Side-eye: Kevin Mickelson - Service that is Concerning

Calling any and all Sacramentans who have raised their voices in a chorus of calls for equity: the President of our County's Deputy Sheriff's Association (SCDSA) thinks you are "riotous, looting thugs who are bent on shattering public peace." You feeling protected and served yet?

But those words in Mickelson's recent political mailer - and highlighted in an article by The Sacramento Bee's Marcos Breton - aren't his first attempt at terrifying those he purports to serve into submission. In 2016 Mickelson & the SCDSA garnered national attention when mailers depicting the hand of a man covering a child's mouth and suggesting that children would not be safe if our cash-strapped county chose to divert funds from the sheriff's office to, say, provide a modicum of funding to human services - including child welfare.

Certainly it is Mickelson's job to advocate for funding of law enforcement. They absolutely need ALL of those tax dollars so that they can give them to their friends that make the decisions about their funding. Even Mickelson himself knows that the majority of the County's discretionary money goes to law enforcement, and he intends to keep it that way - COVID, homelessness, or hunger be damned:

"Every budget cycle, the sheriff’s department is the largest item that the board has discretionary powers over. If there are any other hot button topics that people are going to want to fund, there’s really only three places that they can take that money from: the district attorney, the probation department or the sheriff’s department.” 

So, even if it is morally reprehensible, we can't really fault Kevin Mickelson for taking food out of people's mouths and shelter from over their heads, because that is his job. Speaking of his job, in his President's Message on the SCDSA's webpage, Mickelson refers to "service with concern." Yes, indeed, we are concerned about his service. Not only does he have a general disdain for the people of Sacramento (see quote in paragraph one), according to his Twitter feed, this gem of a human enjoys race baiting and endorses putting guns in the hands of K-12 school staff.

So basically, Sacramento, be forewarned: if you believe in equity, want your kid to go to school in a gun-free zone, or happen to be not white, you should absolutely be concerned about his service -- er, his "service with concern."