Race for sheriff draws 3 candidates

Steve Rogers, Donny Rynearson and Dick Bobbitt have filed to run for Wallowa County Sheriff in the 2012 election.

With three vying for the post in a non-partisan election, the Oregon

May 15 primary will decide whether it’s a winner-takes-all scenario or

if there will be a run-off in November’s general election.

According to County Clerk Dana Roberts, if one candidate receives 50 percent of the vote plus one, he will be the winner. If not, the two candidates with the top percentages of the votes will square off in November.

Sheriff Fred Steen announced last year that he will not seek re-election after 12 years in office.

Steve Rogers, who has served as Steen’s undersheriff for all three terms, is running for the seat.

Rogers said, “I want to continue the good things we’ve done the last 11 years and make some improvements.”

Rogers was a deputy for 4 1/2 years before being appointed by Steen as undersheriff. He said he plans to change the job description of the undersheriff to cut costs, encourage deputies to be out of their cars and interacting with people, and focus on the department’s budget.

“The next two to three years are going to be tough. Through grants and contracts I’m going to bring as much money in as possible,” Rogers said.

Rogers said during his time with the Sheriff’s Office they have built a new office building shared with Enterprise Police Department and the 9-1-1 dispatch center, purchased new communication and computer records systems, new police cars and a fingerprint machine – all with grant money.

He said handling Oregon’s largest marijuana grow bust last June and a subsequent one in August has attracted the attention of other agencies, and he believes they will have more air time from the National Guard and Oregon State Police to look for other potential plantations in the county.

Rogers started his 24 years of police work with the City of La Grande. While working at the Boise Cascade mills in Elgin and serving as Union County’s Search and Rescue captain, he was asked to become a La Grande reserve officer. After his first night as a reservist he decided it was time for a career change.

His list of accomplishments includes basic, intermediate and advanced police certification as well as supervision and management training. He completed a 12-week Local Authority course with the FBI in Quantico, Va., and a week-long Oregon Executive Development Institute course as well as dozens of continuing education requirements throughout his career.

Rogers said he sees the role of sheriff as directly responsible for working with his constituents.

“I will step up to the plate on political issues. The sheriff’s job is not just purely law enforcement,” he said.

Donny Rynearson wants to parlay his bachelor’s degree in law enforcement from Western Oregon University and seven years with the City of Enterprise Police Department into the role of sheriff.

“There’s a change needed and the Wallowa County residents deserve better service,” Rynearson said. “The sheriff should be a working sheriff, not just a politician.”

Rynearson said he intends to eliminate the undersheriff position and replace it with two sergeants who will share the administrative duties.

He said he wants more patrols in the Lower Wallowa Valley and the department to answer calls for service equally around the county. He also intends to cut the deputy’s overtime through what he called “creative scheduling.”

Rynearson said he’d like to bring back the school resource officer and have that position be county-wide, build up the reserve program and reinstate the work crew.

“There are plenty of opportunities for community service at the fairgrounds, county parks and picking up garbage along the roads,” he said.

Grant writing is crucial to keeping the sheriff’s office in business and Rynearson said while with the Enterprise Police Department he was the grant coordinator for a seat belt and traffic grant.

Rynearson also served five years on the Union Wallowa Drug task force and worked almost two years with the sheriff’s office before taking a job with the city of Enterprise. He was a taser instructor, implemented the vehicle impound policy, did the department’s scheduling for five years and represented the Enterprise Police Association in two labor contract negotiations.

Rynearson said he completed the 10-week state police academy, basic, intermediate and advanced police training and a two-week career officer development course. Besides his training, he said his staff will be the key to his success.

“I will surround myself with good people,” he said.

Dick Bobbitt of Joseph has 24 years police work experience and an associate’s degree in law enforcement from Blue Mountain Community College. He said he would bring his “hands-on” experience with tough crime to the role of sheriff.

Bobbitt’s law enforcement career started in Umatilla County in corrections. Shortly afterward he was hired by the city of Hermiston where he worked nine years, four on the narcotics task force. He also worked as a detective and an investigator on fatal traffic accidents.

He then moved over to the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office for 11 years working mostly on investigations, he said.

“The experience gained working over there gives me the ability to handle any kind of crisis,” Bobbitt said.

He now works for the Umatilla Tribal Police Department working closely with the county, the city of Pendleton and federal agencies. His goals, if elected as sheriff, are to improve response times of deputies and to personally respond to calls. He said as sheriff he will drive a marked vehicle.

“Visibility is a big crime deterrent,” he said.

Bobbitt said the sheriff’s relationship with the community is vital.

“I want the department to be more community oriented. Forming a partnership with the community makes for better problem solving. The more people you talk to the more information you have,” he said.

He said he is aggressive about dealing with drugs and has the experience, training and knowledge to attack drug problems.

“I am totally against what drugs do to families,” he said.

Bobbitt said the better the work of the department, the better it is for the district attorney. In his 24 years as an officer, he said he’s only lost one case in court. He said he has good connections for training and wants to provide the best available for the deputies.

“Law enforcement is a career that needs continual training,” Bobbitt said.

Bobbitt said he wants to reach out to the schools and interact more with the kids. He’d like to institute a cadet program for kids.

“It’s a good way to get kids involved,” he said.