I was able to chat at length with Kurt Freitag, a Freeborn County patrol deputy running for sheriff, and asked questions based on his May 21 column in the Albert Lea Tribune.

He is intelligent, articulate and considerate. He strikes me that he could be an excellent mentor and sheriff. He has an eight-point platform where he wants to improve on in the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office. He has put his objectives and goals in print and can be used as a benchmark in years to come. He has higher education in supervision and leadership from the Army, which aids him well.

He detailed his eight points and, frankly, I was disappointed to hear that we as taxpayers are not getting our full value from the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Bob Kindler may have saved us $198,000 in his first year, but at great cost in patrol, service coverage, criminal investigations, case closures and revenue from the ICE contract.

Bob Kindler’s goal was to improve morale, which he stated was at the lowest. We now have two deputies running against him after his first term, stating that morale is at its worst during his term. Bob also wanted to increase patrol coverage, but according to Mr. Freitag this did not happen.

Sheriff Harig maximized the ICE contract inmate population with additional revenue around $200,000 per year. Sheriff Kindler does not seem interested in this additional revenue source.

Deputy Dale Glazier was on two months of paid leave for an investigation of misconduct that he was eventually cleared of. Why didn’t we have the Albert Lea Police Department or the Sheriff’s Office investigate in a more timely manner, and if it warranted further action hand off to another county for investigation?

In 2011, Sheriff Kindler legally and procedurally sued the county for an increase in salary after taking office of which he was denied. His 2011 salary was set at $75,000, the base salary was $62,000. He was making $81,931 as detective/supervisor in 2010. Sheriff Kindler was aware of the beginning salary range prior to the election. Sheriff Harig was making $82,500 in 2010 his last year as sheriff, I believe Mark was in office for two terms.

Do you recall the debate over the patrol computer systems Mark got for free from the Minnesota State Patrol. Come to find out they were fully functional with minimal upgrades. Sheriff Kindler shelved them and bought a new system.

The one consistent theme about Sheriff Harig’s term and Sheriff Kindler’s term is that the old-boy network and favoritism is still at play. To me, Mark seemed to have a “git ’er done” attitude. Bob has promoted himself as administrative. Maybe it is time for a new leader and direction that has both qualities with concrete objectives in the Sheriff’s Office. I am quite confident Kurt Frietag fits the requirements that we seek in a sheriff.

 

Joe Roberts

Albert Lea