Last week’s Nov. 7 election candidate forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Cazenovia, was an excellent event with a large turnout. Hearing from the candidates in person, along with reading their responses to our recent candidate questionnaires (published in last week’s and this week’s issues) has given us some thoughts on two of the races.
Our main observation this election cycle is that in the races for Cazenovia town board and Madison County sheriff, there is a clear and stark distinction between the candidates — and this makes the choice easier.
In the sheriff’s race, what strikes us is the background and perspectives of the two candidates. Challenger Todd Hood (Republican) is a career law enforcement officer who has vast administrative experience, while Acting Sheriff John Ball (Democrat) is a career administrator who works in the field of law enforcement.
Hood has served in city, town, county, university and park police forces, including 20 years in the Syracuse City Police, where he worked in major crimes, street patrol, investigations, gang violence and SWAT (as supervisor/team leader). He is also a deputized U.S. Marshal and currently works as an investigator for the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office. His resume speaks for itself as far as qualifications to lead a law enforcement agency.
Ball is not a trained law enforcement officer and has never served in the field as a law enforcement officer. He was appointed undersheriff seven years ago and ascended to acting sheriff when Al Riley resigned in June (the county sheriff does not have to be a trained police officer). Ball’s resume (which we were unable to print in full in his profile because of its length) is filled with administrative positions held, and training classes and certifications completed, the majority of which are in administrative issues such as leadership, archiving, emergency management and disaster preparedness. His resume speaks for itself as far as qualifications for an executive office administrator.
On the town board side, the issue is mainly one of experience. Eleven-year incumbents Pat Race and Kristi Andersen feel their experience and knowledge should be retained, while challenger Pat Vogl believes in shaking up boards to getting fresh eyes and new perspectives. Both of these viewpoints have merit. Vogl has also made an issue of town taxes, with his belief that they should be reduced, while Andersen and Race say town taxes are already low, it is county taxes that are the heavier part of everyone’s tax bills.
There are two issues to consider in this race: 1) Are you satisfied with the performances of the two incumbents and 2) Is it more important to keep experienced people and retain continuity, or is a regular change needed to keep elected boards fresh and intellectually curious?
