News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Last week, the sheriff's deputies union endorsed Les Stiles for Deschutes County Sheriff. This week, they may vote to undo that endorsement and return to a neutral position in the race between Stiles and incumbent Greg Brown.
The endorsement of the challenger came at a Monday, June 12, meeting of the Deschutes County Employees Association, which represents deputies, correction officers and office workers.
According to Deschutes County Employees Association president Darren Squier, 47 individuals from the approximately 135-member association voted at the meeting, held at a pizza parlor in southeast Bend.
Ballots were reportedly taken on napkins.
The vote was reportedly 38-7 in favor of the endorsement; two members abstained.
Stiles said he attended the meeting to clarify his position on some issues and he made it clear he wanted the association endorsement. However, he had left before the motion to endorse was made.
"It was as big a surprise to me as it was to everyone else," Stiles told The Nugget.
Some deputies who did not attend the meeting were not happy about the way the endorsement vote came down. The association polled its membership in January and members voted overwhelming not to endorse any candidate in the November 2000 election. The June 12 vote nullified that ballot, according to Squier.
"When this quorum vote was held, there was a two-thirds majority," Squier said. "That overrode the previous vote, because it was a two-thirds majority."
However, other deputies filed a petition requesting a special meeting to readdress the endorsement issue.
A new vote at the special meeting, which had yet to be scheduled at press time, could reverse the endorsement and return the association to its position of staying out of the election.
"Those who oppose what happened want to stress that we're not for or against one candidate," said Darcy Davis, a law enforcement technician working out of the Sisters sheriff's station.
"Who we support for sheriff is a personal decision," Davis said. "It's not the association's place to get involved in politics."
Stiles told The Nugget that he welcomes a poll of the complete membership on the endorsement.
"If they choose to do that and that's the way it happens, absolutely, I welcome that," the candidate said.
Stiles is a 26-year law enforcement veteran. He was Chief of Police in Moab, Utah, before joining the Bend Police Department.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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