Ed Bonner is a very, very good man. I am sure his endorsement carries a lot of weight in these parts. I am glad that he and I have some things in common. One of them being a shared support of Arnold Schwarzenegger...Sheriff Ed Bonner:

Hi, this is Ed Bonner, Placer County Sheriff and President of the State Sheriffs' Association, filling in for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with another California Report.

Everyone is well aware of the budget gridlock at the State Capitol and the effects it has on our communities.

As stalemates grow longer and longer, local governments suffer from the uncertainty.

Law enforcement funds are always held hostage, forcing local governments to make devastating decisions affecting public safety.

And this year, there are threats to borrow from local governments and further cut law enforcement.

These proposed cuts will have real life consequences. For example, some communities will lose 24-hour law enforcement response service.

Can you believe that in California some of our communities might pick up the phone to call their sheriff and there not be a response at some hours of the day?

That's why I applaud Governor Schwarzenegger for stepping up and demonstrating his leadership by proposing a compromise budget.

The Governor's proposal does not borrow from local governments and will protect vital law enforcement funding.

That is no surprise to us.

Since taking office, the Governor has been a great champion for local government and the law enforcement community. He has continually said public safety is a priority and his actions have backed up that pledge.

He understands that cities and counties provide our citizens with vital and tangible services.

We fix streets and roads, maintain parks and libraries and protect our communities from crime, gangs and drugs.

And like the state, local governments are struggling with our own revenue shortfalls.

But now, legislators are considering balancing their budget by taking money from ours.

The effects would be devastating.

In Placer County, my sheriffs' department is already 47 positions down because of budget cuts.

If the state were to take more money, it would mean even fewer deputies patrolling our streets.

It would jeopardize our methamphetamine and gang units.

Placer is also one of California's fastest-growing counties.

Our people want and expect more patrols, more deputies, more resources, not less.

It's not fair to punish them for Sacramento's mistakes.

And it's not fair to the people of California's 57 other counties, either.

Along with the Governor, we urge the legislature, Democrats and Republicans, to solve the state's budget problems without raiding our funds.

On behalf of Governor Schwarzenegger, this is Sheriff Ed Bonner.

Thank you for listening.

http://gov.ca.gov/mp3/press/GovAddressBorrowing082908_span_dry.mp3.

Lee, I missed your point. What has anything you just said have to do with Park's post?

Scott,

You have to spend a lot of time on this board to understand. Let me explain.

Aaron is a big fan of Bruce Kranz so he posted this piece about Sheriff Bonner supporting Kranz through this billboard. Aaron is also a big fan of Tom McClintock who is one of the Republican legislators refusing to pass Schwarzenegger's compromise budget. Aaron has posted several times about the budget impasse and derided Charlie Brown who has called for McClintock to get off his duff and vote for the budget. Bonner, as you can see by the piece Lee posted, wants lawmakers to vote for the governor's budget.

So Lee is just pointing out that Aaron's getting himself twisted up like a pretzel with his machine-gun posts on every issue. He's starting to cross himself up (he's done this before). If it appears partisan, he'll post it and face the consequences of honest screw ups later.

Bob

I was just in Colfax yesterday and saw the billboard while driving home.

If you look at the picture above you'll see some heavy electrical wires hanging just below the billboard. From the freeway heading west these wires are directly in front of the billboard and distract significantly from the message. The billboard is also situated along a jumbled business strip which has all sorts of different signs and bright colored buildings and such. The billboard gets lost in the clutter. This has to be one of the cheapest billboards to rent along I-80.

A Patriot and a Christian

I have a friend I met at church here in Roseville named Scott. He was a graduate of the United States Navy Academy. He graduated in the Class of '51. Scott is a very handsome man, who can barely eke out a smile. It is mainly a haunted look that he carries with him.

Scott carries himself like all the other men I have seen who graduated from one of our United States Military Academies. That bearing never goes away.

Scott was assigned to a Destroyer in the sea between Korea and Japan. The Destroyer was to go as close in as possible and fire its batteries at targets called in from spotter aircraft. Scott was in charge of those batteries.

