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There's a new sheriff in town
BY STEVEN MAYER, Californian staff writer - January 8, 2007Hundreds of uniformed officers, retired cops and well-wishers stood and cheered Monday as Donny Youngblood was sworn in as the 23rd sheriff of Kern County.
The inaugural ceremony, held at midday inside Harvest Hall at the Kern County Fairgrounds, took on an almost festive atmosphere as Bakersfield's own Merle Haggard smiled from the front row and Tehachapi resident and veteran character actor Charles Napier sat nearby.
Bakersfield Police Chief Bill Rector opened the ceremony with hearty congratulations and a verbal commitment to work in close cooperation with Youngblood.
Kern County District Attorney Ed Jagels joked about the new sheriff's "short" stature before assuring the audience that Youngblood's long and varied experience in law enforcement makes him "particularly, almost peculiarly, qualified" to take the reins of the department.
It seemed like old-home week as former assistant sheriffs and undersheriffs stood and listened side by side with officers wearing uniforms from the Sheriff's Department, the Bakersfield Police Department, the Arvin Police Department and other agencies.
"This uniform and this badge represents fairness, honesty, discretion, empathy, understanding and pride," Youngblood told the crowd. "I can't tell you how many times they used discretion with me."
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Sheriff: Rosamond to get two more deputies
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Saturday, July 23, 2005.By James C. LuoghrieTwo sheriff's deputies will be added to the current force patrolling the streets in Rosamond, Kern County Sheriff Mack Wimbish
Though the promise of additional officers was made in 2004, budget cuts prevented the department from fulfilling Wimbish's desire to have one deputy for every 1,000 residents, he said.
"My desire is that one per thousand is the minimum," he said.
Rosamond, with a population around 20,000, currently has nine deputies and one sergeant operating out of the sheriff's substation.
"I was just as disappointed as you were" that the deputies never came, Wimbish said.
He explained that with the county taking budget cuts from the state, just maintaining current funding was not feasible, let alone taking on additional expenses.
"A year ago, the county was hit so hard from the state that with five months left in the year, each department had to give $3.3 million back to the general fund."
He referred to the last two years' budget scenarios as "the great depression for law enforcement."
But Wimbish is optimistic about the coming year.
When he met with Rosamond residents in May, Wimbish heard complaints about the possibility of the school deputy being pulled to patrol the streets.
Not only will the school deputy stay, Wimbish said, the additional two will also be deployed and the sheriff's department will look for funding to replace the grant that funds the school deputy before that appropriation expires.
Wimbish acknowledged that rebuilding in the sheriff's department usually starts in Bakersfield and works its way into the unincorporated communities. That will change, he said.
"We're going to start here and build in that direction," Wimbish said.
"Rosamond is going to be the area we work on first, not last."
Town Council president Dennis Shoffner said he felt pleased with the event.
"I think people left here more informed," he said, noting that the Town Council's role is to inform residents about their government.
Wimbish was first elected as sheriff in 2002 after serving 34 years in the California Highway Patrol.
From the Mojave Desert News - April 22, 2004
Plans to build a sheriff's station in the new Rosamond civic center have been placed on hold for at least three years, Kern County Sheriff Mack Wimbish told the Kern County Grand Jury recently.
Responding to a grand jury report on plans to move the station from its location south of town to the new civic center in the community's geographic center, Wimbish said plans for a new station paid for by money from a lawsuit against tobacco companies "was under funded from the outset".
The proposed station on 35th Street West near Rosamond Blvd. was also too small, the Sheriff told the grand jury. "Rosamond is expected to grow in the next few years and hopefully additional staffing can be added", Wimbish said. "Downsizing from the size of the existing station is not prudent".
A lease on the current station has been renewed for another three years, the sheriff said. "The fiscal feasibility of moving the site or new construction will be studied prior to the end of the next lease term with input from the community," Wimbish said.
Former Kern County Supervisor Steve Perez, who grew up in Rosamond, proposed building the new station at the 35th Street site, which contains the Wanda Kirk Library, new quarters for the Rosamond Community Services District, and will be the site of a new fire station.
In its January report on the Rosamond station, the grand jury recommended that the county "re-evaluate" plans to move the station from its present location.
Supervisor Don Maben said Monday that property for the fire station is being purchased from the Rosamond Community Services District. Money to build the new station to replace ancient and crowded quarters on Desert Street will also come from the Tobacco Settlement but that money could be diverted into the general fund to provide services if the state continues to reduce its payments to cities and counties.