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Letters
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- Written by: Carol Stambuk
My name is Carol Stambuk and Lynn Thornton was a close and dear best friend. For over three years Lynn’s son, family and friends have been denied receiving justice for her death that was caused solely by Russell Perdock. Since the date of the accident caused by Russ Perdock on April 29, 2006, it is my opinion that he has been protected by Sheriff Rodney Mitchell, as well as District Attorney Jon Hopkins.
Mitchell and Hopkins moved forward with unjustified charges against an innocent man, Bismarck Dinius, which ignited into nationwide attention of the case. Had the charges against Dinius not been so outrageous, this case would have gone on without all of the publicity.
The obvious coverup and perjury that dominated the case was not only a slap in the face of Lynn’s son, family and friends, but to all of you who live in Lake County because of the bad publicity and image that was projected.
I have made this statement before and I want to make it again because I want all of the voters to remember this when they go to the polls. From April 29, 2006, to the months that followed, no one from Mitchell’s office or Hopkins’ office ever contacted Lynn’s family following the accident. We were completely ignored and avoided from the onset. Since when is it standard operating procedure not to contact the family of a victim? Why were they avoiding us?
In the early hours of the day following the accident on April 30, 2006, several calls were made by Lynn’s family to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, asking for information about the accident. Instead of getting any answers or response, they were hung up on. Our voices were completely ignored when we made it publicly known that the wrong man was being charged with her death.
Mitchell and Hopkins exerted more effort to go after an innocent man than to see that justice was done. They made the conscious decision to protect Russ Perdock instead of holding him accountable and to the standards every other person would have been held to.
It was Mitchell’s job and responsibility to bring charges forward against the responsible person, Russ Perdock, because he was the person who drove his speedboat recklessly and crashed into the back of the sailboat on a dark night.
Perdock claimed that there were no lights on the sailboat, but it was proven in the trial that the lights were on. Perdock’s speed, reckless driving and his lack of regard for the safety of others is why he crashed into the sailboat.
In my opinion, Mitchell and Hopkins mishandled the entire case. They were wrong then and continue to be wrong now, and they do not deserve to be in law enforcement leadership roles.
Sheriff Mitchell did not do right by Lynn Thornton and now I am asking the good people of Lake County to help bring justice to Lynn and peace of mind to her son, family and friends. On June 8 you have the opportunity to send a strong message to Rodney Mitchell by voting him out of office and electing Frank Rivero.
Carol Stambuk lives in Rocklin, Calif.
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- Written by: Dennis A. Rollins
As a 29-year educator in Lake County I had the opportunity to work for both of the candidates for county superintendent of schools. I found each of them to be intelligent and hardworking superintendents. They each supported me in my job. As a result, the choice in this election was very difficult for me.
I would like to share the reasons I decided to support Wally Holbrook for county superintendent.
Wally is a 35-year career educator. He has been continuously focused on addressing the issues in education. The experiences he derived from being a parent, teacher, coach, principal, superintendent and leadership coach allow him to view issues from many perspectives. Wally understands the importance of all of these perspectives. From that understanding comes his campaign slogan, “Together We Thrive…Leadership With Experience.”
With Wally this is more than a simple slogan. His leadership style is to bring together those with interests on a particular issue, complete a process of fact finding, searching out solutions, discussing and building consensus. From that process an action plan is developed that participants can feel a part of and work to implement. This is not top down leadership. It takes time, effort and skill to bring people together in this way but it works. However, as I worked with him, I saw that he is decisive and does not hesitate to act when the situation requires it.
During the past five years, Wally has worked as a leadership coach assisting and mentoring new administrators in Northern California. In that role he has developed relationships with many of Lake County’s principals and superintendents. These relationships position him to bring those people together to address student, staff and community needs in a way he has demonstrated to be effective.
Finally, the county’s top educational leader must also keep the focus on individual student success not simply the business aspect of education. In these difficult financial times it is easy to limit your focus to business/financial matters. Wally has presented a “100 Day Plan for Student Success” that will position the Lake County Office of Education in a leadership role to increase student success in Lake County.
