REGION: Speculation over Kolender's retirement fuels race
Some say sheriff may quit early to give edge to his deputy
This story has been corrected since its original posting
By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | ∞
Candidate for San Diego County Sheriff James Duffy speaks to a group of about 30 people at the Oceanside Elks Lodge Thursday evening. He introduced himself as a 47 year-old Republican, raised in North County and currently on leave from the Sheriff's Department where he holds a rank of lieutenant. (Photo by Bill Wechter - staff photographer) Sheriff Bill Kolender still has two more years before he closes out what he has said will be his fourth and final term as San Diego County's top law enforcement officer.
But the campaign to replace him already has kicked into high gear, fueled by speculation that Kolender may retire before his term ends in 2010. The sheriff insisted he will finish his term.
The head of the deputies' union and one of the people running for the post said the scuttlebutt is that Kolender would like to handpick his successor, Undersheriff Bill Gore, by retiring early and allowing Gore to run as an incumbent in 2010.
They suggested that incumbency would give Gore an unfair edge in the election.
Thus far, three people have announced their candidacies in what is expected to be a crowded field. All are current or former employees of the Sheriff's Department.
Gore, Jim Duffy, county Supervisor Ron Roberts' chief of staff, and former state Assemblyman Jay LaSuer have formed campaign committees and are actively campaigning.
Kolender announced earlier this year that he would not seek another term.
He has endorsed Gore, his second in command, fueling speculation that Kolender would retire early, clearing the way for the Board of Supervisors to appoint a new sheriff.
"There is talk that that's a possibility," said Ernie Carrillo, president of the Deputy Sheriffs' Association of San Diego County, which represents more than 2,000 sworn officers in the department.
Carrillo said the association has not endorsed a candidate for sheriff and will not do so until next year.
The 73-year-old Kolender insisted he intends to stick around to the end of his fourth four-year term as sheriff. And he was firm about who he wanted to succeed him.
"I am retiring at the end of this term, that's been publicly noted," Kolender said. "And I am hoping that Bill Gore will take my place. I am supporting him all the way."
Early start?
Running for sheriff without an incumbent in the race is a rare opportunity in San Diego County, Duffy said. His own father, the late Sheriff John F. Duffy, served for two decades, from 1971 to 1991. Sheriffs tend to like picking their successors, Duffy said.
He said he sees a parallel between what happened in 1962 and what appears to be happening now.
Sheriff Bert Strand, who served from 1941 to 1962, left before his fifth term ended and endorsed Elmer Jansen, who was appointed interim sheriff. Jansen later lost in the 1963 election to Joseph O'Connor, who served until 1971.
"Sheriffs generally stay in office for a long period of time," Duffy said. "He (Strand) did the same thing that we suspect Kolender is doing ... he convinced the supervisors to appoint his undersheriff, Jansen, as sheriff. So that when the election came to fill that spot, he ran as the sheriff."
While incumbency and a sheriff's endorsement are assets, they obviously offer no guarantee of election, Duffy acknowledged. His own father endorsed an unsuccessful candidate to replace him, Duffy said.
The sheriff is responsible for a department with 4,000 employees and a budget of $570 million. The department's 2,300 sworn personnel patrol most of the county, including 10 cities and the unincorporated areas. It also operates the county's jails.
Both Duffy and Gore pointed to LaSuer as the one responsible for the early start. LaSuer formed a campaign committee in February.
"Jay LaSuer started it and once he started, Jim Duffy followed," Gore said.
LaSuer, who retired from the department as undersheriff in 1994, said he needed the time to garner endorsements and raise money to run.
"If you're going to get your message out, you need to have the money that's necessary," LaSuer said about the reason for starting his campaign when he did. "That's no cause for anybody else to start."
LaSuer dismissed the claim that he started his campaign late last winter because of the rumor that Kolender may retire early.
"I've heard those rumors, but rumors are like trees," he said. "They are all over the place."
Gore, a former FBI field agent in charge of the bureau's San Diego office, joined the Sheriff's Department in February 2004.
As for rumors of Kolender's early retirement, Gore said: "People have been speculating about that for years."
Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.
Jim Duffy
Age: 46
Residence: Oceanside
Education: Vista High School graduate, associates degree from MiraCosta College and attending National University.
Employment: Chief of Staff for county Supervisor Ron Roberts; on leave of absence from the Sheriff's Department, where he is a lieutenant and has worked since 1986.
Jay LaSuer
Age: 68
Residence: La Mesa
Education: Bachelors degree in public administration from San Diego State.
Employment: Sheriff's Department in 1970. LaSuer later served as a city councilman in La Mesa from 1990 to 2000. He was elected to the state Assembly in 2000 and was termed out in 2006.
Bill Gore
Age: 61
Residence: Mission Hills
Education: Bachelors degree from University of San Diego and masters degree in public administration from Seattle University.
Employment: Undersheriff, ; 32 years in the FBI, including head of San Diego office.
Correction: Candidate's name misspelled
Sheriff candidate Jay LaSuer's name was misspelled.
We apologize.
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go jay wrote on Sep 22, 2008 4:28 AM:go jsy we all want you back to this department. You have been gone way too long!
