I read your original “Hello Mariposa” Internet release of Dec. 28, 2009, announcing your candidacy for sheriff and was stunned by the unbelievable arrogance and condescending attitude toward us “locals” whom you look down your nose at as both ignorant and incompetent “good ol’ boys.” This release may have since been revised but as far as I am concerned the original version shows your true colors.

Over the years we’ve seen a number of elitist carpetbaggers blow into town. With a self-important attitude, they immediately decide we’re a backward and uninformed lot and determine to remake our community in their own myopic image. It seems you just can’t fathom how us hillbillies can even find our way out of the mountains without the likes of your divine and superior leadership. After all, you’re from Los Angeles.

We made that mistake over 25 years ago when we elected an “outsider” as sheriff. It was a total, unmitigated disaster which nearly brought the department to its knees. Well, hotshot, guess how the department came back and has grown and improved ever since? Us stupid hicks who can’t get out of our own way have continued to elect local, home-grown members of our community who have a vested interest in serving. They have been life-long residents who raised their families here. They served in local law enforcement and worked their way up through the ranks. They know Mariposa and its citizens like the back of their hands. To suggest that anyone who is a “local” is uneducated and incompetent is absolutely astounding. You can deny and back pedal all you want now, but the words in your original release speak for themselves.

I, for one, am not falling for pretentious, big city razzle dazzle about a fancy education and years of experience in Los Angeles. News flash, Bobby, this ain’t LA, and a fancy diploma doesn’t make you any better or smarter than anybody else. Talk is cheap. The only thing that matters is where the rubber meets the road.

You’ve lived here since November. Wow, three months. You say your are “somewhat familiar” with Mariposa County. Perfect. Better yet, you say you are not going to rely on staff to help bring you up to speed. Maybe you missed the team building workshop. You say you’ve been told you haven’t “paid your dues” yet. Heck, Bobby, you haven’t even put down a small deposit yet.

We don’t appreciate flashy city slickers with a patronizing attitude and a Moses complex coming to our town intent on leading us to the promised land. You’re too late. We’re already here, and we found it all by ourselves without you.

Your “Hello Mariposa” release said you were told not to be controversial. You failed at that, but I don’t mind being contentious. So how am I doing so far, Bobby?

As one of Mariposa’s “locals” you so disparagingly refer to, I am wholeheartedly supporting Undersheriff Doug Binnewies for sheriff. He’s already proven himself, right here in Mariposa.

Linda Sinclair