To Supervisor Vito Chiesa, public safety is not a game!
Anyone who reads my blogs on the Hive, or over a dozen other websites and specifically on StancoInsider.com can certainly conclude that I am committed to this community by working to find solutions to issues that negatively impact the lives of the law abiding residents who live here. I think it’s fair to say that I’m well known for my passion and willingness to speak out.
After the election in 2009 I reached out to newly elected Supervisor Vito Chiesa, even though I didn’t vote for him, to express my concern regarding drug use and sales in our community, along with my concerns over our gang situation. I put the election aside hoping to work with Chiesa on solutions. I live in a gang infested neighborhood and I have experience and knowledge in this area that could be useful to the Supervisor in several different ways and I was more than willing to work with him.
I think it’s fair to say that our Board of Supervisor's should possess an adequate knowledge of public safety threats and they should be able to address public safety concerns in a professional manner.
In mid August of this year I was asked to meet with Supervisor Chiesa to discuss gangs. I accepted the invitation and I had hoped we could discuss this subject and other public safety issues and come up with some answers. I was looking forward to the meeting.
So imagine my surprise when Supervisor Chiesa called Modesto’s gang injunction-harassment. I strongly disagreed and explained to him that any organized group whose primary goal is to instill fear by the use of intimidation and threats of violence and primarily funded by drug trafficking and other criminal activity are in fact - terrorists. The gang injunction disrupts their criminal organization and should not be described as "harassment."
His solution to the gang problem in my neighborhood was to install lights. While I agree that lighting the area will help deter gang members, it is not a solution. I was disappointed at Mr. Chiesa’s lack of knowledge on the subject and I was surprised that he was more interested in my political connections than the seriousness of the situation I was presenting him. He made a rather strange remark at the end of our conversation - “I am a very powerful man." ...Huh?
Although I felt that this meeting was mostly unproductive, I continued to reach out to Supervisor Chiesa in hopes that he could focus on the situation I had described to him.
I didn’t hear anything for four months.
On December 17th I received an email informing me that Mr. Chiesa wanted to set up another meeting with me for December 22nd. The email said “We have some exciting news to share with you.” I accepted the invitation hoping it would not be a repeat of the first meeting, and the meeting started off great. We discussed the lighting district and the fact that Mr. Cheisa would be installing a light on an already existing pole in my area at his own expense. I was very appreciative that he would be willing to do that. I was also told that the light will be up within a month, great news, but then to my dismay the conversation once again turned to politics. He took the opportunity to express his dislike for Sheriff Adam Christianson by calling him a “bull in a china shop.” He told me that former Sheriff Les Weidman “knew how to negotiate”, and that he had called the Sheriff’s “bluff” on disbanding the gang unit. He said he would wager that the Sheriff wouldn’t do it, that he was “bluffing.” He also went on to say that Supervisor Jim De Martini didn’t like the Sheriff, that he actually “hates” the Sheriff and that De Martini and Christianson were both ‘bulls in china shop”.
He also asked me about a comment I made on ModBee. He said my comment was “bullshit.” I posted that he and former Sheriff candidate Rob Jackson were friends. He denied it, yet it was his own assistant-Jennifer- that told me about their relationship during a phone conversation.
This time I’m angry.
I am angry that once again I had tried to reach out to Supervisor Chiesa for help with gangs in my area only to have him waste my time by personally attacking Sheriff Christianson and Supervisor De Martini. I am also questioning the timing of this meeting. It happens to be just a few days before Garth Stapley’s article came out on more cuts coming to the Sheriff’s Department.
As I told you Mr. Cheisa before I left our meeting, I am angry that your political agenda is getting in the way of protecting the people you were elected to serve. I have serious reservations about your ability to adequately represent the people in your district. You are intentionally playing games with the publics safety. You told me you are telling all stakeholders that the 1.4 million in ag tax money is earmarked for another department. You want total control over how the money is spent, but with drastic cuts to public safety this is not the time to be playing political games. If you can't properly represent the people in your district, then please step down and let someone else do it.
Public safety is not a game Mr. Chiesa.
As a community and anti drug activist, my goal is to advocate on behalf of residents on issues that adversely impact our community. For more than seven years I have spoken out on two important issues- drugs and gangs.
By Linda Taylor
The Stanislaus County Insider
ALERT