Sheriff: It’s a political position

Wilson said he paid his ownexpenses to make the trip, even though he considered his participation to be part of his duties as sheriff. He said it was not a political event, which was why he wore his uniform.

After appearing at a 2010 candidates forum in Crescent City, he acknowledged he had unknowingly violated state law by wearing his uniform because the forum was political.

The violation was confirmed at the time by the California State Sheriffs’ Association. That organization failed to respond to repeated requests from the Triplicate to weigh in on whether the sheriffs event in Yreka was political.

Two of the four organizations that organized the event were Yreka and Redding Tea Party groups. The other two were Siskiyou County Water Users Association and Scott Valley Protect Our Water.

Wilson told the audience he grew concerned about federal involvement in Del Norte when the U.S. Forest Service began to create the Smith River National Recreation Area Travel Management plan to limit access to rural federal roads. At first, he claimed, it did so without clueing in the public and county officials.

“Once I learned what they were talking about doing to my community and our county and the direct impact it was going to have on public safety, I immediately started to engage in coordination with our local government and with the federal government agencies that were involved,” Wilson told the audience.

The U.S. Forest Service has coordinated with the county and public throughout the six-year  planning process and will continue doing so, said Julie Ranieri, Six Rivers National Forest spokeswoman.

Public input has included meetings, field trips, announcements and six months of review time, she said Monday.

‘Take back our country’

In Yreka, Wilson accused the federal government of an “assault” on Del Norte County’s potential to be self-sustaining and its ability to have a thriving economy through fishing and timber.

“Those things have been denied for us and from us by our government,” he said. “Their influence upon us is crippling our community and our economy and as sheriff I have taken it as part of my responsibility to the public safety, well-being and welfare of my community to seek out and try to stop any infringement upon the rights of our property, our lives or our liberties within Del Norte County.”

He encouraged audience members to become proactive.

“Only with your commitment, your strength, your determination, your passion, can we not only hold each and every one of our local politicians accountable and responsible, as we should always insist upon, but we can take back our country,” said Wilson as he ended his speech to a standing ovation.

Back in Del Norte, Wilson described the event as an informational meeting addressing issues affecting rural counties in the region regarding the proposed removal of Klamath River dams, water use and protection of the watershed.

“For us, it’s just hopefully giving it a public face, making people understand or at least be aware of the issues,” said Wilson. “We have to make a voice, we have to hopefully make people hear us, whether it’s in Washington, D.C., or whether it’s in Sacramento, otherwise nobody knows.”

Wilson said he holds a political office and must step outside the bounds of traditional law enforcement to look at the bigger picture — such as economic hindrances — to ensure he can provide adequate services.

“It is a political office to some degree,” Wilson said. “Unfortunately, I have to budget this thing and we are not in the best of economic times. I have to look at the total picture of what it takes to do this job and part of that picture is the dollars and cents that come into this community and pay for the services we have and to the end that I can be a voice to support economic growth or keeping the economic engines we do have in our community ... In whatever small way I can do it, I feel that it’s an important factor.”

Discovering a bigger job

He stated at the event and during the interview that he wasn’t fully aware of his duties as sheriff until recently.

“I spent most of my career really focused in on the penal code and vehicle code and really enforcing the law,” Wilson told the Triplicate. “I didn’t pay attention and I never really truly understood the oath that I took ... and really didn’t truly understand the (U.S.) Constitution to the extent I should have.”

The Constitution, he said, places the  most power in local governments.

“That’s where the most services are provided. That’s where the people directly benefit. You don’t benefit from federal government,” said Wilson. “That was where the power was supposed to mostly derive from. Unfortunately, we have changed the model.”

The Del Norte County sheriff’s job description includes supervision of the jail, budgetary and fiscal responsibilities, investigating felony cases and testifying in court, authorizing autopsies and attending “out-of-town law enforcement meetings and conferences to represent the county and its law enforcement capability.”

County Supervisor Mike Sullivan said Monday he had no problem with Wilson concerning himself as sheriff with environmental issues that affect the county.

“It’s been a long, arduous process to get the feds to coordinate with us,” said Sullivan.

More events like “Defend Rural America” are expected in the future, Wilson said.

The Yreka event can be viewed in its entirety by typing “sheriffs stand tall for the constitution” in the video search bar at YouTube.com. Wilson’s excerpt can be viewed by typing “sheriff dean wilson, del norte county ca” in the video search bar.

Reach Anthony Skeens at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it