San Benito County Marshal Robert Scattini will get an additional
$29,000 for his budget to cover the cost of employing a temporary
deputy marshal.
Hollister – San Benito County Marshal Robert Scattini will get an additional $29,000 for his budget to cover the cost of employing a temporary deputy marshal.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously yesterday morning to approve the budget augmentation, which Scattini said would help him run his office more efficiently.
“As you know, right now my budget is down to zero,” Scattini told the board.
In July, Scattini said, his budget was slashed from $179,000 a year to $40,000. This was only months after the March election, when voters put Scattini back in office over two competitors by a margin of almost 70 percent, he said.
“People voted by almost 70 percent to keep me in office in March, and then come July the board wants to throw me out. They gave me like $250 for car maintenance for the whole year, they cut my secretary to part-time, took my deputy away and put him in the sheriff’s office… boy, they did a number on me. I was on life support; I couldn’t operate,” Scattini said.
Now that the board has approved the $29,000 addition to Scattini’s budget, he said, the Marshal’s office should be in better shape. The money will essentially reimburse the department for money spent on Deputy Marshal Martin Deffee’s wages while he was actually working at the sheriff’s department, Scattini said. The budget augmentation doesn’t account for Deffee to return to the Marshal’s office.
“I’m really happy (with the board’s decision),” Scattini said after the board voted to revitalize his budget. “Now in the next budget hearing or two, I’ll go back and try to get my secretary full-time.”
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
