The citizens and taxpayers in Penobscot County waited with bated breath for the next shoe to drop. We now learn of a true and ongoing witch hunt by Sheriff Ed Reynolds. How can it be that he is spending all his energies with the obsession of who may have made a leak to WLBZ TV??

This is serious business. The sheriff has put two of his four department investigators onto this stupid case, while the people are deprived of protection from the ever-increasing criminal activities. Meanwhile, his personal witch hunt has caused serious morale problems among his own civil service employees. On second thought, at least the sheriff seems to have taken command of his department, as he has let personnel problems build continuously and cause much animosity within.

Needless to say, with the sheriff’s personal obsession over news leaks, the county commissioners share some of this ongoing scandal. They recently approved the spending for a $12,500 machine that will record each phone call in and out of the sheriff’s office. Wouldn’t it be fun to listen to the calls from the sheriff himself?

One I would like to share with the people is what happened to this writer last Sept. 6. I had received information that the sheriff’s overtime budget had reached an overrun of some $300,000. I sent a memo via fax to the county clerk inquiring if this was true. She immediately called to say it was not true. A few minutes later I received a call from Reynolds. Of course, it was confirming the denial of the clerk, but he was much more interested in who had told me what. Going nowhere, he was upset and continued how I owed him a “professional courtesy.”

Perhaps if the golf courses were open, the sheriff wouldn’t be so obsesseed about a news leak, while wasting our tax dollars on a personal vengeance campaign. Better still, county commissioners, rather than sit idly by and watch the circus continue, why not just buy the sheriff a ticket south so he can relieve his frustrations on the golf course in South Carolina? We’d all be much better off.

Just a little timely advice, sheriff, from this corner: Let go of this issue and put it to bed. The people of Penobscot County deserve better representation by your office. Kiss and make up with the news media; they, too, have a job to do, however timid sometimes, as you well know.

By the way, sheriff, any truth to the hot rumor around your office that you will be stepping down this summer? Have a nice day, sir. Larry T. Doughty South Brewer

Listen to Sheriff Reynolds, not the two commissioners who are worried about the toll this is having on the department. No investigation of a bad apple in the workplace is a waste of time nor money.

We the taxpayers hire and elect our officials to do a good and thorough job, no matter how small. If you can’t keep your house clean, how can you clean up your community?

If the law office has a bad apple, the sheriff’s department is not the only one that gets hurt.

So carry on, Ed. It’s nice to know I can relax in security and also know we didn’t put a yes-man in there. Bob Cushing Sr. Hermon

It’s a shame that Sheriff Reynolds doesn’t investigate the homicides that happen within Bangor city limits. I’m sure if he did he’d uncover who the “snakes” were that are responsible for the death of Aisha Dickson. (Jan. 6 will mark the one-year anniversary of her death.) Shirley Stormann Bangor