Not only does Sheriff Duke Schirard belittle by name people who disagree with him via Facebook rants and letters to the Herald, he also uses his publicly funded, official county email for sending highly partisan messages to his staff. Both of these show how unprofessional he is and why we need a change in the sheriff’s office. His lame excuse for his political emails is: “I thought they were funny....and they (staff) could just delete it” (Herald, June 29) entirely misses the point. He is the head law-enforcement official, yet has total disregard for policies regarding private use of county email. If he had sent his cartoons and political rants on his personal email, no problem whatsoever. But I resent someone who is elected to serve all of us mocking the president, comparing him to Hitler and posting right-wing jokes on email we all pay for.
The head of an organization, especially a law-enforcement organization, should hold to a higher standard of conduct. I find it so telling that Schirard said if someone had officially complained, he would have stopped. That is not being a leader. Luckily for us, there is an opportunity to change the arrogant, insular mentality of the current sheriff. Sean Smith is an experienced law-enforcement officer and a professional leader who will set a high standard for himself and the entire sheriff’s office. Twenty years is long enough for Schirard to show what kind of a leader he is or, in this case, isn’t. Now, I expect he will post a personal rant against me on his Facebook page.
Laura M. Godfrey
Durango
