Scattini, longtime county marshal, says he would take pay cut as
sheriff
In nearly 50 years of law enforcement, Robert Scattini has
experienced almost everything.
The now 70-year-old marshal spent time as the sheriff in the
mid-1980s. He spent more than 15 years as a California Highway
Patrol officer. And for the last 22 years he has served the county
as its marshal.
With the marshal’s office expected to close in December,
Scattini doesn’t want to retire just yet.
”
I still want to work and I believe I can still be an asset to
the county,
”
he said.
”
I still feel like the county can use my services.
”
Scattini, longtime county marshal, says he would take pay cut as sheriff
In nearly 50 years of law enforcement, Robert Scattini has experienced almost everything.
The now 70-year-old marshal spent time as the sheriff in the mid-1980s. He spent more than 15 years as a California Highway Patrol officer. And for the last 22 years he has served the county as its marshal.
With the marshal’s office expected to close in December, Scattini doesn’t want to retire just yet.
“I still want to work and I believe I can still be an asset to the county,” he said. “I still feel like the county can use my services.”
Scattini doesn’t think his age should deter his candidacy.
“I’m a workaholic and my age has nothing to do with it,” he said. “There are a lot of people that are my age and they are still working. Age is not a problem. It just depends on the individual and what type of health he is in.”
And he doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.
“People bringing up my age is just an excuse. They can’t bring anything else up so they give an excuse,” Scattini said.
Having spent three quarters of his life serving the area, Scattini thinks he knows what the county needs to survive the economic downturn, he said.
His first act as a sheriff would be to reduce his salary by nearly 20 percent, he said. His pay cut would allow the county to move the money to areas where it’s more needed.
“We’ve got to be very concerned of the finances of the sheriff’s office. We’ve got to make the best of what we have,” he said. “I foresee in the future it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
To save the county extra money, Scattini plans to hire retired officers who would work for an hourly pay without benefits instead of hiring officers who would require full-time pay.
“I would save the county a lot of money and still protect the county,” Scattini said.
Another way to save the county and city millions of dollars would be to consolidate the sheriff’s office and the Hollister Police Department, he said.
The merger would allow the sheriff’s office to use the police department’s 10-year-old facility, saving the county from having to develop a new building.
“We are going in that direction and the reason is the finances,” he said. “But it’s going to be a tough, tough cookie to crack.”
In order to make it work, Scattini thinks that keeping the internal morale up would be crucial, he said. To keep it up, Scattini would implement fair and reasonable promoting.
Scattini plans on being tough but honest.
“I run a tight ship and I will run it right,” he said. “I’m going to tell you the truth … I’m going to tell you if you’re a good officer and I’m going to tell you if you are bad.”
And Scattini expects the best from his officers.
“You want to get officers who have good conduct and good morals that wouldn’t do (something wrong),” he said. “I can’t watch over them all the time, but you have to stay on top of them. If you hear something, you need to address the issue.”
They should also treat the people they contact with respect, he said.
“I stress you always have to be polite. You can’t be rude – we are here to help people,” Scattini said.
Scattini also plans to be tough on gangs, focusing on kids and their parents, he said.
“You have to start with the parents, get to the root of the gang problem,” he said. “You have to talk to the parents. But some of the parents’ parents were gang bangers, so what do you do?”
To do that, Scattini wants to support the gang task force and gang coordinator that are already in place, he said.
Today, gang members from surrounding counties are coming to San Benito County, and now is the time to act and stop the infusion of gang members to the area, Scattini said.
