Bob Kindler, Guest Column

On Aug. 10 the residents of Freeborn County will have an opportunity to vote in the primary election for the position of sheriff. Don’t miss this opportunity to support the candidate of your choice.
Before you head to the polls, you need to give careful consideration to what qualities are important to you in your sheriff and sheriff’s office. Perhaps the budget and wasted spending is your main concern.

Or maybe you feel you are just not getting what your tax dollars are paying for and a little reorganization is in order. If you are like many others, your thoughts are focused on traffic safety and increased patrol presence in rural areas. Still others may feel the Sheriff’s Office needs to be more responsive to the needs of all residents. In short, maybe we need to get back to our main purpose, protecting and serving the residents of Freeborn County.
To address all of those concerns and many more, I have developed realistic plans and strategies that will make your sheriff’s office more efficient and effective. These plans are all designed to be easy to implement and at no additional cost. In fact, most of the plans are designed to reduce costs to save money now and well into the future.
You may wonder how it is possible to be more effective while reducing costs. The answer is simple. We need to do some minor reorganization or restructuring and we need to eliminate wasted spending. If we do those two things we can reduce or reallocate $60,000 to $100,000 in the first year alone. Additionally, this reorganization places more deputies on the road and in smaller communities and rural areas where their presence is needed.
To some, the plan to reorganize or restructure conjures up the idea that people will lose their jobs or be forced to take a reduction in their hourly wage. That is simply not true. Under my plans nobody loses their job and nobody takes a cut in their hourly wage.
But my plans are much more than just saving money. The plans are designed to increase your safety and security by reducing traffic crashes and being more visible to deter crimes such as theft and burglary. The plans require that we be more responsive to the public’s needs and that during our interactions, we treat all persons fairly and equitably and to the best of our ability. We will examine our strengths and weaknesses, capitalizing on what we do best and train for what we can do better. We have a very talented group of employees who are extremely dedicated to their jobs and to serving the people of this county. My plans provide leadership to allow them to excel. Finally, we will increase our collaboration with other agencies and continually look for ways to better our services.
Please take time and review my qualifications. Ask questions. Visit my website at www.kindlerforsheriff.com to learn more about me personally. Talk with the men and women I work with on a daily basis. I am confident that you will agree that I am the best qualified candidate to lead the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office. I ask for your vote and ask that you make voting on Aug. 10 a priority.

Bob Kindler is a supervisor-detective with the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office. He can be reached at kindlerforsheriff@gmail.com.