Star Treatment

O.C. Register Support for Hunter

 

 

Brian Calle: Star treatment

 

 

Orange County's hottest race in the June 8 primary election quite possibly is the competition for Sheriff-Coroner. Given the previous elected sheriff was the disgraced Mike Carona, emotions are high as voters consider which candidate will do the most to restore integrity to the county's top law enforcement post.

 

The candidates: the appointed sheriff, Sandra Hutchens, Anaheim Deputy Police Chief Craig Hunter, and former sheriff's Lt. Bill Hunt.

 

This election will mark the first time voters will elect a new sheriff since Carona first won the job in 1998. Let's hope this time around they choose more wisely.

 

Showdown

 

Last Tuesday, The Orange County Register, the Orange County Forum and Gen-Next gave the three candidates an opportunity to square off in a 75-minute debate showcasing the differences in their approaches to law enforcement. I moderated the debate, which helped me conclude who is the most promising candidate and, perhaps more importantly, who is the most objectionable candidate, from a freedom perspective.

 

The unionist

 

Hunt, who ran against Carona in 2006 and then retired as a lieutenant when Carona moved to demote him after the election, has an uncomfortably aggressive style of communication, which made some members of the debate audience, the moderator included, a little uncomfortable. It seemed like he was hopped up on one too many Red Bulls.

 

Hunt's message, as Hutchens noted, was long on platitudes and short on substance. But his impassioned populist appeals seem to be resonating with at least the Tea Party crowd and perhaps a broader segment of county voters. He portrays himself as a Sheriff Joe Arpaio-type of law enforcer but his priorities are misguided. And he rose in the Sheriff's Department under Mike Carona.

 

My biggest concern with Hunt is that he is the union candidate. He was endorsed by the ultra-powerful Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, the deputy's union. When criticized at the debate for having union backing, Hunt gave a fist pump to the audience, acknowledging, apparently, that he was quite proud of that fact.

 

What likely comes with union support is hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign spending and the understanding that he will defend union priorities, such as protecting unsustainable pension benefits for county deputies, which Hunt says the sheriff has no control over.

 

He places responsibility for pensions on the Board of Supervisors, and he is partially correct. The Board has ultimate authority to end pension abuses in the county. But the sheriff sits on a number of boards and commissions and can use the position as a bully pulpit for pension reforms.

 

The establishmentarian

 

While Hunt has the union, Hutchens has become the choice of the political establishment, or at least, that is how her candidacy appears. She has amassed an impressive list of local elected-official endorsements: Supervisor Bill Campbell – the only supervisor to make an endorsement – Rep. John Campbell, R-Irvine, South County state Sen. Mimi Walters and the OC Taxpayers Association. She has taken little union money (she says from only the firefighters union, which is promising), but she sought the deputy union's endorsement, as did Craig Hunter.

 

Hutchens' biggest drawback is her perceived softness on the Second Amendment, evidenced by her policy decision to revoke many CCWs. She aggravated the situation by arranging for a large show of force by deputies at a Board of Supervisors meeting where gun permits were discussed.

 

Hutchens has shown she is generally adept, and the department is much better off under her leadership, certainly than under Carona. And on the pension issue she is pretty good though not ideal, arguing their needs to be a two tiered system — meaning new employees should not be hired in with the same overly generous pensions deputies have now under current provisions.

 

The other guy

 

Hunter, the deputy chief in Anaheim, is less well-known in county politics than his opponents, though his experience in law enforcement is impressive. His career spans more than 30 years, starting on the streets of Garden Grove. He has worked in jail operations, undercover, narcotics and SWAT. He has a far less aggressive style than Hunt, coming off as tempered and grounded in data and offering reasonable approaches to problems facing the Sheriff's Department. He has a strong stance on the Second Amendment and has a broader interpretation of gun permit laws than Hutchens.

 

Hunter says he would approve more CCW permits than has Hutchens. He is the only candidate who signed the Orange County Republican Party pledge not to accept public-employee union money for his campaign, and he has kept to that promise. Hunter has the best position on pension reform, stating that a two-tiered system – where new hires receive less-generous benefits – is not enough; the department needs to move to a 401(k)-style plan.

 

Hunter doesn't have political endorsements to match those of Hutchens and Hunt, though he has some, and he does have the support of nearly a dozen former police chiefs.

 

One shortcoming is that Hunter does not have the same familiarity with the Sheriff Department's budget as Hutchens and Hunt. But that learning curve is not insurmountable, especially for someone who has helped to run one of Orange County's largest police departments. The Anaheim department's purview includes Angel Stadium, the Honda Center, the Anaehim Convention Center and Disneyland.

 

The priorities

 

My colleagues and I on the Register's Editorial Board spent considerable time debating qualifications for a sheriff. Honesty and integrity are top of the list, followed by:

 

•A philosophy that incorporates community policing and keeping citizens involved;

•A workable approach to dealing with illegal immigrants;

•Strong philosophical grounding in support of the Second Amendment and an open policy towards concealed weapon permits;

•A desire to reform the unsustainable pension program for public safety employees;

•A fiscally conservative approach to budgetary issues;

•A clear strategy for management of the county jails.

 

Applying these criteria to the candidates, it became clear to me who would make a better sheriff. Craig Hunter has a clean track record in law enforcement, adheres to the Second Amendment and has the best approach to pension reform.

 

The next elected sheriff will have a lot to deal with, but if the most important issues in this election are pensions, unions and the Second Amendment, the choice is clear.

 

 

 

Read the full story here:

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/-248993--.html