Today's Bee Letter (Published! ... kinda)

Responding to the Bee's publication 6/19/26 "Sacramento leader: The county's budget rewards failure, cuts public safety" by Rosario Rodriguez, on page B10

Supervisor Rodriguez' editorial fails to mention that the County's commitment to "safety" relies primarily on coercion after the fact rather than prevention. Cops, courts and cages are what she complains are being underfunded, despite being roughly 70% of the County's budget. Incarcerating for addiction is seven times the cost of medical treatment, and is less effective, but Rodriguez proposes no expansion of rehab. She just wants a jail expansion, even though the Mays decision settlement doesn't request it. 

She also omits that Sheriff Cooper confessed his "cuts" were illusions. He is re-assigning deputies to existing vacancies, not reducing police staffing. It’s not news that cops just want more money, even if they solve less than 15% of crimes--and don't solve 85% of them. The world is scary enough without the Bee appealing to fear with this kind of incomplete reporting. Please start solving problems, and stop adding to them.

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I might add that it's extraordinarily frustrating to have no interest from local publications in the editorial I wrote responding to Ms. Rodriguez appeal for more coercion. My writing has appeared in these publications previously, but they're just not interested in contradicting the belief that cops, courts and cages are the way to deal with the desparate people in Sacramento County. One example of a better way to prevent such desperation is Contra Costa County's "Destination Home," a program to provide people on the brink of losing their rental with some funds to keep their housing.

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After complaining that the Bee never publishes my stuff, they published this letter, edited.

Here's their version:

BUDGET REALITIES
Sacramento Supervisor Rosario Rodriguez's editorial fails to mention that the county's commitment
to "safety" relies primarily on coercion after the fact rather than prevention. Cops, courts andd cages are
what she complains are being underfunded, despite being roughly 70% of the county's budget. Incarceration for for addiction is seven times the cost of medical treatment, and it is less effective. But Rodriguez proposes no expansion of rehab. She just wants a jail expansion, even though the Mays decision settlement didn't request it. It's not news that cops just want more money without being more effective. Please start solving problerns, and stop adding to them.
 

Mark Dempsey
Orangevale 

That's 104 words, while the Bee solicits letters that are as long as 150 words. ... Omitted [Added]:

She also omits that Sheriff Cooper confessed his "cuts" were illusions. He is re-assigning deputies to existing vacancies, not reducing police staffing. It’s not news that cops just want more money [without being more effective], even if they solve less than 15% of crimes--and don't solve 85% of them. The world is scary enough without the Bee appealing to fear with this kind of incomplete reporting.  

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Really Milquetoasts the message, doesn't it? Gee, I wonder how Trump gets traction with the "fake news" accusations...! Of course the Bee wouldn't publish the full editorial, although the Davis Vanguard did.