The point of Tent City was that jail was a place you want to avoid

In his haste to eradicate all things Arpaio from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, even his spoken name, Paul Penzone is not thinking rationally.

Thumping his chest the other day in a press conference about saving millions by closing Tent City is not accurate.

Your paper even called him out on this months ago yet he continues to spew the misinformation.

The only way to save millions of dollars is to lay people off or eliminate positions. He has done neither.

Also, by changing inmate clothing to orange from black-and-white stripes and no more pink underwear he will find his inventory slowly disappearing.

The pink underwear prevented the clothing from getting mixed in with the Department of Corrections upon transfer of hundreds of inmates to the state prison system each month.

Not to mention the initial cost of outfitting over 8,000 inmates in all different sized uniforms.

You see, these programs had practical applications.

Besides being cost efficient Tent City was a great deterrent.

Who doesn’t know someone who spent time there and vowed to never go back?

Jail should be a place people want to avoid.

Unique inmate clothing to MCSO allowed it to stay at MCSO.

— Jerry Sheridan, Fountain Hills The letter writer served as the chief deputy for former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.