SHERIFF'S POT BUST COST TAXPAYERS

So let me get this straight: Sheriff Donny Youngblood has been doing
his best to scare the people of Kern County by telling us that losing
even one deputy due to budget cuts will make us all immediate victims
to crime. Yet somehow, there are enough deputies to go marijuana
hunting. I wonder, when those deputies were collecting the marijuana,
how many crimes occurred in Kern County that those deputies could have
responded to instead?

From the news report, they also had to utilize the Sheriff's
helicopter. What did that cost the taxpayers of Kern County? I would
like to know if the Board of Supervisors support this use (misuse?) of
valuable county funds and deputies time and expense.

I think there are many more pressing issues to worry about than
busting marijuana growers. If there are enough deputies to spend their
time cutting down marijuana plants, then surely the Board of
Supervisors could cut those positions and clearly there would be no
loss of protection to the public.

Sheriff Youngblood, as well as every member of the Board of
Supervisors, seem to have their financial priorities out of balance. I
sincerely hope that someone on the Board has the intelligence to
question Sheriff Youngblood about what issues are truly important.
Using taxpayer dollars to harvest marijuana surely is not one of them.

Jeffrey Wilson

Bakersfield