Retired Lemoore Police Chief Darrell Smith comes out in support of Measure K

The State of California has made it very difficult for our businesses to thrive in the past 8 months, and an end to these mandates, regulations, and guidelines seem nowhere in sight. However, although the timing may not be ideal, this “ask” for a sales tax increase is not something we can ignore or kick down the road for another time. 

I may be biased, but I firmly believe the City of Lemoore has the finest police force and fire services in the state.  I know firsthand of the professionalism displayed in the service of every member of both organizations, having been the Chief of Police for the City of Lemoore for 6 years. Our Police Department does more every day with less personnel and is facing some of the worst crime trend increases in decades in our State due to zero bail, early releases, and anti-police rhetoric.  If we want to continue to enjoy low crime rates and the high quality of life that we currently have in our City, we must continue to provide the resources that our public safety personnel need in order for them to do their jobs. Our Lemoore Volunteer Fire Department provides services that are consistent with full-time fire services. However, they receive only a fraction of funding compared to a full-time department.  If we did not have the LVFD in our community, quite frankly, we could not afford fire services. 

On two separate occasions in the past few years, our residents voted in support of a sales tax measure to support public safety.  Measure K, a county-wide sales tax initiative was overwhelmingly supported by our residents on two occasions but ultimately failed due to a lack of support in other local municipalities in our county.  Measure K, as proposed this November, requires our elected officials to use the revenues generated for only public safety and will be governed by an oversight committee to ensure this happens. Although the timing is less than ideal for many of our residents and business owners, I am asking our Lemoore residents to support our public safety personnel, by supporting Measure K this November.

Sincerely,

Darrell Smith

Lemoore Police Chief (Retired 12-19)