You mean wrote on Sep 22, 2008 10:26 AM:we may get a real Sheriff and not a political hack soon?
esteban wrote on Sep 22, 2008 12:18 PM:Attention anticops...with this election, now is your chance to put up or shut up. If elected, you can be the top cop and instill every policy you ever wanted to see the cops follow. Don't let this opportunity pass you by. You don't have to just complain anymore...you can act!!!
lazarus wrote on Sep 22, 2008 7:08 PM:It is time for San Diego to join 45 other California Counties and 40 other states in issuing Concealed Carry of Weapons licenses(CCWs) to average, law-abiding citizens. Unless the candidate will gaurantee that he will have a Shall-Issue policy (i.e. personal protection is sufficient Good Cause to issue a CCW to law-abiding legal residents), he shouldn't even be considered. Our current Sheriff and his acolyte have the attitude that the common citizen has no right to protect him or herself. Just call 911, and you will be fine. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has determined that the police are under no obligation to protect the individual citizen, only society in general. Why is it that residents of San Bernardino County, Kern County, and the vast majority of California counties can use personal protection as their Good Cause, but San Diego residents can only be victims? Any CCW issued in this state is valid in our County, but we are denied equal protection under the law because of the arbitrary and capricious discretion of our Sheriff. When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. It is time for that to change!
Joe J. wrote on Sep 22, 2008 11:05 PM:I have written a letter to each of the three candidates, asking them to explain their position on CCW issuance for ONLY the "good cause" of self-protection. I will await their responses before I throw my support behind a single candidate, but for me, the choice of who will be our new sheriff boils down to this one single issue. If he does NOT support CCW licenses for honest law-abiding citizens who wish to carry a weapon "for any legal purpose" then he will not have my support, and I may focus my energy on his defeat in the next election. I just read an article about a man up near Santa Clarita who was denied a CCW license along with his son who also applied. The man was found dead in his car shortly afterward, violently stabbed and shot to death. His job? Collecting cash from ATM machines in "a nice, quiet community." I hope that the sheriff who denied his CCW is sleeping well these days, knowing that he kept a gun off of the streets, only not the gun that killed this man. Yes, there is only ONE issue which is important in choosing the new sheriff. CCW licenses issued to all honest law-abiding citizens who apply for one. All of the other duties of the sheriff's office will be the same, except for the fact that the violent crime rates will have fallen significantly, as they have in virtually every other part of the country where CCW is legal!
Liz K. wrote on Sep 23, 2008 5:04 PM:Something to remember but is missing from this article is that Jim Duffy served at president of the Deputy Sheriffs Association. Add that to the fact that he has been a deputy for over 20 years and you have a candidate that really knows what the deputies need and how the system works. Plus, he is young enough to stick around and really make a difference. Out with the old and in with the new!
h.a. barba wrote on Sep 26, 2008 3:12 PM:What a shock! You mean Kolender is not going to keep his word and anoint Gore as his "hand picked" successor! I don't know about you all, but I am tired of electing political hacks who don't do the peoples bidding. La Suer is another political hack.......We need a COP who will serve this county well....We NEED JIM DUFFY FOR SHERIFF.
Jennifer B. wrote on Sep 27, 2008 1:05 PM:I agree with H.A. Barba, can we please have a dedicated Sheriff who is NOT A POLITICIAN! Gore and La Suer are fine people, but we need a change. Duffy is the man to lead!!!
Sam I Am wrote on Oct 1, 2008 3:58 PM:No we dont need Duffy as Sheriff. Since when is a lieutenant qualified to run a department of 4,000, when Duffy has never even had his own command at the Sheriff's Department. Bill Gore is clearly qualified, energized, and ready.
h.a. barba wrote on Oct 2, 2008 12:24 AM:I hate to tell you this Sam I am, but Mr. Gore couldn't even detect two 9-11 terrorists living in our own backyard. He had the wrong priorities as FBI Chief, and he'll have the wrong priorities as Sheriff. Mr. Duffy is in touch with the Deputies, as former President of the DSA, and not an out of touch politician. Gore does not know the culture of the Sheriff's Department, and will be rejected by the rank and file!!!! Go Duffy!!
Sam I Am wrote on Oct 2, 2008 11:50 PM:At least Gore has stuck it out through tought budget times while Duffy jumped ship for a cush job. A lieutenant is not qualified to run the Sheriff's Department. The days of ruling with an iron fist are gone. The style of John Duffy is gone, and Jim Duffy cannot carry on in that manner. Jim Duffy ran the Deputy Sheriff's Assn into the round, and will do the same with the department.
h.a. barba wrote on Oct 4, 2008 4:01 PM:With respect "Sam", comparing Jim Duffy to his father and implying that he would run the Sheriff's Department like his father is naive. First of all, Sheriff Duffy served the citizens of San Diego for nearly four decades. 20 years of that as Sheriff. Its seems somebody thought he did well. As for Jim Duffy, he is definitely not a clone of his father. Very thoughtful, super-intelligent, and has worked with people in the county who his father would never speak to. So lets get real!! Gore is a Federal Drone....No thanks!!!!!!!!!
James wrote on Oct 17, 2008 12:28 AM:Another thing to add, its Kolenders decision as to who gets promoted to Captain. Duffy has been a lieutenant for over 10 years. Kolender [allegedly] refused to promote the HIGHLY qualified Duffy to Captain so that Gore would either not have to face Duffy hoping he wouldn't run from the Lietenants seat, or he would have an edge over Duffy in the election. Its a shame because Duffy would have been the best Captain in the department. DUFFY FOR SHERIFF 2010!!!!
Sam I Am wrote on Oct 18, 2008 9:01 AM:You have obviously never worked around Duffy.
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