The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved a voluntary
Mounted Search and Rescue Unit for the Sheriff’s Department on
Tuesday.
The Board approved the unit, which would consist of citizen
volunteers and department coordinators, with a 3 to 1 vote.
Supervisor Ruth Kesler was the dissenting vote, with Supervisor
Richard Scagliotti absent from the meeting.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved a voluntary Mounted Search and Rescue Unit for the Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday.
The Board approved the unit, which would consist of citizen volunteers and department coordinators, with a 3 to 1 vote.
Supervisor Ruth Kesler was the dissenting vote, with Supervisor Richard Scagliotti absent from the meeting.
The nonprofit unit would be responsible to assist in the location of missing or lost children, Alzheimer’s patients, hunters and hikers, and would provide assistance during times of disaster, said Sheriff Curtis Hill.
Of the 58 counties in the state, San Benito County is the only one that does not have a formal or organized search and rescue unit. Currently the function is performed as a patrol function, which creates a lack of continuity and commitment on the part of the Sheriff’s Office, according to a sheriff’s department-issued statement.
“Due to lack of search and rescue resources, we do not provide any mutual benefit to our neighboring counties when mutual aide requests are made,” according to the statement. “Quite simply, San Benito County takes and never gives back.”
The volunteers would be expected to pay for their own training and freely give of their time, and because they would be considered Disaster Service Workers, the state would fully cover the cost of worker compensation and liability insurance for them, according to the statement.
“One of the benefits of this program is that it taps directly into the volunteer spirit within San Benito County,” according to the statement. “Mobilizing an eager volunteer group for the Mounted Search and Rescue mission is an invaluable part of the success of (this) program.”
Included in the approved project is a resolution that enables the Board to authorize the sheriff to perform a search and rescue function and charge a reasonable fee for that function, Hill said.
“I’m not looking to charge local residents,” Hill said. “I’m looking to charge people that come and get lost in San Benito County and live in another county.”
However, if the search and rescue unit should be deployed due to a county resident’s personal negligence, then a fee could be charged, he said.
“There are instances where somebody who lives in this county goes down into the southern part of the county with inappropriate gear,” Hill said. “You know what? Maybe they should have been thinking, and maybe they need to be held responsible for what their actions are when they go into remote areas of the county.”
Because the sheriff’s department already provides this service to people who need to be rescued, charging them to find them is unnecessary, Kesler said.
“Is this county so destitute that we have to charge to go look for a child or a man with Alzheimer’s?” Kesler said. “It bothers me to say that this county is going to charge somebody to go get them – we have a good sheriff’s department and we have a good police department… I would think the people who live in this county expect that from the sheriff’s department and the police department.”
Because of the specific language under the resolution, not every situation will result in someone being charged. But if there is a fee charged, it would be “reasonable,” Hill said.
“I’m not coming here to form a search and rescue team to augment my budget and to gauge the community, or the parent of a child who wanders off,” he said. “Absolutely not.”
As the program expands and develops, Hill hopes to pad the unit with volunteers with specific, certified skills to create a more specialized rescue team, he said.
“I can tell you when you have incidents people will walk in the door and they do it all the time,” he said. “With this program we will be able to follow the guidelines establishing that technical aspect of it… but that’s long-term.”
Supervisors Pat Loe and Reb Monaco were in support of the program, and a representative from the Office of Emergency Services also spoke in full support of it.
In other business:
The Board approved a motion to hold off on making the final decision on the San Juan Oaks Golf Club project until their next meeting.
Because Scagliotti was not able to attend the meeting due to illness, Chairman Bob Cruz asked the Board to wait until everyone is present to make the decision.
The Board did hear some public comment because one person in attendance had traveled a long distance and taken the day off from work to attend.
“This is a big project, a very important project,” Cruz said. “We will take input, but no decision will be made.”
The agenda item will be heard Feb. 10 at 1:30 p.m. in the Board of Supervisor’s chambers.
