Sheriff’s race candidates speak out about ideas for department
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POLSON — Four candidates have thrown their hats in the ring for the office of Lake County Sheriff/Coroner. Since all are Republicans, the primary election will decide the election.
The four candidates are Don Bell, Kim Leibenguth, Rick Schoening and Dan Yonkin.
Bell was born in Ronan and has lived in Lake County for 55 years. Bell and his wife raised their four boys in the valley, and he has been a police officer for 22 years. Currently Bell is a police officer with Tribal Law Enforcement. Leibenguth and her two sons moved to Lake County 12 years ago and has worked at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office for 10 years. She is a LCSO detective. Before working for the sheriff’s office, she was the first executive director of CASA.
Schoening has lived in Lake County for more than 26 years, raised his family here, and has been a law enforcement officer for more than 30 years. He is currently serving as a Polson Police Officer.
Yonkin and his wife moved to the Valley 17 years ago. He’s worked for the LCSO for the past 15 years, serving as detention officer, patrolman, detective and currently as undersheriff.
The candidates were asked what qualities and experience they bring to the job of Lake County Sheriff.
As part of the positions Yonkin’s held at LCSO, Yonkin said he’s written and balanced the office’s $4.2 million budget and managed a staff of 57, as well as overseeing the day-to-day functions of the LCSO.
“In addition to this experience which gives me the confidence it takes to be sheriff,” Yonkin said, “I also possess the courage required to make the hard decisions, the compassion necessary to make the right choices, and I am the candidate who will provide the much needed consistency to continue the progress we’ve begun to see within the sheriff’s office.”
Bell has worked with officers from Lake, Missoula, Sanders and Flathead Counties, as well as the Ronan, St. Ignatius, Hot Spring and Polson Police Departments as well as the Montana Highway Patron and the Montana Department of Transportation.
“I have a working knowledge of what law enforcement does and what is expected of the sheriff,” Bell said. He’s attended more than 100 law enforcement trainings and schools, including Montana Police Academy Basic 83.
“I have been trained in interview and interrogation, population protection, bioterrorism, ecoterrorism, and.fingerprinting. He’s a certified hazmat responder, a member of the Lake County/Sanders County/CSKT Disaster Committee, a certified search and rescue scuba diver. Bell worked the 2002 Olympic games in Salt Lake City on an anti-terrorism unit with training from the U.S. State Department and was appointed to the Home land Security Task Force by Montana’s governor and to the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council by U.S. Attorney General.
With 26 years experience in law enforcement, Leibenguth said she worked in Florida and Oklahoma and in the U.S. Marshal’s service. She also served as a School Resource Officer for five years in Polson.
“I can balance a budget like no one can,” she said, citing being a single mother with two boys to raise.
As an administrator, Leibenguth said the LCSO has phenomenal employees — dispatch, detention and deputies.
“It’s what we can do together — being more open (as a department) and being more caring,” she said, adding she could bring a unique perspective to the sheriff’s job.
Schoening said he’s spent his whole law enforcement career as a front line officer.
“I know who I work for — the people. It is what I love to do.”
He added, “The person elected sheriff is on call 24/7 and must become ‘The Sheriff.’ Accountable to the people who elected him, he or she can no longer go home from a shift and put the job on the shelf for the rest of the day. I occupied a similar role for 21 years here as your game warden. I proved to the citizens here that I could do the job and do it very well.”
Finally, Schoening said, “I possess a wealth of common sense. This is a must for any law enforcement officer. Unfortunately it is not that common among my peers.”
Candidates were also asked what three issues were most important to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and why.
First in line for Leibenguth was a lack of trust.
“The community pays us to do this job. They need to know what is going on,” she explained.
With tax money being lost from the sale of Kerr Dam, Leibenguth said there are grants that can be written. She’s willing to put in the effort to learn how the mill levy works and whether the money is being used the way it should be, the way the people agreed upon.
As a sheriff, Leibenguth said she would be accessible, not just to other employees but to the public. She has a home phone number listed in the telephone book, so she practices what she preaches.
Although the Montana Code Annotated says a sheriff only has to work 10 hours per month, Leibenguth said, “If you own a business and are only there 10 hours per month, your business is going to fail.”
“I want to do the right thing for the right reason and take care of not just the employees, but the community in general,” she concluded.
Bell’s first issue is trust.
“I will make every effort to earn the trust of the citizen’s of Lake County and work to restore the trust in the Lake County Sheriff’s Office by holding all employees to a high standard of ethics at work and off duty,” he said.
Responding to calls is Bell’s second issue.
“Deputies will respond to calls in a timely manner as dispatched by the 911 center,” he said.
A third issue for Bell is that drug and alcohol abuse is a growing problem.
“I will be a working sheriff, working alongside deputies to help with calls for assistance and work curtailing the under age drinking problem,” Bell said.
“Patrol supervisors will also be responsible for handling calls to assist the patrol deputy’s ability to work with the Mission Mountain drug task force to contact and apprehend drug dealers,” Bell said.
Schoening said, “The employee moral at the LCSO is presently in the toilet. I will bring a positive supportive management style that will treat all employees the same. A deputy is no more important than a dispatcher or detention officer. We all must function as a team, i.e. a family. I want my employees to look forward to coming to work.”
His second issue was that follow-up to calls for service is something that has been lacking.
“I will make sure the person who had a crime committed against them will hear back as to what is happening with their case. My deputies will participate in the crime solving end of the investigation, not just responding to the call,” he said.
Officer/patrol presence is at times lacking, Schoening said. Citizens should know the names and faces of the deputies who serve them.
“When a citizen makes a call for service, I will expect my deputies to speak to them face-to-face,” Schoening said.
His directive would be that a phone call would be followed up with a visit.
“Law enforcement is in the business of making house calls,” Schoening added. “I will expect my officers to earn the trust of the people they serve.”
During Yonkin’s turn, he said, “The sheriff’s office’s future holds a variety of challenges. Among those challenges, Lake County’s meth and prescription drug problems, which have spiraled in recent years, must be better managed and enforced.”
Jail overcrowding is another problem that has plagued the County since he’s worked there, Yonkin said.
Without access to beds in the jail, the courts are helpless to bring accountability to criminals through appropriate jail sentences, according to Yonkin.
“We have recently begun to seek jail alternatives in order to help alleviate this very important issue,” he said.
Recent years of bad press have plagued the Office’s public reputation, Yonkin said.
“By fortifying a stronger team of employees and providing the public with a better understanding of why and how we do what we do, I know that Lake County will prevail as a quality, professional law enforcement agency in the years to come,” Yonkin added.
