PORT TOWNSEND — Candidates for Jefferson County sheriff agree the department needs to be examined and its efficiency increased but disagree about the path, according to their remarks at a forum last week.
Upon taking office, both Wendy Davis and Dave Stanko, who are vying for the office in the Nov. 4 general election, would conduct in-depth staff interviews to figure out how the department can be improved, they told more than 100 people at a Thursday night forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women.
“My management style is to sit down and talk to everyone and determine the culture of the organization,” said Stanko, 66, a Cape George resident who retired as a lieutenant from the Fullerton Police Department in California.
“I’ll decide what kind of changes are necessary based upon the input I get from the captains and the sergeants and the deputies, and get a bottom-up buy-in for the changes,” he continued.
“Change is sometimes painful, and unless you have a bottom-up buy-in, it doesn’t work. You also need to have a buy-in from the citizenship.”
Davis, 47, a Port Ludlow resident who worked in both the Bremerton and Poulsbo Police departments, also said she would interview every staff member.
“I will get each person’s perspective because I can guarantee it will be different across the board,” said Davis, who is now a human resources officer for Port Ludlow Associates.
“We need to move ahead and make some internal changes. There are several appointed positions in the department that will need to be looked at.”
“But I don’t go along with bottom-up buy-in,” Davis added. “If the bottom was already buying in to changes, it wouldn’t be an issue, would it?
“Changes need to come from the top down.”
Both candidates said they have the right experience and temperament for the job vacated by Tony Hernandez, who did not seek another term and who is now Milton’s police chief.
The interim sheriff is Joe Nole, chief criminal deputy. He is scheduled to step down Nov. 25 when the winner of the election will be sworn in for the remainder of Hernandez’s term and a four-year elected term.
Both Davis and Stanko are running as Democrats.
That’s a label Stanko said he’d like to shed.
Stanko filed in May but suspended his campaign after he didn’t receive the county Democratic Party’s endorsement in June. He re-entered the race in July.
“I said that I’d run as a Democrat if they would support me,” Stanko said Thursday. “When I did not receive their endorsement, I withdrew.
“The party has nothing to do with the Sheriff’s Office,” Stanko continued.
“When I’m elected sheriff, I will have no undue influences from anybody. I will base my decisions on fact and not due to pressure from any other person or a political party.”
If elected, Stanko would become an independent and run as such in the future, he said.
Said Davis: “I think that’s disingenuous, to run as a Democrat if you are not a Democrat.
“People seem to think that if you run for a partisan office that you owe something to somebody or owe something to the party, which is disrespectful to the people who currently hold elected office or are now running after choosing a party,” she added.
Both candidates said they’d work with other departments, such as the prosecutor, in a collaborative way.
The past two sheriffs, Hernandez and Mike Brasfield, resigned before their terms ended.
Both candidates said they are committed to serving their full-four year term, with health as the exception.
“I’m in it for four years and, if I’m still vertical, another four,” Stanko said.
Davis said she hoped to serve two or three terms and would resign only for serious health reasons.
“When you leave a position early, it throws the system into turmoil,” she said.
The candidates were asked about making their personnel files available.
Stanko’s personnel files are not available.
He retired as a lieutenant from the Fullerton Police Department in 2004 after serving for 27 years.
Records are shredded five years after a person leaves the department, according to current Chief Dan Hughes.
“I’ve been a leader in this community for 10 years,” Stanko said. “I was the Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year in 2011 and president of the Rotary Club.
“I have mentored several officers, including the current Fullerton police chief, and if that’s not a testament to who I am, I don’t know what is.”
Davis’ personnel files from the Poulsbo Police Department were an issue in the primary campaign.
She faced termination twice.
Then-Chief Dennis Swiney recommended in October 2012 to Mayor Becky Erickson that Davis, whom he had hired in November 2011 as the department’s deputy police chief, be terminated because she had failed to “develop an appropriate management orientation.”
He said she had revealed a personal relationship with Sgt. Andy Pate, one of three sergeants under her supervision.
Davis voluntarily decreased her rank, while a sergeant who had been under her supervision, Bob Wright, became deputy chief.
Wright in February 2013 wrote a letter terminating her from the sergeant’s post, saying she had “failed to perform tasks assigned in a reasonable manner.”
A sticky note was attached to the letter, saying, “Per Mayor Erickson, this will not be distributed or acted upon,” and Davis said she had not seen it until the contents of her personnel file were brought to light during this year’s campaign.
Davis continued working for the department until she resigned in April 2013.
“I have made some personal choices,” Davis said Thursday night.
“I did the right thing. When Andy and I decided to pursue a relationship, we went to the chief of police and the mayor of Poulsbo and made them aware of the situation, which is why I have their support today.
“This happens everywhere in every work environment: People meet and decide to have relationships.”
Davis said she attempted to resolve the issue and stay at Poulsbo but resigned when she found it was not possible.
“If this situation occurs with someone on my staff when I’m sheriff, I will try to move forward and see if the issue can be resolved and be respectful about it,” she said.
The forum at the Quimper Grange was moderated by Scott Wilson, publisher of the weekly Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
