Sheriff Kevin Walsh (top left) is facing challenges from fellow Republican Ed Bragg (top right) and Democrats Joe Price (bottom left), Toby Shelley (bottom right) and Philip Benedict (not pictured).
Three deputies and a former deputy are challenging incumbent Sheriff Kevin Walsh in the November 2010 election.
That’s the most competition Walsh, a Republican, has had in 16 years.
For the fall 2010 election, the challengers are fellow Republican Ed Bragg of Camillus and three Democrats, Joe Price of Baldwinsville, Toby Shelley of Marietta and Philip Benedict of Jamesville.
In his previous four campaigns, Walsh never faced another Republican. He has defeated Democrats in three general elections and ran unopposed once.
“That’s the power of incumbency,” said Kristi Andersen, political scientist at Syracuse University.
On his having four challengers now, Andersen suggested several possible causes: “It could be that people perceive problems with his administration of the sheriff’s office, and/or it could be that once people saw that he had one opponent, he looked more vulnerable, and additional candidates thought they might have a chance,” Andersen said.
In another change in the political landscape, Onondaga County has shifted in voter enrollment so that Democrats now outnumber Republicans: 110,000 registered Democrats to 95,000 registered Republicans. Until 2008, Republicans had the lead in registered voters.
The primaries are Sept. 2, 2010. The general election is Nov. 2, 2010.
The sheriff is the county’s top cop, overseeing law enforcement throughout Onondaga County. The sheriff also manages the county jail, the department’s budget of more than $5 million 2010 and its 650 employees. The job pays $106,611 a year.
Here’s an early look at the candidates:
Kevin Walsh (Republican, incumbent)
Kevin Walsh is running for his fifth term as Onondaga County Sheriff. He is a Syracuse resident. He portrays his career in law enforcement as a childhood dream. “My father was the director of security for the Carrier Corporation and most of his friends were police officers of FBI agents,” said Walsh. “I always looked up to them.”
Walsh’s immediate predecessor, John Dillon, holds the record for serving as sheriff for 17 years. If Walsh wins re-election, he will take that title of longest-serving one year into his term.
“I don’t think I am going to be here forever, but I would certainly like the opportunity to serve one more term,” Walsh said.
This is the first time that he is facing more than one challenger. The competition is not necessarily a bad thing, he said. “There are always going to be people who feel they can do this job. From my perspective, it is gratifying that there are people who feel they are qualified to take a shot at it,” Walsh said.
In addition to running as a Republican, Walsh won the Onondaga County Conservative Committee endorsement.
Being an incumbent for so many years lets him bring something extra to the job now, said Walsh. “I think the value of experience and knowing that you have a steady command in your law enforcement agency is more valuable than flipping administrations every time you turn around and not knowing what you can expect,” Walsh said.
If re-elected, Walsh says, he will continue to work on what he has already started. “There are a lot of projects that we have been working on for a long time. I want to continue to develop those projects,” he said.
Some of those projects include building substations around the county, as Walsh put it, “to improve our ability to serve the community” and working with other law enforcement agencies throughout the county to help other communities with fewer resources.
Ed Bragg (Republican, challenger)
Ed Bragg of Camillus is the first Republican to challenge Walsh.
He is running, Bragg said, because the current administration needs a shake-up.
Bragg has 24 years experience in public safety. He has worked as a deputy sheriff detective, a SWAT field operations commander, a police academy instructor, president of the Onondaga County Deputy Sheriffs’ Police Association, and a deputy sheriff patrol officer.
He cites his leadership positions in law enforcement as a key qualification. “I have the ability through many years of being a leader within the agency to be a visionary with the law enforcement community,” Brag said. “I will lead by example and mandate that my appointed staff does the same.”
If he wins the race, Bragg said, he plans to “think outside-the-box with all expenses and being more active within the community.”
Some of his ideas include hosting town-hall style meetings so that the sheriff is more accountable to the taxpayers, bringing income into the Sheriff’s Office through “creative and innovative ideas with our finances” and focusing the Narcotics Unit, and the Civil Department.
