Republican incumbent Bruce D. Zuchowski hopes to retain his seat as Portage County sheriff. He is being challenged by Democrat Jon Barber.
Zuchowski did not respond to The Portager’s request for an interview.
Barber is a veteran of the Portage County Sheriff’s Office and a former county dog warden who also served as the director of the Portage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. He also served the Stark County sheriff’s office, most recently holding the rank of sergeant, and left that department in January to launch his campaign for Portage County sheriff.
What do you see as the sheriff’s role?
“The Ohio Revised Code sets the role for the sheriff. The top two are to provide a jail and service the courts. In addition, the sheriff’s role is to provide security and safety for the unincorporated areas of the county.”
What are the biggest issues facing the sheriff’s office in Portage County? How would you address those?
“The biggest issue facing the sheriff’s office is the perception of the department as it pertains to working with the community. I see that there’s a big disconnect between the sheriff’s office and the citizens as far as communication and accountability. In addition, collaboration with other agencies throughout the county is either lacking or nonexistent.”
“I would sit down with the stakeholders in the county, the other law enforcement agencies and community leaders, to start to repair that. I also have to meet with other agencies throughout the county to have open discussions about their concerns regarding safety, security and assurance that the sheriff’s office is there for everyone in the community and will treat everybody with the same respect regardless of their views or ethnicity.”
“Also, I think one of the big things for the sheriff’s office is to work harder at a community policing model to help reduce crime throughout the county. My model of community policing is sitting down with the community leaders and working with them to help reduce crime in their area or their neighborhoods. Once you have the trust of the community, they would share information and we would have a better ability to deter crime as opposed to just responding to crime as it happens.”
What is your take on the recent news and controversy surrounding the PCSO? What steps would you take to address the issues that are giving rise to the controversy?
“They are documented issues. I think leadership has to be more transparent and they have to better explain themselves to the community. Meeting with other leaders in the community has been lacking in that department.”
“I want to turn that around. I think that anyone who has a concern that wants to sit down with the sheriff and discuss it, he or she should be open to do that. We have to be able to better communicate with our community.”
“It is important for a sheriff to understand that they work for everybody in the community. Leadership should have a better understanding of their responsibility there. We all make decisions in our lives, and those decisions have consequences. Everything that’s going on – I’m not that kind of a person.”
“All of these issues need to be looked at and make sure that they fall into the legal standards of what they should be doing. Even if it’s ruled that it’s legal, is it how best to serve all the citizens of Portage County? Those are what we have to decide when we’re making those decisions.”
You would be inheriting a large group of officers who appear to support the sheriff’s actions and philosophy. How would you deal with that?
“I think deputies reflect their leadership. In any instance, once they have clear guidelines and understanding of what the mission is of the agency they work for and they are trained and given those parameters, I think they would take that direction. If they don’t, if it’s not within the mission statement of the administration, there are progressive steps of discipline to deal with those issues.”
“I think it’s a deputy’s responsibility to carry out leadership’s mission and goals regardless of who that is. I think deputies take direction from their supervisor. My goal would be to come in there and set our mission and goals for my administration, and that those officers would help us to carry out those goals.”
“That agency is going through some trying times. With the right leadership and direction, that department can be brought back to the standards that the community would once again have trust in.”
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.