I have wondered during this campaign how Bob Kindler will ensure his integrity when he keeps changing his positions.

He adamantly insisted that the ICE contract was not good for Freeborn County and that it does not make us any money. He has changed his position and now realizes it’s valuable but still has concerns. Isn’t that convenient for his campaign. I would have thought he would have done his homework if he wanted to criticize this project.

He makes statements about an ARMER radio project although he has never attended one planning meeting. For him to claim that we could lose grant funding for a fire grant because radios have not been handed out is totally incorrect. Bob had no part in this grant application or the proper dissemination of equipment or collection of matching funds. He has no experience in handling this grant.

He claims patrol presence has diminished and self-initiated activity is down. On every traffic enforcement wave, deputies have carried the bulk of the activity. Would it not be the responsibility of a supervisor to make sure assignments were made and patrol assigned where needed? Would it also not be the supervisor’s responsibility to motivate and check to see that patrolmen were doing what they should be doing?

On pro-activity, can Bob Kindler tell us how pro-active he has been himself as a detective. What is his job description and is he performing his duties? I would like to know how many cases he has filed for prosecution, his conviction rate, how many search warrants has he conducted and what are any accomplishments he has made? He speaks of intensive training he has received. Some of his college training was over 23 years ago. Other schools were ones he was sent to by Freeborn County. Does he put this training to use? How many computer crimes has he handled and how many cases have been prosecuted with this expertise?

Sheriff Harig has always been pro-active both as an investigator and as a leader. With a team concept of management, it appears that if these supervisors were a little more pro-active or self-motivated, this concept would realize success. A team concept only works if you have a team. Bob Kindler needs to learn to be a team player before he tries to lead a team.

If there is low morale, again, what has Bob Kindler done to bring change and support Freeborn County?

This responsibility has been his job description for the past eight years. If he was unwilling to bring these concerns to a head in the past eight years, I wonder if he can now muster up the ambition to bring meaningful change in the future.

Sheriff Harig has been pro-active. He has represented Freeborn County well. He is looking out for his citizens safety and is fiscally responsible. He is self motivated and has accomplishments to prove it. I will support our sheriff who supports each of us — not just a political ambition that Bob has been festering the past eight years.

Dave Nelson

Albert Lea