Badge Lady
Laurie Smith
California’s first female sheriff broke up one of valley’s the oldest boys’ clubs and professionalized an organization that had been not long before managed by a cowboy boot-wearing, “aw shucks”–type of sheriff of the type seen in Coen Brothers movies (minus the gravitas). Budget overruns and mismanagement prompted county supervisors to remove the jails from the sheriff’s control and then appoint a replacement who was more of an administrator than a leader. The sheriff’s office today is fiscally sound, accessible and outfitted with new technology. Although she faces heated competition in the upcoming election, Smith has already served three terms and shut plenty of mouths.
