I have had many interactions with Lani Faulkner and find that she is thoughtful and not only hears but listens. Her employment in a science-driven industry tells me she processes information from an organized, rational platform. That alone is sufficient to choose her over the incumbent District 1 Santa Cruz County supervisor, Manu Koenig.

I have direct experience attempting to work with Supervisor Koenig on alternate response to 911 calls, as well as with him as a member of the board.

Numerous city/county activists met with the supervisor in an attempt to get the county to sponsor a program, an outline of which we provided, that would look like CAHOOTS in Eugene, Oregon. This program would provide trained de-escalators and mental health professionals to respond to much of the 911 traffic, eliminating the law enforcement element that, all too often, leads to tragedy.

(Remember Luke Smith – in 2016, his father called 911 for help because his son was high on LSD. The tragic outcome of law enforcement’s involvement was that Luke was gunned down at close range by sheriff’s deputies, using an AR-15 assault rifle. What Luke needed, that last day of his life, was mental health professionals, not law enforcement.)

At first Koenig seemed interested, but subsequent meeting times were changed, ultimately ignored. No suggestions were offered by the supervisor.

The most important issue is gaining control of the sheriff’s office through two new pieces of legislation, not having the board rubber-stamp the sheriff’s every wish.

The question of sheriff’s oversight, per Assembly Bill 1185, had more involvement by our group and less by the supervisor. We held four countywide meetings to gauge the community’s interest; not one was attended by the supervisor. The county ignored our own sample ordinance, written by lawyers who interact with the sheriff. The board of supervisors offered what the sheriff wanted, a weak ordinance. 

The Santa Cruz County supervisors unanimously voted in favor of the watered-down ordinance with a severely limited budget ($100,000 for the first six months).

In comparison, Sonoma County’s sheriff’s oversight, the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach, was provided 1% of the sheriff’s budget for operating expenses ($2,020,415).

Assembly Bill 481, regarding military equipment used by law enforcement, was passed to provide transparency to the community about the militarization of law enforcement.

Two elements of the many, key to the lack of knowledge on the part of the supervisor, were:

  • The sheriff failed to list his military assault weapon inventory, as required by the law, AB 481.
  • The bill gave the governing agency – in this case, the board of supervisors – 180 days to study the sheriff’s submission for accuracy and compliance with the law.

Before inventory presentation to the board, at the required public meeting, Sheriff Jim Hart presented his inventory to the public.  

When the sheriff announced that he had 83 AR-style military assault weapons, then stated he was not going to tell the board, I objected and his response was, “For you Lee, I’ll tell them.”

At the presentation of the inventory to the board, the sheriff left out his inventory of these dangerous weapons. I directly challenged that from the podium, yet the supervisor ignored the admonition.

The result of that omission is that there are no operating procedures (guidelines) for their use or training of officers. This leads to a severe lack of transparency regarding the most lethal weapon in the sheriff’s inventory.

The supervisor’s lack of inquisitiveness with respect to the sheriff’s military equipment inventory (AB 481) was stunning.

After repeatedly being informed by the community at the board presentation that the board had 180 days to study the submission, the board collectively spent less than 20 minutes studying or questioning the submission before unanimously voting to approve.

These are concrete examples of why the supervisor does not deserve a second term.

Lani Faulkner will be a new voice, a breath of fresh air. She is backed by the people, not the real estate agents. She is schooled in logic and the scientific method. We need this kind of rational thinking on the board.

Lee Brokaw

Santa Cruz