After more than 10 years donning a lieutenant’s badge with the
San Benito County Sheriff’s Department, Pat Turturici was named as
the first undersheriff the department has seen in five years.
Hollister – After more than 10 years donning a lieutenant’s badge with the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department, Pat Turturici was named as the first undersheriff the department has seen in five years.
After the Board of Supervisors approved funding for the position, Sheriff Curtis Hill appointed Turturici Wednesday to the support position. Curtis said the appointment was long overdue.
“In my experience, the sheriff needs an individual to work directly for him that he can trust implicitly,” Hill said. “I trust (Turturici) implicitly. I brought him over from the corrections side in 1993 and he’s done an outstanding job for the people in this community. He’s demonstrated to me he’s capable of handling the pressures that will be put on him in this new position of undersheriff.”
Duties of the undersheriff include being responsible for the day-to-day operations of the sheriff’s department and overseeing all administrative aspects of the department while the sheriff is out of the office.
Turturici, who has been with the department for some 20 years, said while he now has a different title, his duties will basically remain the same.
“I feel like I’ve been doing the job basically since when I came over here,” Turturici said. “I’ve got a lot of on the job training – it’s not going to be a hard transition.” The promotion will mean only a small increase in salary.
But that doesn’t mean he’s not excited about the promotion, which Hill and Board of Supervisor members had been discussing reinstating since last year.
“I had a good feeling over the last few months that if the position was approved I would be able to get it,” he said. “It was never promised to me, but I knew if I continued to work hard I had a good chance.”
The sheriff’s department has been without the position of an undersheriff since 2001, Hill said. The Board of Supervisors decided to do away with the position because some board members had issues with the way Hill was running the office and they decided to defund the position, he said.
Hill, who served as undersheriff for 10 years under former Sheriff Harvey Nyland, said current board members’ decision to re-fund the position will enable the department to be run more effectively and efficiently.
“I want to make sure everyone is held accountable and responsible for their actions. His (Turturici’s) job is to make sure the lieutenants are holding the sergeants accountable and responsible, and the sergeants are holding the deputy sheriffs and the correctional officers accountable and responsible,” Hill said. “Everyday we’re trying to raise the bar of our professionalism.”
And while Hill says he’s always trying to raise the bar, doing it as cost efficiently as possible is how he swayed board members to refund the undersheriff position, according to Supervisor Reb Monaco.
Hill’s frugal management practices made it possible for him to give back $370,000 to the general fund at the end of last fiscal year.
“He’s demonstrated he can do a good job in these tight budget times,” Monaco said. “It weighed heavy on that decision. They’re doing an effective job and they need the help.”
Turturici’s appointment as undersheriff also gives other department employees the opportunity for advancement, as it allows sergeants, deputies and correctional officers the chance to be promoted.
“Within the next several months there will be a whole new organizational look to the sheriff’s office here,” Hill said. “This sets the stage for the organization to go to that next level of professionalism. This gives us the opportunity to set a solid foundation and infrastructure for future growth.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
