Though the next election for the position of Alachua County sheriff is still months away, the candidate challenging current Sheriff Sadie Darnell is starting his campaign sooner rather than later.
Gainesville Police Department Capt. Lonnie Scott held the second in a series of presentations to local city commissions Tuesday night, speaking to Hawthorne officials and residents about deficiencies he sees in Darnell's administration and his plans for improving services in the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.
"I want to explain my vision for what the sheriff's office can be," he said in an interview before the presentation.
Scott ran against Darnell in the last sheriff's office race. She received twice as many votes as he did in the 2006 Democratic primary election.
Scott said in the last year and a half Darnell has inappropriately dismissed sheriff's office employees, shown a lack of respect for her constituents and exhibited poor judgment. Darnell, in response, said she was not going to "go negative."
"I run my administration based upon what is best for the citizens of this county," she said. However, Darnell did defend against some of the specific issues Scott raised.
In the interview, Scott said Darnell does not prioritize youth problems enough. He said gangs are a growing problem in the county, and that Darnell's administration is not adequately focused on them.
"The sheriff is in a closet on this issue," he said.
Darnell responded by saying she has a full-time employee dedicated to reducing gangs, and that she believes in reducing crime by reaching out to children and families.
Scott also said the sheriff's office should agree to dispatch City of Hawthorne Police Department officers through its communication center. As it stands, if Hawthorne residents call 911 an ASO deputy responds.
Darnell said that's because the Hawthorne Police Department has not yet complied with state protocols in creating a plan to dispatch through the sheriff's office.
Since he threw his hat into the race, Scott said citizens have told him they feel disrespected by the current sheriff's office administration and that Darnell has been unable to admit when she had made mistakes.
"I don't have any personal axes to grind with the sheriff," he said. "This is about the citizens and what's best for the citizens."
Scott said if he were elected he would put more deputies on the streets, focus on youth problems and try to increase citizen involvement and input.
Darnell said she plans to use momentum from her accomplishments thus far to continue to improve the administration and increase community oriented policing.
"I am very comfortable with my decision making after over 30 years in law enforcement," she said.
Scott plans to continue his series of presentations in the county's outlying cities first and get to Gainesville in the near future.
Darnell said for now her campaign plans involve accepting invitations to speak at events and continuing to be accessible in her office.
