Bob Kindler should be the next sheriff of Freeborn County.

Any normal workplace has some measure of stress and strife and people are allowed to vent. But the level of discontent at the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office is beyond any normal workplace. It is a sign that new leadership is needed.

Fixing the work schedule is only a single facet of the larger matter of workplace atmosphere.

Kindler is the kind of consensus-building leader who will manage the Sheriff’s Office in a level-headed, even-keeled manner. He will work with other officials and gets along with the Albert Lea police chief. In fact, we predict Kindler will be the type of sheriff the public trusts.

That trust will come through good communication with the public directly and through the news media. (Knowledge helps people stay safe.) That trust will come through positive interactions with deputies. That trust will come because when a resident approaches Kindler about a problem, including staff problems, it will be looked at and not dismissed.

And that trust will come because he cares about the number of patrol deputies keeping Freeborn County safe.

For example, it has become common to see cars traveling 70 to 80 mph on county roads in the daytime because chances of meeting a deputy are slim. But if a crash happens, you can bet the deputy will be there. Kindler is right when he says the department has become reactive, not proactive.

Don’t believe the rhetoric because Kindler indeed supports the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement contract. It’s good for Freeborn County, but there are other issues in this race.

More importantly, Kindler understands budgets and sits on a credit union’s board. We don’t expect him to be coming to the commissioners for help because he blew his budget, not even in his first year. Kindler can tend to a budget regularly, not set it on a shelf. We don’t expect embezzlement scandals, because he will have the proper oversight of finances. Kindler intends to take national sheriff training in his first year, something Harig didn’t do until his second term. Knowledge is power.

And Kindler will make an effort to recruit female deputies, rather than lamenting that none have applied. Again, pro-active, not reactive.

It’s time Freeborn County elects a thoughtful leader as sheriff. That thoughtful leader is Bob Kindler. Vote for him Tuesday.