WisPolitics Profile Wednesday, 12 Dec. 2001 By Joanne M. Haas PROFILE SUBJECT: Brian Blanchard TITLE: Dane County District Attorney, elected Nov. 7, 2000, sworn in January 2001. EDUCATION: Madison West High School, 1976; Bachelor's degree in history, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1980; Law degree from Northwestern School of Law in Chicago, 1989. OTHER JOBS: Attorney, Quarles and Brady law firm, Madison, 1997-2000; Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chicago,1990-97; Reporter, Miami Herald, Miami, Fla., 1980-86. FAMILY: Married, three children, ages 6, 4 and 2. DISTRICT: Dane County, which includes Madison. STAFF: More than 70 on staff, including 32 attorneys. OFFICE BUDGET: The office is allotted $2.5 million annually from the county. However, this doesn't include more than $1 million in grant money, nor the fact the attorneys are paid by the state. CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT BALANCE: $1,263.19 as reported to the State Elections Board in the latest filing. OFFICE ADDRESS AND TELEPHONES: City County Building, Room 523 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Madison, WI 53703 Tel: (608) 266-4211 E-MAIL: Blanchard@co.dane.wi.us WEB SITE: http://www.co.dane.wi.us/daoffice/dahome.htm Brian Blanchard says now is not the time for shyness. If you know something about illegal use of state taxpayer dollars at the Capitol, he wants you to give him a shout. What this Dane County district attorney wants is cooperation from anyone who has inside information about the use of state resources -- in and outside the four partisan legislative caucuses being phased out -- "for private gain, including political campaigns or anything of a political shakedown." And he'd like to hear from you now. "I do want to emphasize that cooperation from people now could be quite different than six months from now," Blanchard says. When this former Miami Herald reporter was elected on his 42nd birthday to serve as Dane County's top prosecutor, he knew this first two-year tour of duty in his hometown as an elected official might be different from those of his counterparts in the state's other 71 counties. "When I took office, I was aware that the Dane County District Attorney office is unusual in the state for having the Capitol and a lot of state functions" in its jurisdiction, says Blanchard, a Democrat elected on Nov. 7, 2000. He defeated Republican incumbent Brian Brophy. "So I knew that there were various kinds of allegations and complaints related to state government." More than he could have imagined. But don't expect Blanchard to discuss details of the investigation into allegations of illegal activities at the state Capitol. His plea for people to come forward is about all he's going to say until the process is complete -- and he's not estimating when that will happen. The so-called John Doe investigation involves Blanchard, Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann and other state officials. About six months ago, Blanchard removed himself from the investigation of the Senate Democratic Caucus due to a potential conflict of interest. Blanchard said he received some assistance from a caucus staffer in assembling nomination papers when he ran for district attorney. Republicans have privately chided Blanchard on that front. They've also chided him on a recent open records ruling. He decided not to file any charges against the Madison Metropolitan School District for deleting thousands of e-mails sent in anger over the Madison School Board's Pledge of Allegiance vote. Blanchard opted not to file charges against the district, which technically broke the law prohibiting the destruction of e-mail public records for seven years. The district says it destroyed the 18,000 or so messages, because the sheer volume overloaded and ultimated paralyzed its computer system. The district has since adjusted its computer system to prevent future problems. Because the district's action was forced by equipment limitations versus intentional law-breaking actions, Blanchard said the district should not be charged. Blanchard got some heat for the decision, including some criticism for NOT grandstanding. "If a DA treats (the office) as too much of a bully pulpit, you lose your bearing. Where the DA speaks is through the court process," he says. However, a lot of reporters aren't satisfied just waiting for Blanchard to talk in court. And this remains one of the big surprises for Blanchard as he winds up his first year in office -- how often he is sought by reporters. "Every day I think I have a challenging job. There is always a great tension between the need to stay on top of the individual caseloads, and individual issues as they come up, and the broader planning and staffing," he says. It is a scheduling puzzle that he reviews constantly. He's surprised by how much time he spends "dealing with the media. I don't mean to complain, but this office doesn't have the staff" or budget to have a spokesperson up to date on every case handled by the staff attorneys -- all of whom he reports have hefty caseloads. "I try to be judicious about the cases I take," he says. Plus, he does feel an obligation to talk to reporters. It's a profession he understands since he was a newspaper reporter for several years. "I know the way I was as a reporter," he says, adding this professional experience sometimes helps him when he speaks with reporters. But now he has to think about what is the appropriate thing to say. "I'm on the other side of the pad now." Blanchard considers Madison his hometown and remembers living next door to Judge Doyle and his son, now Attorney General Jim Doyle. In fact, Blanchard's father still lives in that same house. After graduating from Madison's West High School, Blanchard went to college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. There, he worked on the Michigan Daily student newspaper. During his junior summer, Blanchard worked at a Charlotte newspaper. Between 1980 and 1986, he was a Miami Herald reporter -- a full-time job that grew from an internship. He covered the courts. And, like a lot of reporters, Blanchard got bit by the bug and decided life might be more interesting actually practicing law instead of just writing about it. In the meantime, his widowed father -- a former University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty member and former chair of the Amnesty International chapter -- had remarried. His father married a full-time UW Law School faculty member. So Blanchard picked her brain a bit about changing careers, and ended up at the Northwestern School of Law in Chicago. After his graduation, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney, concentrating on the Court of Appeals in Chicago, from 1990-97. During those years, he met his wife, who was working in telecommunications at the time. They now have three children -- ages 6, 4 and 2. In 1997, the Blanchard family moved to Madison. And in April of that same year, Blanchard took a job at Quarles and Brady, performing litigation on behalf of companies. He held this position until he was sworn into office after a successful campaign during which he was described as a "cautious in style, rule-of-law man." When asked if this is an accurate description, Blanchard opted not to respond directly to that phrase. However, he did say a good prosecutor is cautious. Blanchard says his experience as a federal prosecutor and with Quarles and Brady have given him "some perspective of what a case might be worth." He describes his job as bringing charges that match the facts and fit the law -- a prosecutorial role and not a law-making role. While the ongoing John Doe investigation continues, Blanchard's name is becoming more known. But he's not interested in putting that name recognition to use in a statewide election. "No, my only goal is to do the best job I can. And it is only a two-year term. I definitely am planning to run again," he says, adding he looks to McCann as an example of a respected district attorney who has done "a good job for so many years." Written exclusively for subscribers; further distribution is a violation of the WisPolitics Subscriber Agreement. The WisPolitics Profile is Copyright 2001 Wispolitics Publishing.