At the sheriff candidates debate recently, Sheriff Duke Schirard said his department receives the majority of the county tax money. In 2010, while running for re-election, Schirard had a budget of $10 million, which he said he would reduce. But instead of working with less, he insisted on more. His office now has $13 million per year, and Schirard wants yet more money and employees.
A basic skill for any manager is know how to properly schedule employees and allow for emergencies. Schirard has access to the historical trends for 20 years and knows high-incident times. Every police department or sheriff’s office or emergency manager has problems scheduling. Still, part of the requirement of a manager is to know how to schedule employees and resources as needed; that is a major part of the job of the sheriff.
Schirard admitted he recently brought in consultants – paid for by the taxpayers – to show him how to schedule employees. As a retired human resources manager for a federal agency, I am shocked that $13 million-plus is placed yearly in the hands of a man who admits he cannot manage work hours – after 20 years on the job! He brought in paid outside consultants to schedule employees at additional costs to taxpayers. Being a manager means you manage your employees. It isn’t fiscally responsible to bring in paid consultants for basic duties – no business would allow such lax management.
Schirard is self-supervised; voters must act. Our county deserves a sheriff with current, up-to-date management skills who uses all technology available and effectively manages the office without outside intervention for basic duties. Residents deserve a sheriff who respects taxpayers enough to use their money wisely and efficiently without demanding more while everyone else is expected to manage with less.
Carol Ruth
Durango
