Letter: ‘Professionalism and ethical behavior starts from the top’

Published 10:00 am Tuesday, October 20, 2020

To the Editor:

I pose this letter as food for thought for those undecided about who to vote for to serve as the next sheriff of Grant County. I speak with some credibility on the matter of law enforcement, as I recently retired from the state police as an area commander who worked with many sheriffs around the state over my 26 years with the agency.

This brings me to this November’s choice for Grant County sheriff. In a sane world, with a sheriff who had

• One employee on sustained administrative leave for improper behavior with a jail inmate, and who also was arrested for DUII while on leave,

• One employee fired for several alleged crimes, including attempted rape, while employed under this current sheriff,

• One current employee who the sheriff recommended to lead emergency operations, an agency under a cloud of suspicion for improperly spending thousands of dollars of grant funds to be used for the COVID-19 crisis,

• And who himself has allegedly committed numerous ethical, if not criminal, violations,

a person with this background of malfeasance and lack of good judgment would never be considered as qualified to act as a sheriff.

Professionalism and ethical behavior starts from the top, and this current sheriff has shown a lack of these traits as far as I can tell over the past five years I have been a resident of Grant County. If employees see that the sheriff can get away with anything without consequence, it is much more likely that employees will have that same mindset.

I am under no illusion that this letter will change the minds of those “special deputies” and others in his cabal who are either unaware of, or turn a blind eye to, the unbelievable actions of the current sheriff over the past five years. My only hope is that enough people in this county yearn for a professional law enforcement agency, headed by an ethical sheriff, who will not show favor to those only in his “club” but will evenly and aggressively disperse law enforcement action to those that deserve it.

Steve Smartt

John Day