Laurie Smith’s choice to not run for a seventh time period implies that Santa Clara County could have a brand new sheriff subsequent yr.
Whew. What a reduction.
It’s a shame that the county’s high legislation enforcement official nonetheless refuses to reply questions below oath about whether or not she knew about corruption in her personal workplace or was concerned in it herself.
The query for county voters is who of 5 candidates is greatest suited to alter the division’s tradition and restore belief and integrity that has been sorely missing within the workplace for greater than a decade. It’s not a straightforward alternative.
Two candidates — Palo Alto Police Chief Bob Jonsen and retired Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Workplace Captain Kevin Jensen — stand out as having the expertise to hit the bottom operating and the knowhow for what will probably be a monumental activity.
Jonsen is the outsider within the race and has extra government expertise than any of the candidates. He turned Palo Alto’s high cop in 2018 after serving as Menlo Park’s police chief for 5 years. He additionally spent three many years within the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Division, working as a deputy earlier than turning into captain of the Lancaster unit.
Jensen is well-versed within the inside workings of the Santa Clara County division, having labored in a variety of roles, together with assistant chief of the Division of Correction and commander of the Elmwood Detention Facility. He misplaced a 2014 effort to unseat Smith, garnering 40% of the vote.
We give the sting to Jonsen, believing that the division would profit most from an outsider who brings new concepts to the beleaguered workplace. Somebody who might clear home and rid the division of Smith’s minions.
It’s nonetheless attainable that Smith could possibly be faraway from workplace earlier than the tip of her time period. A county civil grand jury in December accused her of seven counts of willful misconduct, alleging she extracted political favors in alternate for concealed-gun permits and stalled an outdoor investigation into her workplace’s dealing with of a high-profile 2018 jail inmate harm. A jury trial would decide if she needs to be faraway from workplace.
Smith ought to resign and permit the Board of Supervisors to pick out an interim sheriff who is just not operating for the workplace. Her repeated sample of unbecoming conduct is unacceptable for a public official and particularly so for the highest legislation enforcement chief of the sixth largest county in California.
Jonsen lists accountability and transparency as his highest priorities if elected. When police reform turned a nationwide subject in 2020, he labored with the Palo Alto Metropolis Council to develop the scope of investigations by the division’s impartial police auditor to incorporate inside complaints of discrimination, harassment or retaliation. He additionally requires higher collaboration between regional legislation enforcement companies, which has been severely missing below Smith’s management.
The opposite three candidates are Christine Nagaye, Sean Allen and Anh Colton.
Nagaye and Allen each have many years of expertise within the county Sheriff’s Division. Each are sergeants who've primarily labored within the jail division, are appalled by Smith’s management and search main reforms. Each can be higher leaders than the present sheriff. However neither has the managerial expertise of Jonsen or Jensen.
Colton is just not operating a critical marketing campaign for the workplace. Her eligibility can also be in query, since she admits she doesn't fulfill the requirement of state legislation that solely licensed law-enforcement officers can run for county sheriff positions.
Jonsen and Jensen stand the perfect likelihood of restoring respectability to the Sheriff’s Workplace. In a difficult alternative, we advocate Jonsen to voters within the June 7 election.