Bio Box
Name: Gene Fischer
Age: 56
Address: Xenia Twp.
Education: Clark State; Capital University; Tiffin University (enrolled in Master’s program)
Current Employment: Greene County Sheriff
Political Experience: Sheriff
Political Party: Republican
Description of political office: Greene County Sheriff
Term of Office: Four-year term from 2013-16
Annual salary the job will pay: $75,131 plus a state reimbursement of $9,391.
Bio Box
Name: Charles Barrett
Age: 48
Address: Xenia Twp.
Education: Briefly attended ITT Tech.
Current Employment: Retired from Sheriff’s Office
Political Experience: First run for office
Political Party: Republican, running as an independent
Description of political office: Greene County Sheriff
Term of Office: Four-year term from 2013-16
Annual salary the job will pay: $75,131 plus a state reimbursement of $9,391.
The race for Greene County Sheriff is a contest between the incumbent and one of his former employees.
Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer, a two-term Republican, has been on the job for nearly a decade. He is being challenged on the Nov. 6 ballot by Charles Barrett, a former sheriff’s office employee. Barrett is a Republican running as an independent.
Fisher, 56, first appointed in 2003, defends his record and methods of operation during his tenure, which has included an economic downturn and the subsequent shrinking of the department and of the budget.
Fisher said he is especially proud of the moves he’s made in administration and communication with other law enforcement jurisdictions.“One of the shining things that we’ve been able to accomplish is the technology improvements from when I took over until now,” Fisher said.
Fisher said he prefers not to publicly criticize his opponent.
Barrett, 48, running in his first political, doesn’t feel the same way. Barrett, a former patrol supervisor, has several criticisms of the way Fischer operates.
“I mentioned that I was going to (run for Sheriff) many, many years ago,” said Barrett, who spent more than 26 years with the department. “I’ve just had this desire to run the Sheriff’s Office. As time progressed, I realized that having worked under three different Sheriffs, I realized what things are good for the Sheriff’s Office and what things aren’t.
“The department really needs someone that puts people (first) instead of politics… . For law enforcement, that’s what we do. We protect and serve.”
Personnel records indicate a March 12 hearing found “improper conduct,” charging that Barrett violated the rules against political activity by filing to run for a partisan office. Barrett said he had always planned to resign or retire when it was official that he was a candidate and was told by the Greene County Board of Elections that he had to sign up as a candidate in March. Barrett, who retired March 12 in a letter the Sheriff’s Office considered a resignation, said his petition made no mention of political party. The charge has not been prosecuted.
Asked what kind of working relationship he had with Barrett, Fischer said: “He became a union president, so we had a working relationship.”
Barrett charged that Fischer brought political buddies into the office such as Capt. (and now Major) Eric Spicer and that destroys the morale. Fischer was Spicer’s campaign treasurer for Spicer’s unsuccessful bid to become a state representative in a primary race against incumbent Jarrod Martin and Rick Perales, who will face Democratic candidate Bill Conner for the 73rd state house seat.
Fischer said budget issues will be key in the next four years and that the department is down 30 people from where it was at the start of the economic downturn. He said he put a request in for 2008 budgetary dollars and hopes to fill positions and get the jail fully operational.
Fischer said because of the economy, “we’re not going to be able to get back to where we were,” said Fischer, noting that the office saw a $1.8 million reduction from the 2009 budget. “But it will be a big jump.”
Barrett agreed that the challenges are economic, but argued that the office’s administration has grown too large and that he wants to double the number of deputies on the roads. “Four people for 400 square miles is not enough,” Barrett said. “It’s where you put the money. (Fischer) has enough money to do that if he wants to, that’s not his choice. His choice is to funnel it in a (legal) direction he shouldn’t be, as far as I’m concerned.”
Fischer adamantly denied he’s taken improper measures, saying that he’s taken some administrative duties that could be done by civilians away from law enforcement deputies to save money and free up the deputies for other duties.
The candidates have differing views on so-called “double-dippers,” or retirees who are rehired. Fischer said it’s legal and keeps experienced people on the job while Barrett said it stagnates the department.
Barrett charged that training has dropped by 75 percent. Fischer wouldn’t address percentages but said the department is catching up on training that they let slide.
Barrett also criticized overhead costs such as secretaries who make $21 per hour. “That’s funny,” Fisher said. “He was the union president that negotiated the last contract.” Barrett said that provision was negotiated by previous union leaders.
Perhaps the harshest criticism Barrett had is that Fischer, who came to the job from Xenia’s police department, doesn’t understand county-style law enforcement. Barrett has worked as a jail deputy, patrol deputy and patrol supervisor.
“He has no idea what it’s like to be out on a back road, a country road by yourself,” Barrett said. “His lack of putting more officers on the street is not all money driven.”
Fischer took offense to that notion.
“It’s a lot for somebody to be able to stand back and say because I was here, here, here and here, I’m better equipped to be a Sheriff,” Fischer said. “I will tell you that across the state of Ohio, not every Sheriff came from within the Sheriff’s Office, just like me.
“To me, that’s a slap in the face of any other Ohio law enforcement officer in the state and that’s unfortunate that he has that kind of a low opinion of police officers and troopers and everybody else.”
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