November 18, 2014 Dear Management, Lest our silence be misconstrued as consent, we send this letter to express our continuing concern about the manner in which our colleague, Carlos Gonzales, continues to be mistreated, It appears to be inexplicably targeted, unfair and unjust. This letter is written anonymously for two reasons: first, because we want the message to over-shadow the messengers, and second, we fear retaliation The continuation of openly held “closed” door meetings about Carlos, the onslaught of targeted trap-setting and the feelings of tension that have overcome this office are negatively impacting our ability to focus on the work for our clients to which we are devoted. We recognize that personnel issues are private. We don’t write this letter to delve into those affairs, However, we want to communicate that we ate troubled by the toll that this process is taking on everyone, troubled by the diminishing morale as a result in the office, We are very concerned that as a direct result of what we believe to be unfair treatment of Carlos the freedom that. we used to feel, the inclination to openly discuss cases with supervisors, to bounce strategies back and forth, to ask questions about issues, and the benefits derived there from for our clients, is gone. Collectively, the anonymous signatories of this letter have practiced proudly for many years with this agency/division and in that time, we have never before had to bear witness to this kind of treatment of a colleague; never experienced the level of tension that has accompanied this situation; and, never have we felt so personally impacted and implicated, Respectfully, we ask that you remember that the manner in which you are choosing to handle this situation impacts us all. Respectfully, we ask that you treat Carlos with the respect that he has eamed. Respectfully, we ask that you cease making us unwitting and unwilling observers of what we believe is a targeted, unfair and unjust attack. Sincerely, Anonymous Concemed Colleagues ce David Chapman, Interim County Public Defender, King County Dept. of Public Defense Lisa Daugaard, Interim Deputy Director, King County Dept. of Public Defense