REACH FOR YOUR WALLETS, JEROME CO. TAXPAYERS

A Jan. 3 sheriff's raid that left three men dead in Eden is fading from
public memory. Calls for accountability also are fading, and the final act
of this tragedy is about to unfold.

A $10 million lawsuit has been filed against Jerome County by survivors of
one of the dead men. It may go to trial, but a more likely outcome is that
the county's insurance carrier will settle the case out of court. Hundreds
of thousands -- perhaps millions -- of dollars would change hands, but the
details would be hidden by a confidential settlement.

Confidential settlement. Sounds pretty official, doesn't it?

What it really means is that Jerome County taxpayers won't know what hit
them. After paying the settlement, the county's insurance carrier would
begin charging Jerome County more for insurance. That means county
taxpayers would have to dig a little deeper in their wallets.

How much isn't known. It could be a lot or a little.

That could get expensive, particularly if the settlement exceeds liability
limits in the county's insurance policy. Any amount over the policy limit
would, presumably, be paid by county taxpayers.

Jerome County taxpayers should be questioning this arrangement. Few people
are asking Sheriff Jim Weaver to explain why a drug raid -- one that he
organized and led -- ended in the deaths of two of his deputies and Eden
homeowner Tim Williams.

Are these deaths little more than collateral damage in the war on drugs?
Remember, the Jan. 3 raid netted about $30 worth of marijuana at a cost of
three lives. Is that acceptable?

Weaver isn't saying. He's staying quiet, burnishing his reputation as a
drug fighter, and waiting for the whole Eden episode to fade away.

He doesn't have to explain anything, because there's no formal mechanism to
hold him accountable for the botched raid. A few of Williams' friends have
launched a recall petition against Weaver, but at least one of them has a
drug record -- which is an enormous political handicap. By themselves, they
are unlikely to unseat the sheriff.

Support from community leaders is essential if the recall drive is to gain
momentum. No conservative leader wants to second-guess a sheriff who is
tough on drugs, but all fiscal conservatives should question why this hasty
and ill-planned raid cost three lives.

Now it may cost some money, too.