Prop. 172 Funds

I have been a resident and voter in Ventura County for close to 30 years. During that time I have served on many commissions, boards and committees for the county and the city of Thousand Oaks. I have even served on the grand jury.

There is no way I can keep quiet on the chaos that is going on at the county. There appears to be a cash-flow problem per David L. Baker, the short-term chief administrative officer. So why is the first item to do away with Proposition 172? This is the public safety revenue for the Sheriff’s Department, district attorney’s office, public defender’s office and Probation Department.

Here is a voter alert: The voters approved money for those departments, then the Ventura County Board of Supervisors was going to take it away. Even though, mind you, the people of the county voted it in. It did not work because people like myself went out getting signatures, spoke at board meetings and let them know that they could not overturn what was elected by the people. We knew what we were voting for and had no problem with safety as a No. 1 priority.

As for the Juvenile Justice Complex, do you want to see $40.5 million jeopardized in state and federal funds for a long-needed facility? Keep in mind that the current Juvenile Hall was built in 1941. There isn’t even enough room to house the juveniles we have at this time, and neither can it be made larger at its present site. So what other option do we have but to build another facility?

My feeling is to keep out of the voter-approved Proposition 172 funds. Let’s look elsewhere for money and keep Ventura County a safe place to live.

CATHY KOCH

Thousand Oaks