Letter: Town hall meeting deserved coverage

On April 24, my wife  and I had the pleasure of attending the town hall meeting presented by Sheriff Durfor. In attendance were Capt. Jim Young of the California Highway Patrol, Lt. Brandon Barnes of the valley patrol, Chief Webb of the Linda Fire Department, and about a dozen citizens.

Sheriff Durfor gave a very good presentation covering the department’s policies, procedures and goals. Captain Young covered the CHP mission in the area. All of us citizens in attendance listened and learned.

But it is a shame that the sheriff of Yuba County, the captain of the local CHP, and the chief of the Linda Fire Department volunteered their time to come to this meeting for the benefit of the community and the community only had 12 represented.

The news advancing this town hall meeting merited only a brief on the first page of the Local section of the Appeal-Democrat April 22. But on April 25, on page 1 of the Local section, you displayed half a page to “Parents take kids to court,” with pictures of the Yuba County marine patrol boat and a Marysville firefighter showing off tools of his trade.

All this, in my mind, is not nearly as important as our sheriff making himself available. As Sheriff Durfor stated, for him to really do a good job, he needs the feedback from the community. Your paper, the Appeal-Democrat, is part of Yuba County. Is it necessary to charge the Sheriff’s Department for articles in the local information section of the paper that are important to general community?

Jerry Lemitz
East Linda