Jefferson County candidates for sheriff, supervisor participate in forums

FAIRFIELD – ‘Tis the season of candidate forums.

A few weeks after appearing in forums sponsored by Jefferson County Farm Bureau, the candidates for sheriff and supervisor returned to the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center Tuesday for another round of answering questions from the public. This time, the forum was put on by the convention center, Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Fairfield Economic Development Association.

Sheriff

The candidates for Jefferson County sheriff took the stage first, and they were Republican Bart Richmond and Democrat Tracy Vance. The two spoke about their differences that arose during their Farm Bureau forum in September, which included their differing attitudes about hiring a new deputy.

Vance has proposed hiring another deputy to focus on drug enforcement, while Richmond has stated that such a move is unnecessary because he believes the county is controlling drugs with its current level of staffing.

Vance said during Tuesday's debate that he believes he can reduce costs in other areas of the sheriff's budget to afford another deputy. He said administrators in the sheriff's office schedule unnecessary overtime for themselves by working nine-hour shifts instead of eight-hour shifts.

'In my opinion, there's no reason for them to be working nine-hour shifts,” said Vance, who estimated this extra overtime plus accompanying pensions amounted to $30,000 a year.

Vance said the jail administration is bloated, and he would gradually reduce its staffing as employees left or retired.

Richmond said Vance's plan to hire a new deputy would add $150,000 to the budget every year, which he said was unnecessary because the sheriff's office is able to perform its functions adequately now. He said the office does pay some overtime but said it pays even more in holiday time.

A question for the candidates asked them what they would do if they were granted a larger budget. Vance said he would invest more in the Jefferson County Law Center, which is 20 years old and needs maintenance, he said.

Richmond said he believes the law center has been well maintained over the years, and that the sheriff's budget does not need to be any larger. He mentioned that, in the past eight years, the building has replaced heating and cooling equipment, has a new roof, remodeled offices, new overhead doors and fresh concrete.

'We've accomplished that with the budget we've operated under and still returned money at the end of the budget year,” he said.

Another question asked the candidates what their reactions were to the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd in late May. In an effort to restrain Floyd, a police officer knelt on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd stopped breathing and died that day.

Vance said he was 'disturbed” by the video of the incident and referred to it as 'murder.” He said no police academy in the country teaches officers to put their knee on someone's neck until they stop breathing.

Richmond said he did not react to the video 'like the rest of the country” because he did not jump to conclusions about what occurred leading up to the video. He did not condone the officer putting his knee on Floyd' neck, however.

Vance stated in a follow-up answer that he was disappointed Richmond did not join him in condemning what happened to Floyd.

Supervisors

There are four supervisor candidates seeking to fill two spots, and they are Republicans Dee Sandquist and Nick Adam, Democrat Susie Drish and independent Keith Vlademar.

Sandquist, the incumbent, spoke about the things the county has accomplished during her tenure as a supervisor, such as paving more than 15 miles of road this past summer.

During a question on how the county can prepare for continued population growth, Adam said he'd like to see a $2,000 tax credit for someone who moves to the county from outside. He said a focus on economic growth would allow the county to raise extra revenue without raising taxes. He said the county should offer tax abatements to attract companies, too, because if Jefferson County doesn't, another county will offer them and Jefferson County will miss out.

Drish talked about the importance of attracting both workers and businesses to the area. She later said it would not be easy to find things in the supervisors' budget to cut. She said the county needs something that will make people want to move here. She mentioned how she sees a lot of out-of-county plates in business parking lots.

Sandquist said the major challenges affecting the area are lack of housing and child care. She also talked about the importance of helping people out of prison, by giving them opportunities so they are not tempted to re-offend. She said the county doesn't have many discretionary expenses it can cut. One of the few is that the county gives $30,000 to the library, which might be something a future board will have to take a look at.

Vlademar remarked that taxes in the area are high, but the supervisors have only limited control over the total tax burden on residents. During his closing remarks, Vlademar added that during his career with the Iowa Department of Transportation, he had to rely on himself because there was no one to help him. Through hard work, he earned the respect of his co-workers.