Merced County sheriff shouldn’t beg for more deputies. Voters let him down | Opinion
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke is right to be ticked off that he is 25 deputies short of the staffing needed to protect the region’s 292,000 residents.
For too long, his deputy sheriffs have vamoosed to higher-paying jobs in other counties. And, the county’s pay hasn’t been enough to entice others to join his department.
“The citizens of this county deserve absolutely the best that we can provide,” Warnke told the board of supervisors in August when asking for help. The board responded by placing Measure R on the November ballot to raise an estimated $25 million annually over 30 years to help public safety.
Warnke thought that Measure R would help out. He was wrong.
The measure did get 55.96% of the vote, but fell about 11 percentage points short of the required two-thirds support.
“Although the majority of the people voted in favor of it, it still didn’t meet the threshold,” Warnke told Merced Sun-Star reporter Shawn Jansen. “So disappointing is an understatement. I don’t know that the citizens actually know the severity of the situation in the county.”
He is short 25 deputies of the 96 positions he has budgeted. That is a shortfall of nearly 25%. Earlier this year, the department encouraged residents to use an online reporting system for nonviolent crimes like vandalism and vehicle burglary because the staff shortage made it difficult for deputies to respond to such calls.
Warnke’s department, which was slated to receive 52% of the collected tax revenue, would not have been the only one to benefit from Measure R. Merced County Fire, which saw two of its stations shuttered this year, would have gotten 33%, and the district attorney’s office would have received 15%. The other 20% would have gone to the county’s six incorporated cities, with no city getting less than $250,000.
Help may be on the way
The county is not giving up. There has been discussion of resurrecting the tax measure and using a method that will require a simple majority to pass — 50% plus one.
Merced County Supervisor Josh Pedrozo told The Merced Focus of discussions for a citizen-led petition process. “I just think the citizens’ initiative is probably the best way to go,” he said.
Measure R supporters said they will look at areas of low support and look for ways to generate more votes. However, the two-thirds’ threshold makes it difficult to get the tax measure passed.
We encourage county leaders consider a citizen-led initiative so that a simple majority can come to the rescue of public safety. Deciding not to take this path only puts the safety of residents at risk when 1 of 4 deputy positions go unfilled.
The two-thirds threshold is too high, as it allows a minority of 33% to negate the will of a majority. In the San Joaquin Valley, voters approved public safety bond measures in Stanislaus County (a fire station in Keyes, $540,000 annually for the West Stanislaus Fire Protection District), Merced County (Livingston police and fire safety), Fresno County (Clovis public safety), and Kings County (public safety in Lemoore and Hanford).
However, a minimum of 55% of the vote was needed in those cases.
Clearly, a citizen-supported measure is needed to make sure Warnke has the deputies necessary to protect the safety of county residents.
Warnke compares his situation to that of a homeowner. “I don’t want any extra taxes, but if you’ve got a leaky roof at your house, you’re going to do what you can to get that repaired,” he told the Sun-Star. “Well, right now this county’s got a severe leaky roof, and a minority of the people who made the call to say, ‘We’re not going to repair it.’
“My fear is that I’m going to continue to lose staffing. People are going to call 911, and I might not have somebody there to be able to respond to that phone call in a timely manner or at all.”