BY PEGGY DARE
Los Alamos

Editor’s note: This content of this letter has not been fact-checked.

My vote is for Antonio Maggiore for Sheriff.  Although his opponent has a respected history of service to Los Alamos,  his opponent is running to eliminate the position of Sheriff totally.  Taxpayers should not be funding him to pursue this.  

Maggiore wants to do positive work for the community with the position.

The argument is made that the Sheriff in our unusual town no longer has a significant role. Well whose fault is that?   We hear: “The police department does all the law enforcement duties.”  But that cannot be.  What is “law enforcement”?  Public employees in general work in law enforcement. From code compliance to traffic control to processing property taxes, all the work involves working within and promoting the laws of the government. I admire a system of checks and balances. Who can look into the many complaints we hear, about staff decisions that use our taxes?  Council member’s hands are tied to budget and policy.  These days especially there is little trust in government. 

I see an opportunity, with the Sheriff’s office to help address the mistrust.

When I moved to Los Alamos over ten years ago the controversy was that the Sheriff was being stripped of his duties by the Council.  Why?  Apparently his duties involved looking into claims of inappropriate behavior by officials in the town.  This angered some personalities in the government who did not like to be questioned, and the result was to eliminate the oversight function of the Sheriff.  His salary was reduced, and his support funding and staff help were taken away.

Law enforcement is not always about carrying a gun. I think there is a need for a Sheriff, an elected person who is accountable to citizens who have concerns about how lawful decisions are made in Los Alamos.  And that person should have the authority and the back-up to fulfill such a role.

That’s just one idea, though, this ethics role.  There are other important duties that could be done by the Sheriff position.  There are a lot of creative people here.  I’m sure we can think of a way that the Sheriff can be a strong force for law and justice without overlapping duties of the police.   The $8000/year Sheriff’s salary is background dust in Los Alamos’s gargantuan $350 million(!) annual budget. It’s time to make a clear job description.