Passive-aggressive temper tantrum risking citizen safety? Deft decision to save time and money not prosecuting lesser crimes? Open invitation for anarchistic bedlam? We'll see. After a $1.9 million pruning of his budget, Costa County District Attorney Robert Kochly announced this week that "he would no longer prosecute a host of misdemeanor crimes." Said crimes he will no longer prosecute include burglary, shoplifting, reckless driving, pot smoking, and other misdemeanors. Why? Because his office no longer has the money or staff to try so many low-level cases. As a result of budget-related layoffs, according to SFGate, "there will only be 72 prosecutors in an office with an authorized strength of 100."

CoCo Board of Supervisors, of course, are livid. Board Chairwoman Susan Bonilla said, "Certainly, this is an economic crisis, and the budget is hitting everybody hard ... But our expectation was that our elected district attorney would step up in his role, rather than say, 'Don't submit these crimes.' " Today, Kochly and the Board of Supervisors meet for a final "showdown" regarding his decision.