Myths Distorting Public Safety Petition

Your “Power of Prevention” editorial (June 29) was eminently sensible. In contrast, Otto Stoll’s reaction to it (July 6) was disturbingly surreal.

According to Stoll, Sheriff Larry Carpenter and Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury didn’t “engineer” the Public Safety Petition that was adopted by the county Board of Supervisors in 1995. Instead, according to Stoll, the document spontaneously appeared at the behest of the citizens of the county. Apparently, there were no identifiable human authors. In Stoll’s version of what happened, the document begins to take on mythical qualities, as if it were an immaculate petition which came down from Mt. Pinos.

Stoll builds further on this myth by telling us how benign the petition is. He tells us that the annual inflationary increases guaranteed by the petition are really quite “small.” We are to take him at his word on this. Stoll does not specify any actual amounts.

Let’s get down to earth. In the two years since the petition’s adoption, public safety agencies have received increases of $31.9 million in General Fund money, plus $34 million each year in sales tax money. Next year, they will also receive another guaranteed inflationary increase of $5 million, plus $14 million for the Ventura County Integrated Justice System, plus $2.5 million for new jail doors.

The ultimate myth that Stoll puts forward is that the citizens of Ventura County support the petition. We don’t really know that this is true. It was never submitted to the voters for approval, and there was never a public debate on its costs. There still hasn’t been.

If petition had been placed on the ballot, it is doubtful that even those who signed it would have voted for such enormous increases. It is particularly doubtful that citizens who live in places where the sheriff has no jurisdiction (Oxnard, Ventura and Simi Valley) would have voted for it. They receive no direct benefits from the money given to the sheriff. Instead, they are now forced to accept reduced services from the other county programs (such as the library program) which were cut back to fund these “small” inflationary increases.

Stoll’s agitated response to your editorial seems out of place. You are simply suggesting that we restore rationality and perspective to our public expenditure process. We support your suggestion.

STEVE WOOD

President,

Service Employees International Union Local 998