‘I don’t know how I ended up here.’ Neither do we, Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost

Sue Frost, current Sacramento County Supervisor for District 4, will almost certainly win re-election – but only because voters in her district lack a better option. Her performance in the job has been less than impressive, and her interview with the editorial board was troubling.

Frost struggled to provide basic answers to simple questions about her actions as supervisor. She often contradicted herself, raising the question of whether she has any idea of her own motivations.

When asked why she cast one of the two deciding votes against a moratorium on no-fault evictions in November, she claimed she did it to protect tenants. But the measure would have temporarily halted evictions of residents by greedy landlords. Her decision helped ensure that people got evicted. When pushed, Frost repeatedly attempted to evade reality, saying she worried about “unintended consequences” for “property owners and landlords and tenants, all of it.” She couldn’t explain what she meant by that.

When asked why she voted against holding one evening board meeting each quarter to accommodate her roughly 288,000 constituents who can’t attend during the day, she first said, “It wasn’t because I don’t want to work evenings.” Later, she said the exact opposite: “It wasn’t something that I looked forward to so I didn’t support it.” The proposal failed.

Homelessness is a top issue in the county, but Frost’s answers on the topic were vague. Her suggestions for homelessness included “some kind of a mental institution” in lieu of “sending them to our jails.” She didn’t suggest shelters, even for the 79 percent of homeless who don’t experience severe psychiatric conditions according to data from the latest federally-mandated point-in-time count. She mentioned “housing” once and didn’t describe how she would increase its availability.

Bridget Duffy, a self-described housewife from Citrus Heights who is challenging Frost, has no experience and no campaign. Yet even she had a more concrete answer on homelessness: She supports sheltering people on unoccupied government property. Unfortunately, despite identifying herself as an activist on policing issues, she knew nothing about controversies surrounding Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones and had no opinion of his performance.

‘Not what I would want to watch’

Frost, on the other hand, fails to grasp the gravity of abuse and misconduct in Sacramento County Jail under the leadership of Sheriff Jones.

She didn’t watch Jailbirds, the Netflix documentary series filmed in the county jail, because “it’s not what I would want to watch in the evening.” During filming, deputies stood back as fights broke out, and allowed inmates to incriminate themselves on camera without their attorneys present.

“I don’t really have an opinion on it,” Frost said.

Frost needs to educate herself about the major humanitarian issues created by county law enforcement.

She referred to actions by deputies that have resulted in lawsuits as “sometimes, you know, part of what happens with the job.” While Jones has been in office, the county has been forced to pay $100 million to settle a lawsuit over inhumane jail conditions, $7 million to settle a wrongful death claim, and $3.6 million to settle former deputies’ claims of discrimination.

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She told us Jones “has done a good job” and said “we should all be trying to do better all the time.”

Interviews are one factor in determining our election endorsements. We were unimpressed with Frost’s record as supervisor, but her inability to defend her actions and the way she prioritized her personal convenience above the interests of constituents is shocking. She’s the second-most unqualified candidate in the race.

During her interview, Frost surprised editorial board members when she said, “I don’t know how I ended up here.” We don’t know, either.

We hope that when this seat is up for election again, it will draw competent candidates who understand the issues and can explain their positions.

The people in District 4 – which includes Antelope, Orangevale, Rancho Murieta and Elverta – deserve competent, engaged representation. If Frost can’t find the energy or the courage to lead on issues like homelessness, human rights violations in the county jail or increasing citizen access to their government, she should find a new gig.

We can’t endorse Frost or Duffy, but we endorse the idea of a worthy candidate running for this powerful seat in 2024, when the seat is up for election again.

This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 5:05 AM.