Columns Old

• I don’t want Ted Mink telling me I violated USPS regulations when I didn’t (actually, I don’t want him impersonating a USPS inspector at all).
• I don’t want Ted Mink telling me I can’t put landscaping lights in my backyard.
• I don’t want Ted Mink preventing me from collecting evidence for a trial.
• I don’t want Ted Mink telling me I can’t put mulch on the right-of-way in front of my home.
• I don’t want Ted Mink (or his deputies) repeatedly calling me from caller ID-blocked numbers (actually, I don’t want any calls, especially from a local government agency, calling me from caller ID-blocked numbers).
• I don’t want Ted Mink’s representatives to threaten me.
• I don’t want Ted Mink’s representatives to insult me.
• I don’t want Ted Mink telling me there are no covenants in my neighborhood.
• I don’t want Ted Mink’s deputies banging on my front door at close to midnight threatening me with outrageous, completely inexplicable crimes.
• When I call to report a crime–that is the only way his department will accept a report–I don’t want Ted Mink’s deputies calling or coming to my home when I say I do not want contact.
• I do not want Ted Mink’s deputies coming to my home threatening me orally with baseless crime charges.
• I don’t want Ted Mink’s representatives telling me, and calling me specifically, to say the public park in front of my home is private property.
• I don’t want Ted Mink’s deputies telling me I cannot light a work area temporarily in my backyard.
• I don’t want Ted Mink trying to tell me where the property line is with a neighbor.
• I don’t want Ted Mink to file baseless criminal charges to try and intimidate me.

Something I wrote in 2004:

“I became intrigued when a police sergeant I was supposedly working with refused to give me his e-mail address.  He said I sould use the U.S. Postal Service if I wanted to contact the department or the sheriff.  I noticed the sheriff also would not provide an e-mail address or direct telephone line.”

The results of the last week, Whew! My best summary is that it is a combination of corruption and incompetence.

People, not offices or organizations, are responsible.

Ted Mink is wasting money and he is, at least partially, responsible for the stagnation of an entire region. He is responsible for the personnel, budget, and all day-to-day operations.

He is a patrol deputy and it is way over his head.

*          *          *

But the thing is you cannot impune an entire organization, and that is his defense.  There are people who want to do the right thing.  There are others who don’t really care and just want a paycheck.  There are some who want to get ahead, others who don’t have a clue anyway you slice it, and yet others who are in it for every single wrong reason you can think of.

But by law the sheriff is responsible for everything.  By law he also has qualified immunity.  This is the classic example of customer satisfaction vs. not giving a shit.  It then has to become an example of character:  what does this individual stand for, the right thing or cover-ups, justice or flagrancy, competence or stupidity?