This Destroyer took a hit itself and barely limped back to a port in Japan. Scott left the Navy as soon as he could. He spoke of being haunted by images of the what those batteries he commanded wrought.

Scott got into business, a MBA from Harvard. When I met him, he is married to a fine, fine woman. I think she was the one who brought him to Christianity.

Scott is very selective about what he gets into, but when he gets into them, he gets into them with all his mind and soul. He is very into Christian Apologetics. He established friendships with the preeminent minds this nation has in the area of Christian Apologetics. He travels to where they are, and before he and his wife decided teo pull up stakes to move to Colorado Springs, he brought those minds to Roseville to provide wrap around weekend presentations.

Scott got me a part-time job at HomeStart on Riverside as Case Manager. He was on the Board of Directors there. To say he was hands on would be an understatement. He worked his job that gave him a paycheck down in Rancho Cordova in the mornings. And then he was at HomeStart by 1:30 PM or so every afternoon doing fix up jobs. He walked the walk as a Christian.

Scott and his wife are over at Colorado Springs. He hoped to catch on with Focus on the Family. That didn't happen. He manages an apartment complex.

Scott is quite conservative in his politics and theology. He would have voted for McClintock over Brown. No doubt about it.

But Scott would have had utmost respect for Charlie Brown. You see, Scott wears a class ring from the United States Navy Academy. That is a fraternity ring. One doesn't get that ring from a Cracker Jacks box. Everyone who has graduated from a United States Military Academy wears some form of that fraternity ring.

I very recently saw graduates of two different Military Acedemies josh each other about who has the best football teams, but there is a tie that binds...

The military bearing that never goes away...and

DUTY HONOR COUNTRY

If you look at the billboard it says the Placer County Deputy Sheriffs' Association paid for the billboard.

Yep, it does. Does that mean anything? Bonner is the Sheriff and the Deputy's Association paid for the billboard. The Deputy's Association is allowed to endorse candidates whereas the Placer County Sheriff's Department can't. Bonner's name appears first on the billboard, of course.

It seems to me it means something. The Sheriff can endorse a political candidate. I think you are reading too much into whose name is first. I think the message is that our deputies and our Sheriff endorse Kranz for Supervisor. The message seems plain. I haven't seem Montgomery even mention public safety AT ALL. Not even on her radar. It's the most important function of government and she is ignoring it. Global warming is a different issue altogether. That she focuses on. Crazy.

Scott,

I'm not arguing with you about the billboard at all. Bonner and the Sheriff's Association clearly support Kranz.

What I explained is that Aaron's post showing Bonner's support for Kranz undercuts Aaron's many posts on the "bad budget" Schwarzenegger has proposed and Tom McClintock is fighting because Bonner supports Schwarzenegger's budget.

Bob

Scott,

Is there a serious issue with public safety management in District 5? What problem should Montgomery address that she isn't talking about? The Sheriff's Association website notes that they endorse Bruce Kranz for District 5 but don't say why. I live in District 5 and am not aware of any big challenges facing Sheriff Bonner and his department.

Bob

OK, I apparently did have the insight into your first post. Thanks for the clarification.

As for the second, in these fiscal times funding is the primary issue. I think a candidate needs to address their position in the priority of funding. As I said earlier, public safety (fire, law enforcement) should be government's first priority. If it is not, what is? Since Montgomery has said her priorities include "dark sky" light pollution, rural internet, and climate change/ global warming. NOTHING is said about public safety. With some supervisors sending money to Placer Legacy and cutting the sheriff's budget, I want to know her positions on this issue. That she has none is revealing to me. Kranz is endorsed by the Deputy Sheriffs' Association, the Sheriff, and Cal Fire Firefighters. Montgomery is endorsed, according to her website, by the North Tahoe Firefighter’s Association. But her husband works there (again according to her website).

Lastly, she has no qualifications for the job. Maybe if she ran for a local cemetery district or school board to show her abilities and gain experience, she might be able to do the job. But I don't feel she is qualified as is. If you look at her Bio, it talks about her families qualifications, but very little is mentioned about hers. My two cents...

Sorry, in my first line I meant to say "did not" have insight into your first post.