Joe Price (Democrat, challenger)
Joe Price of Baldwinsville is challenging Walsh for the second time. In 2006, Price ran against Walsh, who took 60 percent of the vote.
“I ran a grassroots campaign and we got 40 percent of the vote. We surprised a lot of people.” Price said.
Price is a 20-year law enforcement veteran. Right now, he is a deputy sheriff of the custody division, which is responsible for prisoner custody, security and transportation. He has worked in that division since 1994. He is trained as both a police officer and a correctional officer, he said.
The county is overdue for some new ideas and faces, Price said. “We basically need some fresh horses. I don’t think any elected official should be in office for 16 years,” Price said. “I want to bring in some fresh ideas, make the office more fiscally responsible and bring back accountability.”
If elected, Price said, he would immediately get rid of the sheriff’s academy at Onondaga Community College and get rid of a program that allows deputies to take home some official cars.
The sheriff’s academy has recently come under fire from some Onondaga County legislators who say that getting rid of it could save taxpayers about $250,000 a year. Two deputies are assigned full-time to the academy and the sheriff pays $80,000 a year to OCC for office space and equipment.
If wins the race, Price said, he would consolidate the sheriff’s academy with the City Police Academy.
The take-home car program allows officers to use cars from the sheriff’s department on off-duty hours. “It is a waste of money because the cars are un-marked. It is basically just a bonus for friends of the sheriff,” Price said.
Toby Shelley (Democrat, challenger)
Toby Shelley of Marietta has been a police officer for 16 years. Now, he is running for sheriff because, he said, he “saw a need for new faces, new ideas and potential to make a difference.”
Shelley was in the military for 25 years in both the U.S. Air Force and the Air National Guard. In 2006 and 2007, he served in Iraq, where he was an assistant fire chief helping to develop a firefighter-training program. He now is a senior master sergeant fire chief for the Air National Guard.
Shelley is completing a master’s degree in criminal justice at Columbia College and will graduate in April. He has four undergraduate degrees in history, the arts, fire science and science.
During his time off-duty, Shelley runs a farm that’s been in his family for more than 100 years. His background, he says, makes him the most well-rounded candidate.
Running the family farm, he said means “I can understand a working man’s perspective.” He added, “I’ve got a wife and three kids, so I understand a family-man perspective. With my education, I understand an educated man’s perspective. With my emergency-services background, I have great training.”
On what he would like to accomplish as sheriff, Shelley said he wanted to “bring back the public trust.” To reach that goal, he said, the sheriff needs to be prominent in community affairs to cultivate new ideas, said Shelley. “You have to be seen locally. You have to be seen on the street,” said Shelley. “And you have to be out there seeing what your people are going through.”
Philip Benedict (Democrat, challenger)
Philip Benedict of Jamesville is the former deputy challenging Walsh. Now he is a maintenance supervisor with Syracuse University.
Benedict was a road patrol deputy with the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office from 1999 to 2001. His background also include serving in the Air Force as an aircraft mechanic.
Benedict cites his management background and his police experience as qualifications for the sheriff’s job. “With my managerial background at Syracuse University, I get on-the-job training every day,” Benedict said. Much like dealing with county’s changing population, Benedict said, “I deal with the issues that face a very diverse community — a community that is also diverse in age, needs and issues.”
His two major goals, he said, are to reduce the sheriff department’s budget and add more officers on street patrols. Of the budget, he said, “That is key. It has gone out of control.”
One of his biggest challenges with running for sheriff is selling himself, he said. He describes himself as capable but unaccustomed to campaigning.
“I think I can make the changes and do the things that need to get done. I just have to get over that not wanting to promote myself,” Benedict said. “I am so honored and excited to be a part of the democratic system and I am so proud to be out in the community talking to people, but I am not a politician.”
(Noel Aliseo is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism and Spanish.)
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