By Stephen Lemons
The MCSO claims its budget woes are over. Will that mean Chief Deputy David Hendershott’s flying first class to China and Honduras from now on? Dan Saban says he’ll ditch human smuggling unit as Sheriff. We hope he gets the chance. Warren Jeffs catches charges of felony sexual assault on a child. (Maybe those Texas raids weren’t such a bad idea after all, eh?) Matt Barnes signs with the Suns, and more in this new, daily New Times feature, Hot Links…
The Prophet indicted, yet again…
Sheriff Saban has a ring to it…
Who doesn’t fear Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman?
Gabrielle Giffords beating Tim Bee, but by how much?
In case you didn’t catch it, the East Valley Tribune’s awesome anti-Arpaio series…









Great new feature!
Regarding MCSO being "back in the black", the article itself points out that this was accomplished by major and continuing neglect of basic Sheriff's Office responsibilities (major understaffing of detention officers and deputies, and cancellation of prisoner transport services), along with those mysterious cookie-jar funds "which Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he kept on hand in case of emergency because he said he knew that the county likely couldn't approve supplemental funding in a tight budget year". (It would be nice to know the size of these specially applied funds, as well as their source.)
Don't forget also the fact that at the time MCSO was funding junkets to and from Honduras, their supply department was turning down all kinds of basic equipment requests made by its own personnel, from computers to paper clips. (Mr. Lemons or other New Times staff had at one time posted an online copy of an MCSO memo detailing the need for such extreme measures, but I'm having difficulty finding it. Can someone provide a hyperlink?)
Posted at: July 23, 2008 3:16 PM