CANDIDATES FACE OFF OVER LAW OFFICERS CHALLENGERS SAY CHOICE IS COPS OR SPORTS FIELDS.Byline: Jim Skeen Do you mean:
LANCASTER Lancaster, city, England Lancaster (lăng`kəstər), city (1991 pop. 43,902) and district, county seat of Lancashire, NW England, on the Lune River. - Law enforcement was the main issue in a mayoral forum Wednesday, with challengers Gene Gaynor and David Abber arguing against a proposed tax to fund deputies and incumbent Frank Roberts Frank Roberts may refer to:
to cause (a person) to slow down or cease some activity; - to rein in is used commonly of superiors in a chain of command, ordering a subordinate to moderate or cease some activity deemed excessive. See also: Rein Rein crime. In a candidates forum hosted by the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Chambers of Commerce, challengers Gaynor and Abber said they were opposed to Measure 04-A, which would charge $25 per parcel annually to finance additional deputies. Both challengers said the city should dig within its existing financial resources to fund the deputies. ``Look at the people to the south,'' Gaynor said. ``Palmdale added more deputies without charging one cent.'' Abber described the tax measure as ``a joke.'' ``We have the money,'' Abber said. Roberts said Lancaster does not have surplus money to put toward hiring more deputies, despite his opponents' assertions. Waving a copy of the city budget, Roberts told the audience: ``There is not the money that you hear.'' Roberts said the city has invested in law enforcement, citing the start this month of an eight-officer team to patrol rental properties. The program, known as the Lancaster Community Appreciation Project, or LAN-CAP, is being funded in part by a landlord business fee imposed by the city last year. ``We are taking what I would call proactive steps,'' Roberts said. Abber and Gaynor criticized LAN-CAP, stating that the program is just a reshuffling re·shuf·fle tr.v. re·shuf·fled, re·shuf·fling, re·shuf·fles 1. To shuffle again: reshuffle cards. 2. of existing Lancaster sheriff's personnel. Sheriff's officials said while the team was drawn from existing deputies at the Lancaster station, their open patrol slots will be filled, boosting the number of deputies. Both challengers criticized the city for investing in softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' and soccer fields instead of law enforcement. ``What good is a new softball field if it's not safe to go and watch?'' Abber said. Roberts said the city is investing in amenities to improve the quality of life for existing residents and to attract new residents to the city. The Lancaster municipal election will be held April 13. Before the forum, Antelope Valley Chamber of Commerce leaders announced that the chamber board had unanimously endorsed Measure O4-A as good for business. Lancaster sheriff's station commander Capt. Carl Deeley said serious crime climbed 26 percent in Lancaster from 1999 to 2003. Deputies are so busy that it's likely to take four hours to get one out to a vehicle burglary burglary, at common law, the breaking and entering of a dwelling house of another at night with the intent to commit a felony, whether the intent is carried out or not. , and experienced deputies don't want to transfer in to work in Lancaster, Deeley said. Despite the rise, the 2003 serious crime total remains below Lancaster's crime in the mid- mid- pref. Middle: midbrain. 1990s, records show. Serious crime peaked at 6,600 incidents in Lancaster in 1997, compared with 5,369 last year. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) ROBERTS (2 -- color) ABBER (3 -- color) GAYNOR |
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