Voters hear from Sheriff & District Attorney candidates at forum

A ‘meet the candidates’ forum for Riverside County Sheriff and District Attorney was held Thursday afternoon at the Perris City Hall Chambers.

Nearly 200 people heard from three Sheriff candidates and two District Attorney candidates. Some of the key topics discussed included overcrowded jails and a lack of resources.

DA candidate Lara Gressely, an appellate attorney, called herself a reformer.

“If you vote for me then we will embark down a path down new territory uncharted territory,” Gressley told the audience.

Sitting DA Mike Hestrhin pointed at his experience and increasing success as DA.

“The DAs office, in three short years, is much different than it was when I took office. It’s a much better place. We still have problems, but we’re working toward them. We’re united, we’re working together,” Hestrin said.

On the Sheriff’s candidate side of the panel, voters heard from Lieutenant Chad Bianco, Deputy Sheriff Miguel Garcia, and Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff, who is hoping to secure his position.

The three candidates agreed that there is a lack of resources but each promised different practices.

“I hope we’re at a place where we want to make a difference with what we have, how can we utilize what we have to make a difference,” Bianco said.

“Gearing the budget toward the communities and right now there is a lot of wasteful spending,” Garcia said.

“Most of us are running very large budgets and have been able to meet that head on because our departments are extremely well lead,” Sniff said.

Former Hemet police chief Dave Brown is also in the running for Riverside County Sheriff but was not at the public forum.