Meet the candidates: Tim Vulles

A native Montanan, Tim Vulles grew up in Sanders County, but has had family ties to Mineral County for several years, while living here and working here himself. Vulles is the fourth candidate to put his name in the running for sheriff.

Having been working with the Coeur‘d Alene Police Department consistently for the past 23 years, he wasn't sure if was going to be able to run at first because he didn't know if he'd meet the residency requirement. Vulles and his family have purchased land in Haugen and are planning to move over in early summer after his retirement in Couer‘d Alene. However, at the last moment, he discovered that he would and so he went ahead and put his name on the ticket, running with the Democratic Party.

"I had been interested in law enforcement for many years, it was always something I wanted to do," he said. "I sort of became interested when I worked with search in rescue in Sanders County back in 70s. Then once I got out of the army, I came back home and went to school because I thought it would be a good career."

Vulles also said that it was a good way to serve the public and that was something he had also been interested in. He feels that he has a good mix of experience with 23 consecutive years in Couer‘d Alene as a reserve deputy for the city, as well as serving Kootenai County as a special deputy. He also said that his time as a small business owner will also serve helpful.

Vulles feels that one of the biggest challenges he'll face as sheriff is gaining back the trust of the people.

"First thing, I want to do is gain the public's trust back," he said. "Just through talking with people, the public is not happy with service they are getting. And part of it is coming from the lack of funding."

Vulles said that it is going to be real important, especially with the tight budget, to cater to the public's wants and needs. He admitted that it is going to be a difficult task to sort out in these dire economic times. He said that he wants more officers on the street, but admits that they might not see that happen. In the meantime, he believes that the sheriff and undersheriff will have to work more on responding to calls.

Another thing he'd like to see is more deputies out working the highway. Vulles said that "there's money out there for the county" and that the county "can't get that unless they are working the traffic." However, Vulles said that public safety will be number one and responding to calls comes first, but he believes that with the downtime, deputies should be putting as much time out on the highway as possible to catch that money in tickets. Grants are also going to play an important role.

"We also need somebody to work toward grants, to research them extensively, and to get the right ones for your department," he said.

With the budget downfall, Vulles said that one of the greatest assets he's seen in his time with Couer d' Alene is the volunteer watch program. He believes that putting one in place in Mineral County would also be helpful.

"Our volunteers huge for us," he said. "It frees up officers on street to go out and do more things. It's about visibility and being seen. What's the first thing you do when you see a cop car, you slow down."

Vulles also believes in having an active role with the county's schools. One of the successful programs he's seen is DARE and depending upon funding he'd like to implement something along those lines.

"You get to know the kids and students and teachers and become tied to them too," he said. "If there is a problem, they can call you and they can trust you."

Vulles said that he's hoping that the people voting take time to get to know the candidates and he recognizes that they will pick somebody they are comfortable with.

"I don't need the job, I want the job," he said. "This line of work takes passion and you have to love what you do. Not everybody can do this, but I love the job I do and I want to continue."