Sheriff seeks more support

Rather than cut his patrol or jail deputies back any further, Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko is taking an appeal for support directly to the people.

"I think public safety needs to be a top priority," Bosenko, 51,. recently told the Valley Post after making similar appeals to newspaper editors in the Burney and Shingletown areas of eastern Shasta County.

"I have certain duties that I must do like run a jail and solve crimes," said Bosenko, noting that he has been asked to trim another $3.8 million from his $40 million budget.

Those cuts follow similar requests made of Bosenko each of the three years since he was elected Sheriff in June 2006. He assumed the office on Aug. 6, 2006.

"We have made sacrifices over the years. We run a very tight ship. This year, for example, we already had to leave vacant 11 of our 264 allocated positions to save $1.7 million from the $17 million we get" from the county's General Fund, Bosenko explained.

When the state finally balanced its $16 billion deficit in September, Bosenko was faced with losing another 10 percent or $1.1 million in Proposition 172 funding from the half-cent sales tax increase that he is allowed to split unequally with the District Attorney and probation departments.

To make those kinds of cuts, Bosenko said he might be faced with cutting 40 positions - the equivalent, he said, of closing two floors of the Shasta County Jail and releasing 240 jail inmates.

"The final decision, of course, comes down to the Board of Supervisors. That is why I am urging citizens to contact their local government officials and let them know that we need more, not fewer, deputies on the street. The citizens need to raise their voices and let the board of supervisors know that we need to put more people in jail, not release them," Bosenko said.

County-wide, Shasta County department heads are being asked to trim nearly $7.8 million from the county's annual spending plan of $400 million, explained Larry Lees, county administrative officer.

"We are asking for an across-the-board reduction of 10 percent in general fund expenditues," said Lees, noting that most of his department heads have already complied with the request that was "based on what we expect to see in funding" from the state.

"We don't yet know what the final numbers are going to be," Lees added.

"By design, I announced these cuts early on so folks could start making their adjustments," Lees said.

So far, Bosenko has not yet done so, Lees noted Friday.

"I sympathise with the supervisors because they have some very tough decisions to make," Bosenko said.

"But the fact remains that the basic existence of government is for public protection, and that needs to be its first priority. Before we can be educated and enjoy our parks, we need to be safe," he added.

"Tom (Bosenko) is a very responsive Sheriff, and we appreciate his passion, but we are still going to cut his budget," Lees countered firmly.

And the much-promised but as yet unseen federal stimulus money will have little effect on Shasta County, Lees predicted.

"So much of the stimulus money is filtered through the state. So far, they aren't letting go of any of the money," he noted wryly.