Posted: 01.27.05 @ 4:30 a.m.
Deputy Announces Bid For Supervisor Seat
By Antonio R. Harvey | OBSERVER STAFF WRITER
Unbeknownst to many south Sacramento citizens, Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff Henry Harry announced his bid to run for County Supervisor in District 2 recently.
At a surprise event that took place at the Hometown Buffet Restaurant on Florin, Harry revealed to nearly 50 invited residents in the Central Division why he is running for the public office and his intentions to make the community a much safer place to live in.
"Gang violence and drug trafficking lower our quality of life," Harry said during a 32-minute speech in front of a diverse crowd.
"And they threatened the great citizens in our community. Over the years I have had to watch neighborhoods that have been lost. Day-by-day, block-by-block, shooting victim-by-shooting victim, and child abuse-by-child abuse. And in the Central Division I (see) these issues are largely going unaddressed. This is my community, and I want to fight for it."
The Central Division, an unincorporated area of Sacramento, consists of approximately 115,000 residents. Harry, who lives in the community that encompasses the Florin Mall area, worked as a solo officer for two years fighting the gang culture and drug dealing. An area he refers to as the "Wild, Wild West" of south Sacramento, Harris said the conditions in the community prompted him to fight for better services and social justice for all the Central Division's citizens.
Another reason why Harry said he threw his hat in the race for District 2 County Supervisor is that he felt the sheriff's department and the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors are not pushing efforts to address crime in the Central Division. In 2003, Harry requested that the board and sheriff develop a five-year plan to defeat crime and drugs in the community.
"I'm still waiting on a response for this plan," Harry said. "For two years I've mostly worked alone chasing drug dealers in our open-air drug market," Harry said. "And as you know we have some serious crime down here. I was in the worst drug turf in south Sacramento. Drug dealers went virtually unchallenged and that fuel the beatings, stabbings, and shootings (in the area)."
The reason why Harry targets the selling of drugs stems from a statement from Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown that he read during his presentation.
"The key problem is street-level drug dealings," Harry quoted from a speech Brown made in 2003. "It leads to violence, it leads to shooting, and that leads to homicides."
Some of the citizens and fellow law enforcement officers in attendance said they know Harry's passion for curbing crime in the Central Division. Others heard or read about him in newspaper and took the opportunity to come see personally at Hometown Buffet.
"This is my first time meeting him," said Charles Sarpy, who has been living in the Central Division since for almost 50 years. "(Deputy Harry) seems like a very nice fellow. I'll support him all the way. Some of the things he talked about need to be done."
