The reason I voted for Jack Baxter in the primary election was that it seemed he would best able to restore public faith in the Lake County Sheriff's Office and have the respect of the entire staff as well, but since Baxter isn't an option I've wondered what would happen if Francisco Rivero or Rod Mitchell won.

No doubt either man will have his work cut out for him if elected, but who has a better chance of success and what will the measure of that be?

If Rod Mitchell is reelected things will likely stay pretty much as they are, his staff will be the same, and there will be a large segment of the law abiding population here that will look at incidents involving the LCSO with a skeptical eye as they do today, not because they don't trust an individual deputy but because they have doubts about their leader.

This is a type of trickle-down effect that may not be fair or logical but the bottom line is that it isn't helpful to have a very large segment of the public thinking, “Will I be the next Dinius?” when they have a contact with a deputy. Our faith that we'll be treated fairly should be automatic and usually was here until recently.

If Rivero wins the public trust and support will be vastly improved on day one, there is no denying that as the primary race proved that by a large margin the voters were not satisfied with the status quo.

There may be a few deputies who either decide to retire or quit, and there will certainly be a period of adjustment as changes are made, meaning for a time the department will likely not work as smoothly as it does today. Plus there could be some additional costs to replace deputies.

Mitchell's supporters will still trust the deputies but have doubts about their boss, and the rest of us will have trust we lost restored. That seems like the best outcome we are being offered.

Voters also should understand that Lake County's prosperity is directly tied to our image in the eyes of Bay Area residents.

With a slew of high-profile lawsuits facing Mr. Mitchell that image is going to be threatened again and the best way to reduce the harm is to have Mitchell referred to as “former Lake County sheriff” in news reports.

As it is the perception is that Lake County is some sort of legal Twilight Zone for visitors, there is no faster way to change that than to elect Frank Rivero and show the people who are thinking of bringing their vacation and investment dollars here that we have cleaned our own house.

Philip Murphy lives in Lakeport, Calif.