On May 29, 2002, shortly after he was re-elected, L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca was featured with a Guest Editorial in The Malibu Times. Besides praising himself for making the Sheriff’s Department, among other things, “a role model for numerous law enforcement agencies throughout our state and the nation,” he complained about the department’s proposed budget of being “shameful, irresponsible and short-sighted.” The said budget amounts to $1.6 billion per year, or $4.383 million per day. On top of that gargantuan amount, our sheriff suggested an additional $10 million per year, or $273,973 per day. The contract revenue, contributed by the City of Malibu, sits at a “modest” annual amount of $4.3 million.
Mr. Baca did dutifully inform us that: “This is not merely a negotiating tactic designed to attain a better budget result …,” but “this is real and serious.” And “If this budget is passed, drastic cuts will certainly have to be made.” The “harsh reality” of such cuts would include slashing dozens of programs, freeing non-violent inmates, closing facilities, etc.
At roughly the same time, a similar article appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Some readers did suggest that Sheriff Lee Baca part with his airplane, thus freeing some $25 million that could have been applied toward the budget. Since I am not privy to the benefits of the privileged lifestyle that the sheriff might enjoy, I think about one plain, trivial solution that seems to have escaped Mr. Baca’s watchful eye, or at least he has not been willing to discuss it: increasing the efficiency in the work of the LASD deputies. That is the idea behind sending a letter to the mayor of Malibu. And sending a copy of it along with a Letter to the Editor helps me to accomplish a democratic process in a democratic society, where the media has one of the central, front row seats.
Ian Popov