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A raging debate took place between the Sheriff and the Commissioner at the county commissioners meeting on Thursday afternoon.

The leading agenda of the meeting held by county commissioners was the request made by Sheriff Gus Dicersari for additional funds to purchase eight new cruisers and hire five additional deputies. The sheriff argued that the county has unfairly “shortchanged” the sheriff’s department, claiming that it was endangering the lives of his deputies. Commission President Anne Chenn responded by informing Sheriff Dicersari that the county currently does not have enough funds available to make such purchases.

Sheriff Dicersari responded by making the statement that, “We never had problems until we began letting migrants come to this country to work. They are a problem for our law enforcement, our schools and our healthcare system.” Fellow commission members Anita Shenuski and Raymond Laybourne supported the sheriff by stating that the county should be spending more money on the sheriff’s department than programs for migrant workers. Chenn quickly denied Sheriff Dicersari’s accusations saying that, “Those people who come here to work are decent, hardworking people being employed at jobs that local residents don’t want to do. They add a great deal to the local economy and they pay taxes. You are being a hypocrite when you try to blame those people for everything.”

Chenn said that the reason for the county’s shortage of money is because of the increased cost for health care for employees and also because of the higher fuel costs. The county’s budget remains at $127 million after the county had spent $30 million on building a new prison needed to relieve overcrowding. Chen continued to explain that the county was unable to pay the $580,000 that the new vehicles and additional deputies would cost. An alternative cost-saving measure suggested by Chen was to remove the privilege of deputies driving cruisers home at the end of the day to preserve mileage. The commissioners meeting came to an end when members voted 5-2 against the sheriff’s request.