Watching the ..B. Independent sheriff debate the other night. My wife and I came to the exact same conclusion.
Bill Brown was thoughtful, professorial, calm, extremely articulate, and knowledgeable. He had the facts at his command and offered insightful and smart responses. His experience advantage was incredibly evident throughout the forum. The office of sheriff is a complex challenge. And managing almost 1,000 people takes great experience and talent.
Juan Camarena, his challenger, a SWAT Team member and ex-Marine, who has never managed more than 30 or 40 people was tedious, bureaucratic, and, throughout the intercourse, seemed extremely ill at ease. His “go to” answer was always “let’s have a community committee on that.”
Camarena is many levels below in rank, but seemingly even more levels below in the kind of thinking one wants in a sheriff. Having a public dashboard in a stakeout is an absolutely ludicrous idea.
In essence, we think our great District Attorney, Joyce Dudley summed it up best.
“Sheriff Bill Brown is the only qualified candidate.”