I invite you to read that plan and Wally’s platform at http://electwallyholbrook.com and consider him for your vote in the upcoming election.
Dennis A. Rollins lives in Lakeport.
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- Written by: Kevin Burke
As a local chief of police and president of the Lake County Law Enforcement Chiefs Association, I would like to correct some inaccurate statements that have been made during the current campaign for Lake County Sheriff.
One of the candidates for this office, Francisco Rivero, has publicly stated and promised that he will “reinstate the Drug Task Force eliminated by the current sheriff.” Mr. Rivero has repeated this claim in written campaign literature that is being mailed to Lake County voters.
With all due respect to Mr. Rivero, these statements are false in every respect and I urge him to discontinue making them.
The currently serving sheriff, Rodney Mitchell, did not eliminate our local drug task force. Instead, the California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE) decided to withdraw from our local task force.
The reason given in a detailed letter from BNE was a $12 million budget shortfall and the loss of 80 narcotics agent positions statewide.
In addition, no elected sheriff has the authority to bring BNE back until they decide they are financially able to return, and Deputy Rivero knows or should know this. Any promise to bring them back is misleading as BNE has already promised to return when their budget will support it.
As a local chief of police, I have been a member of the Narcotics Task Force Executive Board since 2006 and was present when Sheriff Rodney Mitchell worked tirelessly to get assistance from state officials to bolster the funding for BNE so that they could continue participation in our task force.
On April 2, 2009, a factual article about BNE’s withdrawal from the Lake County Narcotics Task Force appeared in a local news story. The facts are as true today and can be viewed with the following link, http://lakeconews.com/content/view/8003/919/ .
Most importantly, Deputy Rivero's statement implies that a local drug task force no longer exists. The Lake County Sheriff's Department, along with some other local agencies, still has full-time staff assigned to drug enforcement, and the efforts of these hard working officers should be acknowledged rather than minimized.
Chief Kevin Burke of Lakeport Police is president of the Lake County Law Enforcement Chiefs Association.
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- Written by: John Thornton
My name is John Thornton and I am the son of Lynn Thornton who was killed the night of April 29, 2006.
My mother was killed by the negligence of Russell Perdock, a Lake County Sheriff's captain, who worked for and with Sheriff Rodney Mitchell.
I am writing this letter to express my sincere love for my mother, Lynn, and to give my full support in favor of Francisco Rivero for sheriff and why you should vote Sheriff Rodney Mitchell out of office!
My mother Lynn was everything to me. Not only was she my best friend who was always there for me, but she also taught me many morals and principles. One of those morals was to tell the truth, which is something that I could only wish Russell Perdock and Rodney Mitchell would follow and live by.
Since that night of April 29, 2006, Sheriff Rodney Mitchell has protected Perdock from facing any charges in spite of his reckless actions that led to my mother’s death. Instead, Mitchell shifted the attention to an innocent man, Bismarck Dinius.
Bismarck was wrongly charged and later rightfully acquitted, but not until after almost three years after the incident. Mitchell deliberately dragged out the case and charges to obviously satisfy the statute of limitations, therefore protecting Russell Perdock, the man who was at fault all along.
Sheriff Rodney Mitchell hasn’t demonstrated by any means that he deserves the leadership or title of Sheriff through his acts of injustice by not prosecuting the responsible person for my mother’s death, Russell Perdock.
My mother’s love and kindness can never be replaced and I know nothing I do or say can ever bring her back to me, and what makes it even more difficult to deal with is that Russell Perdock and Rodney Mitchell never did the right thing from the beginning. They put more effort into a coverup and ignoring the facts, which is why the Dinius case generated so much attention.
I ask the people of Lake County for their vote and support of Frank Rivero because he is a man who has morals, ethics and understands justice. Frank has the right mind and character to lead, serve and protect the people of Lake County, and most important to me, to get justice for my mom.
John Thornton lives in Carmichael, Calif.