Merced County supervisors fight back on public safety criticism

The Merced County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday pushed back against criticism over their response to the county’s historic murder rate.

However, at least two supervisors acknowledged they haven’t done enough to address the highest homicide rate per capita in the state.

During the board’s meeting Tuesday, board members and law enforcement authorities agreed communication is key to addressing the issue. The discussion came one week after Sheriff Vern Warnke and District Attorney Larry Morse II jointly condemned the board, saying supervisors have “failed to respond” to at least three consecutive years of 30 or more homicides in the county.

The Sheriff’s Office continues to struggle with a high vacancy rate and the District Attorney’s Office is coping with an enormous caseload from the high murder rate, Morse said last week.

District 5 Supervisor Jerry O’Banion on Tuesday said he was “disappointed” by the ongoing criticism.

“I feel the board has made efforts,” O’Banion told the Sun-Star. “Maybe it’s not as much as what some people think is great, but we have made some efforts over the years.”

O’Banion said the board and law enforcement should work together moving forward, while also acknowledging anger over the criticism.

“I’m still reeling from the way the board has been treated,” O’Banion said during Tuesday’s meeting.

County staff members gave a presentation detailing actions taken in recent years to support public safety. The county has expanded the number of public safety positions from 459 in the 2011-12 fiscal year to 487 in the current fiscal year, they noted.

The board said it approved more than two-dozen new positions between the two offices over the last three fiscal years.

In the last two years, the board approved reopening sheriff’s substations in Delhi and Los Banos.

The county also spent more than $20 million in capital projects, including major replacements in the jail and upgrading the radio communication system.

“You said we’ve done nothing,” said Hub Walsh, the board chairman. “This is our attempt to show we have. We’re willing to have the discussion to reprioritize funding and investments.”

But the sheriff said the county’s information is “skewed.” Many of those “added” positions were simply jobs that were restored after deep cuts in prior years. Many of those positions remain vacant, he said.

“They’ve returned positions, but we’re still not all staffed up,” Warnke told the Sun-Star. “They want us to do more with less, but those days are gone.”

From 2009 to the current fiscal year, the Sheriff’s Office still is down about 10 positions, Warnke said. Of the sheriff’s 128 operations positions, 10 are vacant.

Warnke said Merced County deputies receive the lowest pay compared to other agencies up and down Highway 99.

Morse noted that his office also continues to “do more with less” while juggling more than 60 murder cases. Forty of those are gang-related, he said.

“People are recognizing that this is a quality-of-life problem,” he told the board.

Mary Miller, former vice chancellor of administration at UC Merced, told the board that the crime rate is affecting the county’s economic development. The university has trouble hiring faculty members and administrators because of the high crime rate, she said.

“Because of things like the crime rate, they’re taking jobs here but living somewhere else,” she said. “Investing in the safety of the community is investing in the economy.”

Warnke said the Board of Supervisors treats deputy pay like an auction: “We’ll buy that for as little as you can get it.”

Both sides acknowledged more funding won’t completely solve the problem, and both sides still were frustrated after the meeting.

Walsh agreed the board hasn’t done enough.

“The results have been terrible with the level of violence in the community,” he said. “The sheriff has been consistent in saying we need to pay deputies more. The board is not opposed to that.”

“We want the outcomes to be different for the community.”

The Merced County Deputy Sheriffs Association is in negotiations with the county. The two parties will be at the bargaining table again May 13.

Phil Brooks, the union’s president, said pay is a contributing factor to the Sheriff’s Office vacancy rate, but there are other factors, as well.

“While we do want some type of an increase in compensation,” Brooks said, “we’re also asking for other things that will improve our working conditions and overall package.”

O’Banion said he’s ready for the board and law enforcement officials to put their heads together and come up with a solution.

“Let’s look forward to the future,” he said.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Merced County supervisors fight back on public safety criticism."