Democratic Diva

05 Oct 2008 06:57 pm
Posted by: Krista

Pinal County boasts a large number of Democratic officials, from mayors, legislators, county recorder, judges, and county sheriff. This one’s for my peeps in Pinal County.

The Repugs are doing their best to challenge our Democratic majority, and several of our tried-and-true public officials are running strong races for re-election. One of these is our county sheriff, Sheriff Chris Vasquez.

I’ve known Sheriff Vasquez for about three years, and since I met him through the Pinal County Democrats, I’ve been proud to call him my Sheriff. What I like most about Chris Vasquez is his integrity, intelligence, and his ability to lead. Under his leadership, Pinal County moved into the 21st century with new technology, citizens and officials banded together to fight gang activity, and domestic violence found a new enemy in the Domestic Violence Unit. He did all this while working within budget guidelines and by obtaining grants from various entities, such as the federal government and the Gila River Indian Community. His leadership and energy showcase the kind of vision Pinal County needs as it continues to grow.

What I also like about Sheriff Vasquez is his approachability and commitment to Pinal County. I’ve seen him at every major event I’ve been to in Pinal County, including parades, festivals, fundraisers, and meetings. He’s in touch with the people, and not only does he listen to our fellow Pinal County residents, but he personally returns phone calls and email messages. He goes above and beyond to ensure he provides the best level of service to Pinal County. This is the kind of representation I want and respect.

Sheriff Vasquez’s current opponent, Paul Babeu, disturbs me on many levels. Initially, it was the fact that he always traveled with an entourage and always carried a gun - even at parades and festivals. I always thought there was a time and a place to show off your package, and a festival isn’t where I want to see you showcasing your bling. As campaign season wore on, I didn’t see Babeu sporting his package as much, but I did notice a trend for disregarding laws for sign placement. Now, I doubt this is Babeu personally placing signs in the public right of way, but I do believe he should be held responsible for what his volunteers do - especially since he’s running for sheriff. I don’t know about you, but I want my sheriff to have more integrity than that. If he can’t even follow the rules for sign placement, how is he going to uphold the laws as sheriff?

I’d like to also note that over the last few months, I’ve heard a few stories about Babeu signs showing up on the poles where other candidates had signs. During monsoon season in the open desert, it’s important to keep track of candidate signs, as signs tend to disappear during storms. I can understand Babeu wanting to take advantage of storms creating free-standing poles, after all, those t-posts can run $5 to $7/each, depending on where they’re purchased. But those poles were paid for by other campaigns, and for his signs to show up on those poles is unethical to me. Many times, the candidate or candidate’s volunteer hadn’t been able to restore their signs before Babeu’s signs showed up on their poles. And many times, that candidate’s sign was lying in a field near the poles and only had to be reattached. Like I said, I find this to be unethical. At the very least, it’s opportunistic. Unfortunately, unless candidates do something to identify their poles, like painting the tips purple, they’re left with little recourse for reclaiming their poles.

I’m a Democrat and a big supporter of Chris Vasquez. I know him, I know his campaign staff, and I respect him and his associates. Having said that, I am open to listening to all candidates. I like to know what other people have to say and have heard good ideas from both sides. Upon speaking with Babeu and listening to him at various functions, I found him to be intelligent and personable, but he does not have a lot of experience in law enforcement. For more information about his experience, I reviewed Sheriff Vasquez’s comparison, which claims Babeu has five years of experience in law enforcement (compared to Sheriff Vasquez’s 31 years). And then I perused Babeu’s Web site to determine whether this was an accurate comparison. I could not verify Babeu’s number of years of experience in law enforcement. I only found information about some of the groups Babeu has worked with, and that was a very short list. (BTW, from a Web site perspective, Sheriff Vasquez’s site is far superior and has way more information. You can check it out for yourself at www.vasquez4sheriff.com.) Interesting to me on Babeu’s site is his experience with the Chandler police. To which I wondered what brought him to Pinal County instead of Maricopa County. It would have been interesting to watch a Babeu vs. Arpaio race.

But I digress, the point I want to make here is that the Pinal County Sheriff’s office isn’t the office for which I want someone to receive on-the-job training. I want a Sheriff who’s ready to hit the ground running, and that Sheriff is Sheriff Chris Vasquez. Sheriff Vasquez knows Pinal County, he has connections with local officials and citizens, he’s proven himself as Sheriff over the last three years and for the dozens of years of service prior to becoming Sheriff (including tenure with the Casa Grande police department and the Pinal County Sheriff’s office), and we can count him to provide a superior level of service to Pinal County residents.

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