Three candidates vie for Lake County Sheriff’s position
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Lake County’s never seen anything like this. It’s been 16 years since three candidates competed in the sheriff’s race, Election Administrator Kathie Newgard said, and it’s the first time an Independent has been in the mix. Add to those facts several months of heated — even bitter — campaigning, and you’ve got the 2010 Lake County Sheriff’s race.
As Election Day draws near, voters have heard it all: accusations of illegal campaigning (now under investigation by the state), a state investigation into possible poaching that could involve several members of the sheriff’s office, possible criminal defamation charges against a critic of one candidate, a fiery anti-government quote from another candidate in Time magazine, and multiple allegations of corruption in the sheriff’s office. One voter even stooped so low as to use a fake name and write a letter to the editor claiming one candidate’s tribal membership disqualifies him from serving all Lake County citizens equally.
All three candidates already work in the sheriff’s office, and it’s the first try at political office for all three. Lake County Undersheriff Jay Doyle is the Republican, Lake County Sheriff’s Detective and Deputy Coroner Dan Yonkin, the Democrat, and Lake County Sheriff’s Detective Steve Kendley, the Independent. Despite all the clouds over the race, the candidates say they have at least one goal in common: improving communication, both within the sheriff’s office and with the public.
“I feel like we are kind of our own little bubble up there,” Yonkin said.
He’d like to see the office interact more with the public, because “there’s a lot of great things that we do already that go unnoticed.”
Employees should also have more of a say in things that go on in the office, he added.
“I think if they feel (more) involved in that process … our product will be better,” Yonkin said.
Along with the sheriff’s principal duties of keeping the peace and holding offenders accountable, Kendley said working on communication is his top priority. Within the office, Kendley hopes to hold full staff meetings at least once a quarter; spend more time listening to employees; and see that deputies are recognized for their achievements.
“Really what I don’t see now is the two-way communication (between deputies and administration),” Kendley said. “I see a lot of chain-of-command communication.”
Kendley said he’d also like for deputies, after each call they handle, to leave feedback forms addressed to the sheriff with the citizen involved. The surveys would be a way for the sheriff to keep a finger on the pulse of how issues are handled, thus ensuring better service in the long run. He also emphasized that he’d have an open-door policy.
“I may spend a lot of time returning calls, but I will return your calls,” Kendley said.
More open communication with employees and citizens is key, Doyle agreed.
“The more that the sheriff can communicate and keep open communications with the citizens ... you get a better product; you get more crimes solved, because people are wanting to help,” he said.
Doyle’s leadership philosophy is best expressed on his campaign brochures, he said, where he quotes a Chinese proverb that says the best leaders learn from the people — then when the task is done, the people can take the credit.
“What that means to me is that the leader, the sheriff, goes to the people and finds out what their concerns are. How can we better serve them?” Doyle explained.
Jay Doyle
Doyle said he chose to run for sheriff because, “I felt that I could make some positive changes … that would affect not only the sheriff’s office personnel, but the citizens of Lake County.”
Mandatory patrol zones to get deputies off of just the main highways; a citizens' advisory group to help choose deputies; reinstating a citizens’ academy to educate the public about law enforcement; and publishing a “most wanted” list of outstanding warrants so the public can help locate offenders, are some of the changes he suggested. And he’d like to work with judges so that misdemeanor offenders who can’t afford to pay their fines could work off sentences with community service.
“I don’t want to make somebody destitute, but I want them held accountable,” he said.
Doyle holds command, supervisory and administrative level certificates from the Montana POST Council. And after 22 years in law enforcement in Lake County, he said he’s gained valuable experience in areas like budgeting and managing personnel from working under various administrators.
“I think those lessons that I’ve learned could do nothing but help,” he said. “Over 20 years of law enforcement experience, I think, is what make me stand out more than any of the other candidates.”
Steve Kendley
Kendley, who describes himself as a guy who’s “not the status quo” and “really fits an independent category,” said he actually wants less police power than the Supreme Court might allow. He’s more concerned about protecting citizens’ rights, and said he’s against random traffic stops like the Montana Highway Patrol sometimes performs, as he believes they violate civil rights.
Integrity and honesty should be foremost qualities in law enforcement officers, Kendley said.
“I want people to be able, when they look in their rearview mirror and see that black and white car, to go, ‘Whew; that guy’s on my side,’” he said. “The guy out there with a badge and a gun has the most power in the whole judicial system. If he isn’t trustworthy, everything is built on sand.”
Kendley’s strategy for improving communication within the sheriff’s office includes working part of a shift with every deputy once every three months, which he said would make for better understanding of what deputies deal with on a daily basis. He also plans to hold a training day for all officers each month.
“That’s what I really want to improve at the office, is regular training, which will include hearing what the folks on the street need (and) what they’re experiencing,” Kendley said.
Dan Yonkin
Yonkin got involved in the sheriff’s race because, “Lake County is a great place, and I’d like to keep it that way. I think as sheriff, that’s something I can do.”
His goals include holding monthly staff meetings; improving the resident deputy program; having the sheriff and undersheriff meet with each local community at least twice a year; and posting the sheriff’s budget and warrant list online so they’re accessible to citizens.
Educating people on how to prevent crime is another of Yonkin’s priorities. Something as simple as waving hello at someone driving through your neighborhood could stop a burglary — just being noticed often deters would-be criminals, he explained.
“People become victims of crime sometimes … because they don’t know how to prevent it,” he said.
Yonkin also favors a work release program to ease overcrowding in the county jail, which he said usually is full to its 42-bed capacity. In lieu of jail time, offenders would do work projects for the county, which could range from picking up garbage and cleaning graffiti to pulling weeds.
“I believe that I have the ability to pull people together and work toward a goal that will be best for the community, and that’s to involve our communities in their sheriff’s office,” Yonkin said. “I’m motivated.”
While all three candidates agree that the controversy surrounding the race has been at least a distraction — if not a huge blow to morale — to everyone in the sheriff’s office, they say they’re prepared to pull employees together and find common ground to stand on after Nov. 2.
“I believe we still are capable and absolutely able to provide protection and the things our community needs,” Yonkin said, adding that listening to concerns from everyone in the office is essential to preventing similar situations in the future.
“If you have happy employees, they’re not usually complaining,” he said. “I’ve been happiest when I’ve at least been heard, and the reverse is also true.”
Every election cycle, Doyle said, people end up taking sides, even if they try to stay out of the politics.
“And I don’t think it should be that way,” he said. “Candidates should be running on merit, experience and what they can bring to the office.”
If elected, he’d meet with personnel as a group and individually to solve differences, he added.
“What I like to see is, when somebody has a problem, don’t only tell me the problem; help me with the solution,” Doyle said.
Kendley said that with his compassion for people, communication skills and commitment to building “a great team at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office that deputies are going to be excited to be a part of, and that people will be thrilled to see in a year,” he hopes to move past the campaign’s mud-slinging.
“I had no idea this was going to be this vicious,” Kendley said. “But I’m committed, and I have to win.”
Voting polls open in Lake County at 7 a.m. November 2.
