- By Dan Veaner
- Opinions
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But local politics is about issues. Or at least it is when there is a choice. And this year Tompkins County will choose among three candidates for Sheriff in a race that demands that you pay attention. I just finished interviewing them, and these interviews will appear over three issues of the Star starting next week. If you look at the campaign materials it's hard to pick out issues. My sense is that is because things are running fairly smoothly in the Sheriff's department. So why do we need three candidates?
Well, I think this race is a matter of approaches and philosophies. Saying that there are no issues is an exaggeration, of course. Peter Meskill stresses his management style, keeping the budget in line and working with the best people. Tim Little stresses police experience mixed with communication and management. And Brian Robison, with the most years of police experience, stresses managing from a law enforcement perspective.
As I interview politicians I try to keep a straight face, but I do get excited about interesting or innovative ideas when they talk about what they will do if elected. It doesn't matter if the candidate is Republican or Democrat -- I get excited by ideas, especially innovated ones that take an approach I hadn't heard or thought of.
All three of these men are intelligent and lucid, and each surprised me with different ideas about running the department and their philosophies about crime and people who commit it. Meskill and Robison, the Democrat and Republican, don't simply spout the party line (and Little doesn't have those parties, so the party line isn't an issue for him). They have thought about being sheriff and come to their own conclusions. None of the three is a stereotypical cop. All that makes choosing a candidate tough.
But that is exactly what is great about this election. If you pay attention to what they say you find that you actually have a choice on the merits of what each believes and the actions each says he will take to move the Sheriff Department through the next four years. That raises the quality of the debate, because you get to choose based on who the candidates are, their experience and perspective, not just happy talk that we see so often in state and national politics.
This kind of choice is healthy for Tompkins County. Because even though national politics is more entertaining, choosing leaders shouldn't be about entertainment. It should be thinking and doing. This year's sheriff's race does that. It makes you think about what's going on here, and how it affects your every day life. It makes you think about how other people are affected, and it makes you feel that with your vote you can do something about it.
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