By Catherine Cuellar, KERA 90.1 reporter
Dallas, TX – Catherine Cuellar, KERA 90.1 reporter: Dallas Sheriff Jim Bowles feels he's the victim of a vast conspiracy launched by his political opponents in cahoots with members of the media and the county commissioners' court.
Jim Bowles, Dallas County Sheriff: I've got 53 years next month of leadership and service to the people. I'm solid, I'm stable, I'm moral. I'm a known factor. My opposition is an unknown factor, and their very campaign effort has been nothing more than deceit, dishonesty and treachery. And if that's what the people of Dallas County want, that's what they're going to get if they don't return Jim Bowles to office.
Cuellar: But Bowles is plagued by his relationship with vendor Jack Madera, who was indicted earlier this year for forging documents to win a food service contract in Kaufman County. Madera spent thousands of dollars lobbying members of the sheriff's department before winning a $20 million commissary contract for Dallas County jails. A special prosecutor is investigating. Sheriff Bowles maintains his business ties to Madera were professional and legal, and have been blown out of proportion by dirty politicians.
Bowles: I put the contract up for bid. I didn't have to. It was done by the staff publicly, openly, and it was done with absolute integrity.
Cuellar: But all three Republican challengers in Tuesday's primary, who are veterans of the Bowles administration, say it's time for him to go. Meanwhile, Democrats feel all the Republicans are too close to the Sheriff to implement meaningful and necessary change. Among the GOP candidates is the sheriff's own nephew, Larry Locke.
Larry Locke, Republican candidate for Dallas County Sheriff: I have witnessed, unfortunately, the decline of any type of interaction and lines of communication between the sheriff and commissioner's court. I think that with the actions that have taken place at the department over the last year most especially, having to do with the commissary contract, having to do with overtime, and the jail, these things have put a dark, dark cloud over the Dallas County sheriff's department, and it's one of the reasons I made the decision to run.
Cuellar: In 2002, county commissioners cut the Sheriff's budget by almost $2.5 million, and Bowles says that forced him to reduce a promised raise and overtime pay, lowering morale. Danny Chandler, who rose to the rank of Chief Deputy under Sheriff Bowles, was a liaison with the county commissioner's court before heading up county homeland security post-9/11.
Danny Chandler, Republican candidate for sheriff: I will certainly fight for the issues of the sheriff's department, but once the final gavel is struck, I'll be a team player, and I'll be ready for the next year to fight the same budget battles that we fought before.
Cuellar: Bowles' critics say the budget cuts were more than necessary since his department went over budget every year of this term - more than $10 million in 2002 alone. But Chandler's challengers in both parties say he was hand-picked by the commissioners and fear he won't stand up to them. The fourth Republican candidate for sheriff, Leonard Bueber, wants to expedite the release of inmates on bond, reducing the population enough to close one jail, and save county taxpayers $12 million.
Leonard Bueber, Republican candidate for sheriff: Some of the management practices in jail, a lot of times I thought it was just mismanagement. Then I thought it was bad or no management. Then I thought it was incompetence. Then I thought it was even deliberate. It is just hard to imagine that no one else can see these inefficiencies, these gross inefficiencies.
Cuellar: Bueber has worked in county jails for 15 years. But his opponents say he lacks the political experience necessary for the job. This is the third sheriff's race for Democrat Charles Munoz, who first ran as a Republican in 1996, then changed parties in 2000.
Charles Munoz, Democratic candidate for sheriff: I first recognized the problems that we're seeing today in 1996. Then, I had rose of the rank of lieutenant in the reserve division, and it was very evident that we were having problems, so I ran against the sheriff then and actually left the department shortly thereafter. My other challengers on the Republican side, well, they've been a part of his regime and they've not been able to see these issues.
Cuellar: Sam Allen, who also tried to best Bowles in 1996, is among the Democrats calling for a total overhaul.
Sam Allen, Democratic candidate for sheriff: We have a lot of problems in the sheriff's office because of the good old boy system, and it's time that we burst that system up and start it out on an equal playing field.
Cuellar: Allen is the only African-American in the race, and among Democrats, he's the only current police officer. Allen has thirty years' law enforcement experience in McKinney and Garland, and was police chief in Lockhart, south of Austin. But challengers say Dallas County's 25 cities and 1700 sheriff's employees require more urban experience. Jim Foster, a licensed peace officer instructor and certified mental health officer, is eager to reform the system.
Jim Foster, Democratic candidate for sheriff: A lot of the folks that have mental illness issues are incarcerated simply because they got off their medication, and then right now there is no effort of any kind made once they're booked in to find out what kind of medication they were on and to get them back on it, and that's what we need to work toward.
Cuellar: The fourth Democratic candidate, Lupe Valdez, is the only woman in the race, and her rivals within the party complain she's spent only two years working at the local level. But Republicans call her their most formidable opponent. Valdez has lived in Dallas but worked nationally and internationally as a special agent for more than 23 years. She retired from the Federal Department of Homeland Security to run for sheriff.
Lupe Valdez, Democratic candidate for sheriff: Dallas County has changed to where do have to present a wider view, not just about us right here. It is about taking care of the things of Dallas County, but we bring a lot more. A person who has traveled, a person who has been beyond their neighborhood knows a lot more of what's going on. And I bring that perspective to the sheriff's department.
Cuellar: Today is the last day for early voting in Dallas County. For more information on sheriff candidates and polling places, you can get Dallas League of Women Voters information online at LWVDallas.org.
Email Catherine Cuellar about this story.