COMMUNITY OPINION: Q Will De-Fund the Police

This community opinion was contributed by Sheriff Eric Taylor. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors. BenitoLink invites all community members to share their ideas and opinions. By registering as a BenitoLink user in the top right corner of our home page and agreeing to follow our Terms of Use, you can write counter opinions or share your insights on current issues.

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Q Will De-Fund the Police

In public safety, the last thing we want to see is more housing and more traffic. My old police union in Watsonville was always asking that city to invest in commerce and stop the building of houses. A bedroom community does not bode well for those of us in this profession. It increases our service population, creates more traffic and congestion, and does nothing to fund our effort. Measure Q does nothing to prevent housing, nothing.

I have the honor of working alongside some very caring and passionate people in this county. Do we always get it right? Of course not. But it is not for lack of effort. I do not align politically with the membership of our Board of Supervisors, and we will not always agree, but that does not matter. I know these people on a personal level and I can assure you they are always trying to do their best with the resources they have been provided. Just because you can slander them as public figures, does not mean you should.

I have some pressing issues as your Sheriff. I cannot attract candidates to our office because of the low pay in comparison to our surrounding agencies. I cannot access the most modern technology to keep you all safe. Due to our low staffing levels, I cannot staff a swing swift, violence suppression unit, and am barely able to staff patrol. We have problems being proactive and reaching the edges of our community. Our friends in the southern and western portions of our county receive the least service from us due, in part, to geography.  Equally as important is the fact our communications infrastructure is in dire need of modernization and expansion. This all costs a lot of money and I have made a request of the CAO and the Board of Supervisors to find ways to fund my office in a more appropriate manner.

If Measure Q were to pass, the revenue from commercial development will go with it. There are some in our community who are holding our current board members accountable for the perceived shortcomings of their predecessors.  Resentment is a pill we take ourselves and expect it to poison the other person. We need to move past the past and look toward the future. Our future relies on smart, sustainable growth through commercial development that includes tourism and commerce to generate sales tax and transient occupancy tax revenue streams. This will fund public safety in our county.

We are at a crossroads. Violence and gang activity are attempting to root themselves in our community. Fentanyl is killing our children. If we want to keep the great quality of life we all enjoy here, we must fund public safety first in order to have the luxury of worrying about potholes. I urge you to vote NO on Measure Q. Public safety is paramount.