Androscoggin Sheriff Guy Desjardins has rendered Androscoggin County an invaluable service by shining his spotlight on the county commission and commissioners. The glare has revealed a dysfunctional anachronism wasting more tax dollars than the cost of an additional deputy, and doing it all behind closed and barred doors.

One would have expected an experienced politician, as chairman Elmer Berry is said to be, would have, at the outset of the dispute, involved other political and community leaders to negotiate an acceptable solution.

Instead, I believe Mr. Berry has barricaded himself in the safety of his fortress office, and from behind his desk, fired off missives willy-nilly at officials and the general public, apparently unaware that people don’t respond well to this tactic. But his self-aggrandizing act severely and needlessly wounded a member of the community, the widow of Sgt. David Rancourt, still grieving for her lost husband.

That’s about as insensitive and uncaring as a public official – or anyone – could posssibly be. As it turns out, Mr. Berry is likely to have shot himself in the foot, or both of them.

John B. Muir, Auburn