On Nov. 2, Wyandotte County voters will choose a new sheriff, either Dan Soptic or Celisha Towers.
Sheriff Don Ash, first elected in 2009, is retiring. Soptic led by over 1,600 votes on primary election night. Soptic and Towers also ran four years ago.
Soptic appeared at a campaign forum sponsored Oct. 20 by Business West and KCKCC. Towers was not present at the forum. Both candidates appeared at another campaign forum Oct. 9 at the First Baptist Church, 5th and Nebraska, Kansas City, Kansas. Additionally, both candidates appeared at a primary forum this summer sponsored by Business West and KCKCC.
Soptic, who was endorsed by Ash, said at the Oct. 20 forum that he supported protecting all members of the community. He is in favor of the ID provisions of the proposed “safe and welcoming” ordinance, but not in favor of the proposal that would prohibit local law enforcement officers from sharing any information with ICE.
Closing out ICE completely is problematic, he said. In order to address the threat to public safety, there has to be some communication with ICE, according to Soptic. There has to be a way of addressing those individuals who are a threat while still maintaining safety and security for everybody else. He said they could do more work together on it.
“As a sheriff, I do have a duty to uphold the statutes of the state of Kansas and protect everyone. That’s some common ground we would have to find,” Soptic said.
Asked about the safe and welcoming ordinance at the Aug. 9 forum at the First Baptist Church, Towers said she completely endorsed the “safe and welcoming” ordinance.
Those who have been deported in the last 10 years, have committed only 6 percent felonies, she said.
“You’re basically criminalizing misdemeanors and making it like they’re committing heavy crimes,” Towers said.
She is in full support of not alerting ICE about undocumented workers who are in the jail.
“If they’re not free, we’re not free,” Towers said at the Aug. 9 forum.
“We have to stop criminalizing minimal offenses,” Tower said.
The Oct. 22 forum is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSlYMMfpuMc&list=PLMfeRPiOepX1K6tFoAenGCa4wHYYk6Xtt&index=5.
At the forum at the First Baptist Church, the candidates were asked what would be their first task to address due to allegations of corruption in the KCK police department.
Towers said the first task would be to free the administration of corruption, and free the department of corruption. Anything touched by corruption should be opened back up, she said, adding she supported the conviction integrity unit.
Because the sheriff’s department is so short-staffed, they would have to bring people in and hire them, she said.
Soptic said a lot of news stories centered around the KCK police department, which is separate from the sheriff’s office. “That’s for them to deal with and them to answer for,” he said.
Where are the allegations against the sheriff’s office, he asked. If something is found, they would deal with it, with their policies and procedures, he said. If there were violations or criminal issues, they would deal with that, he said. “There seems to be a lot of assumptions and not a lot of facts,” Soptic said at the Aug. 9 forum.
Towers’ campaign information is online at https://www.facebook.com/TowersforSheriff.
Soptic’s campaign information is online at https://www.facebook.com/Danielsoptic4WYCOsheriff.
An earlier sheriff’s candidate forum from the summer is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csmLnahjlYo.
Polls are open Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. To find your polling place, visit Voter View at https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView, or call the Election Office at 913-573-8500.
To see other election stories, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/category/election-2021/.