Editorial: Keep Pierini as Douglas County sheriff
Ron Pierini
Publisher’s note: This is a version of the Douglas County sheriff’s endorsement that ran before the June primary.
On Nov. 4 Douglas County voters will have the opportunity to vote to retain the current sheriff or replace him with someone from the outside.
Dave Brady contends morale is not great within the department and a change in leadership is needed. If this were true, then we wonder why the Douglas County Sheriff’s Protective Association endorsed Sheriff Ron Pierini. The bargaining unit represents deputies, investigators and sergeants in the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
We concur with the bulk of the department’s employees that Pierini should continue to be sheriff, a position he was first elected to in 1997. He started with the department in 1976 – having been a captain in Tahoe, undersheriff and now sheriff.
Brady had been a reserve deputy for the department before he declared his candidacy.
While it’s not always in the best interest of a department to keep the status quo or to hire within, we also don’t believe in the need to change leadership for the sake of change.
Pierini has proven he is capable of weathering many storms. We believe he will continue to do so for the next four years. The sheriff’s department’s budget has been cut by $2 million and 10 positions have been eliminated in the past few years. Despite the cutbacks, the department’s arrest to prosecution rate is 38 percent. Nationwide the average is 22 percent.
He was at the helm when 9-year-old Krystal Steadman was kidnapped and killed in 2000 in Stateline. In 1980, he was a captain at the Tahoe substation when Harveys was bombed. While we don’t wish crimes like that to occur, it is reassuring to know someone with that breadth of experience will be directing the troops to find the bad guys.
By the nature of the job Pierini spends the bulk of his time in the valley. But he has a connection to Lake Tahoe that the other candidate doesn’t. This is another driving reason to keep Pierini in office. He works well with the other leaders at the lake – whether it is peers in other law enforcement agencies, fire personnel, casino executives or other business people.
Brady’s financial background is intriguing and something often not seen in the ranks of law enforcement. But already the voters of Douglas County ousted him out of office when he was a commissioner.
We need a sheriff who can reach across the aisle. We need someone who is capable of making tough decisions. We need someone who is a leader in his department as well as the community.
That person is Ron Pierini.
It is rare I respond to articles such as this. But I am truthfully appalled by the lack of professional journalism by its author who obviously has no idea who the man, Dave Brady is. Nor does he/she have any knowledge of his character or integrity. I do! Dave Brady’s career spanning 20 years of law enforcement from his service in Redondo Beach to here in Douglas County is nothing short of exemplary without any negative marks. You want to discuss character, not many know Dave donated an organ, one of his kidneys to a fellow officer. There are few among us willing to make such a sacrifice, especially to a non-family member. Dave is intelligent and well educated with many years of experience in law enforcement and will be a great sheriff for Douglas County leading it into the future rather then hanging on to the “good ol’ boys” approach. I sincerely hope the author will in the future, for the sake of good journalism do a little more research into the subject before blindly publishing an article that effects a man’s life, family and future. My vote is for change, I’m voting for Dave Brady!
Brady’s character has been questioned? That’s an odd use of the passive voice coming from a presumably professional journalist on such an important matter. Who called his character into question? On what basis? Meanwhile, your ace reportage missed the fact that during the sheriff’s candidate forum last Tuesday at CVIC hall in Minden, Pierini blabbed the name of his gang task force officer to the crowd for the sake of getting a few campaign brownie points. If you know enough to editorialize about who should be running DCSO you would know that the Nortenos – the primary gang presence in Gardnerville – targets gang officers and their families. Pierini reckelessly put this guy’s life, and his family’s lives, in danger out of selfish vanity. Get your priorities straight. If you’re looking for someone whose character should be questioned, Mr. or Ms. Editor, look in the mirror.