Low turnout continues at candidate forum

by Danielle Switalski
| May 19, 2010 9:52 AM

Plains High School gym was once again filled with empty seats for another candidate forum on Saturday, which was meant to give the public an opportunity to question the candidates running for county positions.

Citing prior commitments, Kathy Harris, who is running for county coroner, Pat Ingraham and Jackie Burgess, running for House Representative of House District 13, Ed Schramm and Billy Hill, running for Sanders County Sheriff were not in attendance.

Tom Rummel and Doug Dryden, running for the Sheriff seat, along with Wayne Egbert and Roberta Smith, who rushed to the forum after a prior obligation, were in attendance and prepared to answer questions previously written by the Sanders County Conservatives and inquisitive members of the public.

The meeting opened with a brief speech given by Pat Legard, who is running for committeeman for precinct six, citing the importance of committeemen and women.

“They have a lot of power, they are your voice to the political system, if you have a complaint or a problem you contact them and it’s their responsibility to get you the information that you want,” said Legard. “Precinct people are very important and they can give power back to the people and give you a voice in what’s going on.”

Egbert, Rummel and Dryden were each given a few moments to introduce themselves and their candidacy before answering specific questions on their respective positions.

Egbert purchased two funeral homes in Thompson Falls and Plains three years ago and has been in the funeral home business for 28 years and was a former deputy coroner. The reason he is running for Sanders County

coroner, is with his experience working in large cities and small towns, he feels he can make things more efficient and have the job as coroner be more people-oriented.

“By that I mean a coroner going into a home with a little bit of feeling and class, and making sure the family doesn’t feel like a Marshall is coming through their home,” said Egbert.

Dryden has been involved in law enforcement since 1989 and has been working for the Sanders County Sheriff’s office since 2004 and is now the drug investigator for the county and also oversees the Reserve Deputy program. Dryden is basing his candidacy on his list of law enforcement experience and is running as an independent candidate.

“I believe the Sheriff should be a nonpartisan position and I believe that politics should not be involved in the Sheriff’s Office because our job is to uphold and enforce the laws that you folks along with us have voted on,” said Dryden during his opening remarks.

Rummel will be reaching his five-year anniversary this August with working in law enforcement. Rummel has a long-standing history in Sanders County, having lived and worked here is whole life. He decided to run for Sheriff as he has a strong interest in law enforcement and has the interests of the people of Sanders County at the forefront of his campaign.

“I am very interested in the constitution and the Sheriff’s stance on that and how it plays out in your life and my life and the stance a Sheriff takes on protection of the people. Each and every day there are activities of law enforcement within our lives,” said Rummel. “I believe in the peace officer concept not the enforcement concept. We treat you like you would like to be treated and how we would like to be treated.”

The coroner and Sheriff candidates were then asked questions pertaining to a variety of topics, from their roles in the county to their personal opinions.

Egbert was initially asked if he meets the requirement for the position of coroner. The only requirement by state law to be a county coroner is a high school diploma, which Egbert has, however, he added a coroner would hopefully have an understanding of basic forensics and knowledge in order to tell if a person died from natural or outside causes.

“You want to have a background in anatomy and physiology, and I have a very strong background in those topics,” said Egbert.

Rummel and Dryden were both asked how important training as a law enforcement officer is, to which they both cited its immense significance, particularly when working in a large area with low numbers of officers.

“We are dealing with our friends and neighbors so the Sheriff needs to lead and inspire and you can’t do that, in my opinion, if you have not been though the training and experience that training between textbook and how we do things here, because how we do things here is different than in cities, even cities in Montana,” said Dryden.

Rummel said your training as an officer kicks in the moment an officer starts their vehicle and conduct the everyday, routine procedures. Training is also important when it comes to conducting investigations because working in a large area, it could take a fair amount of time before an officer receives any assistance and may have to handle situations alone.

“All the investigative skills you learn at the academy and on the job all come into play, you couldn’t do this job without training, that’s your foundation for the Sheriff,” said Rummel.

The Sheriff candidates also responded to questions concerning dealing with family members, a citizens grand jury and disciplinary actions.

Stay tuned for coverage of additional candidate forums as the elections draw near.