Editor:

Recently there was turmoil in the Public Defender's Office. Most people pointed the finger at the Board of Supervisors for making a bad choice and asking/demanding that it correct its error. In a little less than a year, corrective action was taken and things seem to have quieted down.

Now the ongoing problems in the AC office have become so large that they have finally spilled into the local news media ("Drama at the A/C," April 12). Whose bad judgement led to this problem? Not the board, they don't appoint this position! That's right, this is an elected position and the voters put the auditor-controller in office. If the auditor-controller did not voluntarily decide to step down he would be in this position for eight more months because only the voters can replace him.

Perhaps a ballot measure to make this an appointed position would receive different consideration than it did in the past. By state law the supervisors, the Sheriff, the district attorney, and the assessor must be elected. All the others can be changed from elected to appointed by a vote of the people. The auditor-controller is a high salaried position that other departments depend on and it should, in my opinion, be appointed by the board. Since that is not going to happen in the near future and the voters are going to continue with the responsibility of putting the auditor-controller in office, please realize that responsibility has the duty of taking the time to research for whom you are voting. You have two choices in June. Vote wisely because the county will be stuck with the results for four years and it won't be the board's fault!

John Murray, Arcata