Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Grants topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public speakers tell supervisors Sheriff’s Stone Garden withdrawal will harm local policing and costs could exceed $1 million
Summary
Multiple residents told the Board of Supervisors they were concerned about Sheriff Hathaway’s decision to withdraw from Operation Stone Garden, saying the move will reduce staffing, harm public safety responses on the border and may cost the county if equipment and grant funds must be repaid.
Residents at the Feb. 4 Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors meeting urged the board to respond after Sheriff Hathaway withdrew the county from Operation Stone Garden, a federal grant-supported program that has funded overtime, equipment and cooperative border operations.
Travis Arnold, a Rio Rico resident and former sheriff’s office sergeant, told the board the sheriff’s action will have “catastrophic” effects on local staffing and operations. “When we'd have calls come in that are unique to us on the Southern Border ... these were calls that we relied on Operation Stone Garden units for,” Arnold said. He estimated the loss could equal 8 to 12 deputies and told the board the county might have to repay grant funds and purchased equipment at fair market value, with estimates “well over a million dollars.”
Arnold urged the board to use whatever negotiation leverage it has with the sheriff and to consider steps to protect deputies, including allowing deputies to unionize or granting meet-and-confer status so employees can have a stronger voice over employment conditions. He said morale among deputies is suffering since the withdrawal.
Board members did not take action on the matter during the meeting. County staff and supervisors acknowledged the sheriff is an independently elected official and that the board’s options are limited, though Arnold and others asked the board to consider negotiating or offering support to affected personnel.
The public comments highlighted potential local consequences of the sheriff’s decision, including lost overtime pay, fewer deputies available for border-related responses and an uncertain county financial exposure if federal grants require repayment.
