There are many reasons to support Sheriff Rod Mitchell in this election, chief among them is this: He's the only one experienced enough to get the job done.

Mitchell is endorsed by the deputies and correctional officers who are doing the job and know both candidates the best.

Sheriff Mitchell is the one who is endorsed by a cross-section of local and state law enforcement, local fire and emergency medical service professionals, business owners and Lake County citizens.

Aside from that, he has maintained a budget in the black for 16 years, and while most other counties have suffered the pain of laying off law enforcement, we've had no layoffs of deputy sheriffs or correctional officers, largely due to Sheriff Mitchell's fiscal management.

You don't see endorsements on Sheriff Mitchell's Web site from people in Australia like you do on Francisco Rivero’s. Curiously, Francisco has also listed an endorsement from the lawyers that he's hired to sue Lake County for discrimination.

Francisco has his “plan,” but it will cost us 25 percent of our current patrol force in order to fund it.

There’s also the added layer of bureaucracy that Francisco wants to create under the guise of a “citizens'” review board, a board he promises to hand-pick himself. Can anyone say cronyism? Any investigation they might undertake would be without statutory authority and cannot, by law, include

information from a peace officer's personnel file.

Some don't like it when Sheriff Mitchell says “it's a personnel matter,” and you won't like when Francisco Rivero says it either, if he's elected.

It's time to let the serious people get back to the business at hand. A vote for Sheriff Mitchell is a vote to protect Lake County.

Willie Sapeta lives in Clearlake, Calif.