Opinion Saturday, June 07, 2008

Not all elected offices are created equal
By Rick Pope/A view from a Camden County Democrat
Published: Saturday, June 7, 2008 1:50 AM CDT
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THE QUESTION: How is the county sheriff's office a political position?

Whether we like it or not, any position that requires one to declare a party is a political position. That does not mean that the person who occupies that position must be political.

The two offices at the county level, above all others that must distance themselves from the partisan political scenery, are the sheriff and the county clerk.


The traits that should be relevant to the decision should be seeking men and women who exhibit characteristics of good character, sound judgment, honesty, reliability and integrity that blend together with a strong desire to serve the interests of the citizens of Camden County.

An amazing thing you find in counties throughout the country are the number of times the sheriff is from the minority party of that county. So if the county is Democratic, it may well have a Republican sheriff and likewise, if the county is Republican it may well have a Democratic sheriff.

I researched various sites to try to find the political breakdown of the sheriffs throughout the state and could find all kinds of info about different counties' sheriffs but little to none about their political affiliation.



All people want their legal system at all levels to be free of any and all political entanglements. It is fundamental to this democracy and at times during our history it has been vigorously tested.

The Civil Rights Era tested the legal system and its independence throughout the south during the 1950s and into the 1960s.

At various times, local sheriffs were actually involved in activities that were either illegal or inappropriate and the federal government in some cases, such as Little Rock, the National Guard was forced to provide protection for those whom local law enforcement failed.



America's self-proclaimed 'toughest sheriff in America' has been making forays into Phoenix and Guadalupe sweeping up illegal immigrants, drawing howls of protest from the cities' mayors and other community leaders.

Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, Az., is known for making jail inmates wear pink underwear, assigning them to old-style chain gangs, and serving them green bologna sandwiches.

He has defied elected officials and has created for himself a fiefdom that some admire and others despise. After more than four decades of experience in law enforcement, Arpaio knows what the public wants, 'The public is my boss,' he says, 'so I serve the public.'



He has served them well by establishing several unique programs over his four terms. To many he is the 'model' sheriff.

The sheriff's get-tough policies include banning smoking, coffee, movies, pornographic magazines, and unrestricted TV in all jails. He has the cheapest meals in the U.S. The average meal costs about 15 cents, and inmates are fed only twice daily, to cut the labor costs of meal delivery. He even stopped serving them salt and pepper to save tax payers $20,000 a year.

Arpaio probably also has more lawsuits filed against him than any other sheriff in the U.S. He ultimately may live up to the adage 'you get what you pay for.'



Once the elections end in November, all elected officials should serve all constituents equally. They should evolve from politician to public servant and if we are really, really lucky, into either a leader or a statesman.

Mark Twain once said: 'The government is merely a servant ' merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.'

You and I determine those orders when we exercise our right to vote. When we don't, we allow others to set the order and the rules.


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