BLAKELY'S PAST IN QUESTION

I'm writing in response to a letter in The Tribune on Feb. 9 by Mr. Perry,
president of the Deputy Sheriff's Association.

Mr. Perry stated that he hoped the Mike Ryan campaign against David Blakely
won't be negative. What I believe Mr. Perry is hoping, along with other
Blakely supporters, is that the true facts about Mr. Blakely won't surface
until after the election.

The facts are that David Blakely has admitted to breaking the law. This
paper conducted an extensive investigation of Blakely after he was elected
to office. Blakely was then forced to admit to using cocaine, marijuana and
hallucinogenics.

What matter to voters like me is that Blakely's drug use was not som
eyouthful experimentation as a student in college; he admits to using drugs
at a time in his life when he was employed as a junior high school teacher
in Atascadero. The facts are that David Blakely was using drugs while he
was teaching and influlencing our children, and I think this is appalling.
This is not the role model, teacher or public leader who I want for our
children.

While serving as 5th District superviso, Blakely wrote a letter on county
letterhead asking the parole board to allow a convicted rapist to live in
Santa Margarita. He did this without any thought of the safety of our
children. The rapist was actually released to Santa Maria, where a SWAT
team was later called out to arrest him once again.

It's beyond me how anyone in law enforcement can support a man who admits
to using illegal drugs while teaching in our schools and who has such
little regard for public safety.

Tom Bordonaro, Creston