Guest Column by Bob Kindler

Strategic planning, delivery of services and managing the budget are the top three priorities of the sheriff. During a sheriff’s race, it is easy to forget about how important these priorities are to a well-run sheriff’s office and choose, instead, to focus on one or two insignificant items and ignore what is most important. A brief review will help demonstrate why we need to focus on what really matters when electing a sheriff.

Realistically, strategic planning, delivery of services and managing the budget are intertwined. A sheriff must incorporate all three to successfully plan and use limited resources wisely. However, for discussion, let’s look at each priority individually as well as together.

Simply stated, strategic planning involves developing a plan based on future needs and our current resources. In short, where do we want to be in the future and how do we get there?  When I was elected in 2010, my strategic plan included increased training for deputies and incorporating new technology that was so desperately needed. With my strong financial background I found a way to eliminate wasteful spending through reorganization and by cutting unnecessary overtime to use some of that savings to pay for the training and new technology.

Adding a full-time emergency management director in April 2013 has significantly increased our ability to strategically plan for emergencies and disasters. This position falls directly under the control of the sheriff and requires the sheriff have a thorough understanding of emergency preparedness as we plan and respond to emergencies of all kinds.

Through close cooperation and communication, the director and I have built upon and improved our emergency response plan based on our knowledge and experience during the flood events of 2013 and 2014, the Hollandale warehouse fire, snowstorms and numerous other events. We continue to deliver necessary training and emergency planning to county employees as well as schools, banks and other Freeborn County businesses and groups.

The delivery of services is what the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office is designed to do: patrol, respond to citizen complaints, investigations, civil process services, jail operations, boat, water and snowmobile safety, court security, records management and many other functions too numerous to mention.

I have education and experience in all these areas and have used that education and experience to hire and develop deputies and support staff to deliver public safety in a competent and efficient manner. By comparison, the other candidate has experience as a patrolman, a position he has held for the past 19 years without ever being promoted while working under three different sheriffs.

Regarding the budget, I have met or been significantly under budget every year since taking office. That doesn’t happen without a thorough understanding of financial principles and careful planning. I pride myself on my financial management ability and continually look for ways to reduce spending and increase revenue.

When asked about the budget, my competitor has repeatedly said the budget will manage itself and that he has a personal credit score “nearing 810.”  What? Suggesting the budget will take care of itself is folly and shows a complete lack of understanding of what one of the top priorities and responsibilities of a sheriff are. A credit score might be important if applying for a personal loan, but it has nothing to do with managing a taxpayer-funded $6.3 million budget.

You, the voting public, are in a unique position. With your vote, you are actually going to hire a sheriff. Before you cast your vote, ask yourself who is the most qualified to be sheriff? What education and experience does each candidate have to offer? Which candidate has proven law enforcement leadership and demonstrated a command of the budget and improved public safety?

You have two choices.  You can throw caution to the wind and elect an individual that is ill-prepared and not well-suited for the position of sheriff or you can choose to hire the candidate with a strong educational background, extensive experience, proven leadership, and high moral and ethical standards. The distinction is obvious and the choice is very clear.

My philosophy has always been, and will continue to be, to operate the Sheriff’s Office in an honest, professional and transparent manner. My pledge to deliver the best possible public safety service is what you deserve and have come to expect. I ask for your vote on Nov. 4 to re-hire me as Freeborn County sheriff because integrity is what matters!

 

Bob Kindler is the incumbent Freeborn County sheriff and is seeking his second four-year term.