What were you thinking?

By Keith Johnson Green River

Editor,
This letter is in response to the editorial by Patsy Stoddard on Nov. 9.
Ms. Stoddard, are you kidding me? “Emery County what have you done”? Are you serious? Let me tell you this Madam Editor, The fine people of this county went to the polls and exercised their right to vote for the person of their choosing. Fortunately there are enough people in this county who can put aside the emotional dribble and cast a well informed and rational ballot without entering into the “deserved”, or “entitled” frame of mind.
Ms. Stoddard these positions are elected for a set term of years. They are not lifetime appointments. The election process is not just a formality for someone who deems that they are “owed” the position. When we elect an official, he/she agrees to the compensation that is set before the election. The person does not get re-elected based on entitlement. Our Sheriff did the job he agreed to do for a set wage. The Sheriff was paid a wage for his service. End of story. To say that someone deserves to be re-elected until they are ready for retirement is bunk. That kind of mentality is exactly what is wrong with politics today.
As for the “devoted employees” They work for the people of Emery County. So if they are not going to be reliable employees of the county, no matter who the sheriff may be, then I say out they go as well. There are hundreds of unemployed miners in our county who would line up for the vacancies, and be happy to have the positions.
To our new Sheriff Funk, I say welcome, and thank you for such a hard fought campaign, for all the money you sacrificed out of your family budget to step up and take the torch (even though it’s hard to get out of the others hand) thank you for putting forth the effort to meet and listen to the people of Green River. You have a lot of support behind you and you will need it as it appears that you will have an uphill battle and very little support from any publications in our area.
I wish Sheriff Guymon a very long and happy retirement and the greatest success in whatever he may pursue. In response to your comments about him looking for work…I hear there is an opening on the State Patrol.