Bakersfield Californian: Letters to the Editor

Respondent in Jagels poll is skeptical

Published: July 24, 1999

I was one of the 300 people contacted in the District Attorney Ed Jagels survey, which started with several questions about various officials in Kern County. Suddenly, I was asked if I knew Jagels. From that point, the survey was entirely about Jagels.

The survey, in my opinion, was very poor. The questions were worded so as to direct you toward a positive view of Jagels. Several times, I told the surveyor that the questions were not well-worded and could not be clearly answered. This in no way seemed to bother the surveyor.

The question on Mean Justice gave few options and was slanted to get a response.

The survey was written to provide a favorable opinion of Jagels. Whether or not this was intended and whether or not Jagels was directly involved in preparation of the survey, I do not know. However, if Jagels takes delight in the results he may be misleading himself.

I’m not a fan of Jagels. In living in many parts of the United States for the past 50 years, I have seen many district attorneys much better than Jagels. Also, there are been some who were not near as good as Jagels.

This survey failed to give the people questioned the opportunity to provide a clear evaluation of where they stand on Jagels. A better survey may have given the same results, but until that survey is made, we will never know.

HOLLIS B. CARLILE