Letter: Sheriff costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars

Published 11:30 am Tuesday, September 24, 2019

To the Editor:

I hope the 1,065 voters that re-elected Sheriff Palmer are paying attention to how much he is costing taxpayers. Tens of thousands of dollars have been paid by taxpayers in lawsuits resulting from the sheriff’s failure to obey the law. I thought the sheriff was supposed to enforce the law, not ignore it.

Now the county has paid more than $18,000 to an office deputy on administrative leave that is also married to the undersheriff.

Concurrently it appears Undersheriff Mobley was also placed on administrative leave on March 18. Meanwhile county attorney Carollo states he was back “actively employed” by April 25, yet refused to provide the actual dates the undersheriff was on leave. So is this Grant County’s example of transparency in government?

It also appears the sheriff has a problem in his hiring practices. Although innocent until proven guilty, sheriff’s office deputy Tyler Smith, also on administrative leave, has been arrested by Oregon Sate Police on “multiple charges of attempted adult rape, child neglect and fourth-degree assault.” Is this the picture Grant County voters want their law enforcement to reflect?

Perhaps it’s time for voters to take a short pause for another “reality check.”

Fred Fitzgerald

Monument