to shoot him because he made a mistake." He never disciplined one of his assistants charged with drunken driving, saying "What am I going to do, fire him for having an alcohol problem?" Mr. Weathersbee ought to expect more of his employees.
We supported Mr. Weathersbee's re-election bid because he was more experienced and credible than his opponent. He has managed his budget responsibly and taken his job seriously. To his credit, he has not tried to trump up charges against suspects merely to further his own career.
We expect that Mr. Weathersbee will learn from his mistakes and become an even better public servant.
jTC