By Peter Castillo and Runa Lemminn

The Runner Staff  

After serving as sheriff of Kern County for the past 12 years, Donny Youngblood is running for his fourth term in command. He is challenged by Justin Fleeman, the chief deputy sheriff of Kern County.

Kern County will hold elections for Sheriff and District Attorney on June 5.

Youngblood, the incumbent in this year’s race, has served as sheriff since 2006.

In the 2006 election, Youngblood, who joined the department in 1972, ran against the incumbent Sheriff Mack Wimbush and won with nearly 60 percent of the vote, according to the Bakersfield Californian.

The following two elections, held in 2010 and 2014, Youngblood ran unopposed.

Youngblood, a graduate of West High School, admits that since this is his first race since the 2006 election, times have changed, however, he feels being the incumbent gives him an advantage.

“Being the incumbent, it’s easier to raise money for the campaign,” said Youngblood. “After twelve years being sheriff, people know you, and they either like you or don’t like you.”

He also feels that since he is campaigning for the first time since 2006, he has had much more contact with the community, which he says has been positive.

“My stance has been solid for 12 years,” Youngblood said. “The public knows what I’m about and knows what my positions are. I tell the public what I believe.”

Born and raised in Bakersfield and a graduate of South High School, Fleeman has served for the department since 1998.

Fleeman has taken a grassroots approach to his campaign. He feels transparency and communication are imperative.

“You actually get to help people. You know, you’re not getting rich (doing this),”Fleeman said.

“Building relationships with the members of the general public is a top priority.”

Last week, a video from 2006 surfaced of Youngblood making controversial comments regarding use of force and the cost of litigation at a meeting.

In the video, Youngblood explains how he feels it is ‘better financially’ to kill suspects than to ‘cripple’ them.

During a recent interview with Eyewitness News – Bakersfield, Youngblood said he stands by the comments he made in the video.

However, despite the negative publicity, Youngblood says some positive exposure has come from the video.

“Over the last few days, I’ve received donations from people I don’t know,” Youngblood said. “People who probably weren’t invested in the campaign before, have become invested because they don’t like dirty politics.”

The video was released by Kern County Detention Officers Association, who has endorsed Fleeman’s campaign.

Youngblood disagreed with Fleeman’s camp’s decision to release of the clip as a way to paint him in a negative light.

“Twelve years ago, I was in a meeting asking for that union’s endorsement and after that interview, I received their endorsement,” Youngblood said. “So if they took it the way they did today, why did they endorse me 12 years ago? I didn’t mean it the way they took it.”

If elected to his fourth term, Youngblood would like to improve the relations between the minority community of Kern County and the sheriff’s department.

“I think we have a great relationship with our immigrant community and with people of color,” Youngblood said. “But, I think we can do better. We need to reach out more.”

Reviving the monthly meetings held between the department and the community is something Youngblood points to as a way to improve the relationship between the two.

Fleeman admits building a good relationship with the general public isn’t going to happen overnight. He also feels the need to hold town hall meetings with members of the community.

“We have failed. We have not evolved with our profession,” Fleeman said. “We go to calls where there are homicides, stabbings, shootings. We’re not afraid of those, why should we be afraid to go out and meet with members of the public?”

Another one of Fleeman’s top priorities is to cut costs and make the best use of the money the department has right now.

One idea is getting rid of the commuter airplane Youngblood currently uses to get to meetings and which, according to Fleeman, costs the Department about $300,000 a year.

According to Fleeman, this is money the sheriff’s deparment can ill afford to be spending.

The airplane was given to the sheriff’s department from the fire department, who still owed $2 million on it, according to Youngblood. The plane was paid off with asset forfeiture money, which is money seized from drug dealers.

“We didn’t ask for that airplane, we were trying to help the county,” Youngblood said. “That airplane is used by me very little.”

Fleeman disagreed with that statement.

“The problem is that when you use asset forfeiture money, you cannot supplant funds. You can cut it any way you like, but we supplanted funds,” he said.

Youngblood says he uses the airplane roughly eight hours per year.

Another issue is the Huey helicopter the department currently leases. The Huey is a transport helicopter used for hoist rescues.

The Huey was purchased in 2008 over a disagreement with the previous fire chief, since Youngblood wanted to get into the hoist rescue business, according to Fleeman.

In Fleeman’s opinion, the Huey is a redundant service, especially since the fire department has traditionally always done rescues, and practices them constantly.

“Truthfully, the fire department was better. That’s what they do. We’re supposed to be arresting people,” he said.

Fleeman feels the purchase had a lot to do with ego.

“(The Huey is) on a 10-year lease, we pay $453,000 for it a year, the original cost was $4.5 million,” said Fleeman.  “In 2009, we started laying off detentions deputies that work in the jails, yet we kept the helicopter. Then in 2013, we didn’t have the staff to do hoist rescues anymore, so we stopped doing hoist rescues.

“So, for the past four to five years, we continue to pay the annual lease payment of $453,000, which is an ongoing cost. That could have gone to staffing and allowed us to keep the Ridgecrest jail open.”

However, Youngblood feels the Huey remains an asset.

“The Huey performs better at a higher altitude than our other helicopters,” Youngblood said. “We use it for more than hoist rescues. You can’t just focus on one use of that helicopter.”

Youngblood noted a number of instances where the Huey helicopter proved to be a vital resource which saved lives and aided the department’s efforts.

Also, Fleeman states the money saved from selling the aircraft off would enable the department to hire additional deputies.

“We’re short 80 deputies,” Fleeman said.

Youngblood denies the selling of the aircraft would save the department enough money hire more personnel.

“I could hire 15 deputies if we sold that Huey, by the time they make it through the academy and we pay them, the money would be gone, Huey would be gone and there would be no mechanism to continue to pay these new hires,” Youngblood said. “You don’t sell fixed assets for personnel costs because they’re ongoing.”

Hiring additional deputies, however, is an area of interest to Youngblood.

Youngblood acknowledges the tumultuous time law enforcement is in right now when it comes to excessive use of force.

However, he disagrees with the notion which officers are looking for ways to use force.

“A lot of the altercations that end in shootings, if you watch from the beginning, the person being arrested or talked to isn’t complying,” Youngblood said.

Fleeman agrees in the sentiment.

He feels a lack of context leads to anger and misunderstanding amongst the public and the family of the victims.

“Sometimes you have information that is withheld because you have to care about the family,” Fleeman said. “But if you bring (the family) in there and let them know, then you don’t have them going to the news and saying ‘hey, nobody is cooperating with us, we’re not getting any information.’”

Senate Bill 54, which prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from engaging in any sort of immigration-related instances has created problems in the community, according to Youngblood. He was and remains against the bill’s passing.

“The bill is being sold as something that is helping the immigrant population, when it’s not,” Youngblood said.

Prior to the passing of Senate Bill 54, detained immigrants were being handled in a controlled environment.

Now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has the power to go into the community and find individuals. According to Youngblood, this has caused “collateral damage.”

Fleeman made it clear the sheriff’s job is to uphold the law, regardless of personal feelings.

“The current sheriff has decided to go make comments and try to make us a non-sanctuary city and be divisive about it. It’s inflammatory and basically you’re pitting members of the community against one another. The sheriff has focused more on that, than on problems he can actually control,” said Fleeman. “We are not immigration. We cannot enforce immigration laws. We cannot deport anybody. That’s not our decision.”

Neither of the two candidates are supporters of recreational use of marijuana.

To vote in this year’s elections, voters must register by May 21 online or by postmark.

Voters will also be able to conditionally register and vote at the county elections office after the May 21 deadline.