Parma Police Chief Albert Erickson touts his long law enforcement resume and top-job experience running two small Canyon County police departments.
Kieran Donahue, a Canyon County detective corporal, says his eight years in varied posts for the Sheriff’s Office give him the knowledge and relationships to effectively run the department.
And Ed Hendershot, a construction company owner and reserve sheriff’s deputy, contends his business experience makes him a better choice than career law enforcement types.
All three say they offer what it takes to replace retiring Sheriff Chris Smith to serve and protect Canyon County residents.
Donahue and Erickson are on the May 15 Republican primary ballot. Hendershot, who announced his candidacy last October, is running as a write-in because he says he got incorrect information from the county on filing and missed the ballot deadline.
The winner of Tuesday’s GOP primary will face independent candidate Robert Muse in November.
MEASURING LEADERSHIP
Erickson, whose campaign slogan is “Experience Matters,” says he’s “the only candidate with both real-world law enforcement experience and proven leadership skills” and the only one who has headed a department. He holds an executive certificate from Idaho’s police training academy and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration.
He stresses his supervisory experience in the military and 23 years with local police departments, including three years as Wilder’s chief and five as Parma’s.
“I’ve done exactly the things I say I will do as sheriff,” he said.
“It’s not the number of years you’ve been in law enforcement, it’s what you did in those years,” Donahue counters. “I’m not going to apologize for my fast-track record of being innovative and progressive and getting things done.
“I’m the only candidate who has worked for our Sheriff’s Office, and that is very significant,” he said. “I’m the one who understands, hands-on, what we’re facing.”
He has worked in numerous Sheriff’s Office divisions, from the jail to undercover investigation. He was a founding member of the Metro Violent Crime Task Force, where he served five and a half years as “the sheriff’s point man against gangs and gang-related violence.”
Donahue said his diverse job history before getting into law enforcement is an asset, giving him management and problem-solving skills. Past jobs include running a professional bull-riding tour and studying the environmental impact of the Exxon Valdez oil spill as an investigator diver.
Hendershot, who lives in the Canyon County portion of Star, has worked as a part-time investigator for the state outfitters and guides licensing board and has served as a reserve sheriff’s deputy for Ada and Canyon counties. But it’s his full-time experience as a business owner and home-builder that give him the strengths and experience to lead the Sheriff’s Office, he said.
“What Canyon County needs right now, more than another sheriff coming from a career in law enforcement looking for an upgraded job and a pay raise … is a sheriff that has a background in business management and visionary creativity,” the owner of Hendershot Construction said.
He said the next sheriff will need a background in construction to tackle the county’s longstanding problem of jail overcrowding and find solutions for funding and building jail space.
DETENTION DECISIONS
After three failed tries at a bond levy to fund a new jail, county leaders have no plans for another bond try and have shifted their gaze from the previously planned jail site north of Caldwell to an approach that would focus on jail expansion and construction as part of a county courthouse campus.
Erickson said he favors adding on to the existing jail, an approach that would use existing resources and minimize the amount of additional staff the county would need to hire.“It needs to stay central,” he said.
Hendershot said the existing jail’s inefficient layout and other issues would require massive, costly remodeling if the county chose to expand the facility. But whether the county builds on to the current jail or builds a new one, it should be part of the central campus.
Donahue, who started at the jail, said he’s “absolutely against building on to the jail we already have. Why continue pouring money into something that’s not working?”
There’s no room to build a new jail adjacent to the courthouse unless the county buys more of the surrounding ground, he said. It makes better sense, he said, to build a separate jail nearby, probably on the property the county bought for that purpose several years ago. And like the current sheriff, he favors a regional jail that would also serve the small nearby counties, spreading out the cost and the benefit.
Donahue plans to approach those counties about the idea, even if he is not elected sheriff, he said.
GUARDING THE CONSTITUTION
Hendershot centers much of his campaign on the idea of a “constitutional sheriff” whose chief role is to protect citizens from those who try to violate or restrict their constitutional rights. Part of that, he said, is to rebuff potential federal overreach.
He proposes establishing a Guardians of the Constitution program in which citizens with concealed weapons permits would be sworn in to help out “in the event of a large catastrophic situation where our normal resources are overwhelmed.” The “guardians” would have limited reserve authority, would be screened by a board and serve only when specifically requested by the sheriff, he said.
Donahue and Erickson both expressed concerns about that idea.
People who carry guns in the service of the county should be stringently trained and certified, Donahue said.
“To give somebody the title of Guardian of the Constitution seems to be giving them a role they are ill-suited to play,” Erickson said. “All law enforcement officers should be guardians of the Constitution. It’s part of the oath we take. “Without some kind of control, it could turn into a vigilante effort.”
Hendershot said the group would basically be a posse and be readily manageable. Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and others already successfully use similar approaches, he said.
Kristin Rodine: 377-6447
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