Dismiss DA Ho’s Sacramento lawsuit, as voters did his congressional bid | Opinion
What a relief for all of Sacramento that Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho won’t be elected to California’s 6th Congressional District. The man may be one of the region’s most power-hungry politicians in recent memory — a title not easy to attain in this town.
Thankfully, it appears voters saw enough reasons to vote for someone other than the county’s top prosecutor. Perhaps it was because Ho’s brazen attempt to stand for Congress while actively suing the City of Sacramento was one of the most shameless political maneuvers the capital city has seen in years.
His congressional aspirations are currently trailing in a distant fourth place, far behind the state’s most infamous Independent-In-Name-Only, Rep. Kevin Kiley. We can only hope that — like those he prosecutes for the DA’s office — Ho might learn a lesson from his defeat.
That seems unlikely, however, given his recent complaints over proposed budget reductions to the County DA’s office. That’s a stunning accusation from a man who seems all too willing to waste the department’s time and money on a frivolous lawsuit.
It all started back in 2023, when Ho claimed the City of Sacramento’s response to the ongoing crisis of homelessness was insufficient and therefore, he deemed, unlawful. Ho proceeded to sue the city and various politicians in it, including former Mayor Darrell Steinberg, in September of that year.
It took only a matter of months for the Sacramento County Superior Court to dismiss Ho’s argument as unfounded. Nevertheless, the county prosecutor filed another, similar case shortly afterward. It, too, has gone nowhere since.
Think of the optics that presented for voters in the 6th District, which covers a large swath of the northern parts of Sacramento: A candidate running for Congress to represent a city he was actively suing with a shambolic lawsuit.
Furthermore, when asked about the status of his case against the city, Ho repeatedly told the press and the public it had been settled. But when The Bee contacted the City of Sacramento about the supposed settlement, the city responded that the case was most decidedly not settled, nor over.
(According to the most recent court filing, another case management conference is scheduled on August 7 between the two parties.)
Ho has only one rational path left open to him now: Drop this case for the bogus attack on Sacramento that it has been all along.
It’s clear Sacramento would be better served not by a Rep. Ho, but by a DA Ho who focused his attention on the role he’s already been elected to. But his behavior has damaged even that possibility.
A recent letter from Ho to County Executive David Villanueva claims that Sacramento County’s proposed $8.2 million in budget cuts to the District Attorney’s Office would “devastate public safety in our community” simply come across as shallow. It’s a stance that’s hard to take seriously, considering how eager and willing he’s been to spend the department’s budget on such a lawsuit.
It’s long past time for the DA to stand down on this case. Thankfully, voters saw through his promises and took a pass, too. Take the hint, Thien.
