Sheriff accuses Commission President of “Shortchanging” his department.

Sheriff accuses Commission President of “Shortchanging” his department.


County Commissioners voted 5-2 against Sheriff Gus DiCesari request for new cruisers and deputies at a meeting last Thursday afternoon.

DiCesari told the commissioners he needed to purchase eight new police cruisers to replace older vehicles that have more than 150,000 miles on them, “ It’s getting to costly to maintain the older vehicles….This is the first time in my 27 years as sheriff that the county hasn’t allocated money to the sheriff’s department to buy equipment. My deputies can’t keep driving these old vehicles. Something bad is going to happen.”

Commission President Anne Chenn explained the county ran short of funds this year because they had to spend $30 million on a new prison to alleviate overcrowding; in addition to increased costs for health care for employees, and higher fuel costs.

DiCesari accused the county commissioners of “shortchanging” the county sheriff’s department to save money and as a result “…putting the lives of the people of this county in jeopardy.”

Commissioners Anita Shenuski and Raymond Laybourne blamed the shortage of funds on the recent influx of migrant workers in the area. They support the sheriff and said during the meeting that the county should spend more money on law enforcement, and spend less on programs for migrant workers.

Shenuski stated in a heated argument with Chenn that the problems started when the county allowed migrants to come here for work. “They are a problem for our law enforcement, our schools, and our healthcare systems. They take away jobs from decent people and work for next to nothing and if something gets stolen you can bet it is one of them that have taken it. We need to protect our local residents from them”

Chenn denied that the immigrants are the problem “Those [immigrants] who come here to work are decent, hardworking people they are employed at jobs that local people don’t want to do. They add a great deal to the local community and pay taxes.” Chenn then accused Shenuski of being a hypocrite for trying to blame the migrants for everything.

Commission member Jose Gardez said many of the migrant workers become permanent members of the community, opening businesses and eventually earning citizenship. The county commissioners estimate that 5,000 migrant families are working in agricultures, construction, and service industries in the area.

Chenn suggested that the deputies refrain from driving their cruisers home each day as this could make more cruisers available, and also preserve gas mileage. However, the sheriff claims that letting the deputies drive the vehicles home each day and parking them in their neighborhoods is a major deterrent to crime.