On the opening day of the Kern County Fair, you might have noticed something a little different when you first walked in Sept. 20.
To the left sat Mack Wimbish, dressed in a black suit, blue shirt and white and red striped tie. To the right sat Donny Youngblood wearing wrangler jeans with a collar shirt and brown cowboy boots.
This is the first time the final two candidates for sheriff have debated head on. The main issues were gangs and permits to carry concealed weapons. The event started out with tech problems, but it was soon on its way.
“I’m a low maintenance sheriff,” Wimbish said as one of his opening statements. Youngblood responded with, “Mack, I think you got a vacation coming,” and that “We need a leader, we don’t have one.”
Youngblood started with the issue of gangs within Kern County. He wants to start profiling people by their clothes and vehicles.
He went on to talk about needing to reach the youth before they ever join a gang and that the parents should be held responsible for the actions of their children.
“If you do not get the kids by sixth grade, your not gonna get to them,” he said. Youngblood wants to hold the parents accountable by taking away welfare from them if they are on assistance.
Wimbish tied in Jessica’s Law to his rebuttal to Youngblood by saying that known gang members should also have GPS systems attached to them so we know where they are at all times.
Wimbish mentioned also that he had the FBI working with him on gang control but that the program has gone away and he wants to bring it back.
According to Wimbish, gangs “want to destroy our country like terrorists.”
On the issue of concealed weapons, Wimbish pointed out that we have more CCW than any other state. Also, Wimbish brought up the fact that he was the only one out of seven that was endorsed by the National Rifle Association.
Youngblood and Wimbish both agreed that they didn’t vary much on the issue. The difference that Youngblood pointed out was that an interview with every applicant would be in place.
When asked his favorite part of the fair, Youngblood responded, “Spending so much time with Mack.” Wimbish said, “Seeing all the children coming to the fair for the first time, and the smiles on their faces.”