The Sacramento Bee reported late last week from Del Norte County, in the far northwestern part of the state under the headline, "California sheriff charged with voter fraud, perjury in vacation rental address dispute." Here's the lede:
Less than six months after he took the job, the sheriff of Del Norte County was charged Wednesday with felony voter fraud — the latest scandal for the small North Coast department whose previous sheriff resigned amid a flurry of staff departures and internal dysfunction.District Attorney Katherine Micks charged Sheriff Randall Waltz with perjury and filing false voter registration and nomination papers, court records show. Prosecutors say he knowingly listed an address that was not his permanent residence, a violation of election laws, and thus did not meet the requirements to run for sheriff.The address that he gave, which is listed in the documents, is for a short-term rental suite along Highway 101, a half-mile south of the Oregon border in Del Norte. Reached by phone Thursday, the property owners told The Sacramento Bee that Waltz turned in a security deposit last month, moved in shortly after that and has been living there ever since.
Given that the sheriff is from another part of the state, far away from Del Norte County, I wonder what role the rural housing shortage in places like Del Norte County will ultimately play in adjudication of this case. That is, what if the sheriff couldn't find a place to live? Curious to know where Waltz was living before he took this short-term rental, which he did only recently.
A post from last fall about dysfunction in the Del Norte County Sheriff's department, which led to Waltz getting the Sheriff's job, is here.
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