Willie Payne: Kevin Taylor will serve with integrity

My name is Willie Payne and I was a law enforcement officer in the state of Arizona for 35 years, and 20 of those years were spent with the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.

Over the course of this election, many false statements have been made by Sheriff Paul Babeu. During my tenure with the PCSO, I worked for sheriffs Reyes, Eck, Vanderpool and Vasquez, and all of them ensured the PCSO’s training and equipment was as good as that of any agency in the United States. The deputies arrested illegal immigrants and drug smugglers and worked diligently to protect all the citizens of Pinal County.

If I said the aforementioned sheriffs were perfect, I'd be lying, but Sheriff Babeu isn’t either. The big difference is his predecessors were servants and Sheriff Babeu believes that the community is beholding to him.

Sheriff Babeu has chosen to align himself with several shady candidates. In doing so, he has maliciously attacked the reputation of every other candidate that has ever stood up to him. This is not only dirty politics, it is politics not needed nor wanted in Pinal County.

Some will say I am writing this letter because I support the Democratic candidate for sheriff, Kevin Taylor. While this is true, my intentions are more heartfelt.

I was born and raised in Pinal County and I care about the future of everyone in Pinal County, and the direction the PCSO is headed under Sheriff Babeu. Sheriff Babeu’s brand of politics is divisive and they do nothing to improve our community.