Your choices for Dona Ana County sheriff

Dona Ana County finally has some great competition for an elected office, with a field of quality candidates for voters to choose from. In a region where incumbents run unopposed far too often or sling mud at the first opportunity, it is immensely refreshing to see a group with diverse experience and running clean, respectful campaigns.  

The Dona Ana Sheriff’s Office has been embroiled in numerous scandals and questionable transparency for a number of years. The dirty laundry between county management and DASO has left residents tired of the petty bickering and costly lawsuits. I can only imagine how demoralizing it is for deputies and staff to have to navigate the political landmines and personal tempers, while trying to serve county residents.

I attended a sheriff candidate forum last night and saw a group of individuals who chose to lift up their opponents’ previous experiences, agree with one another on important policy opinions, and shake hands and exchange smiles, rather than snide insults. It was refreshing and mature, and as one candidate pointed out, Dona Ana County residents are very fortunate to have such a difficult decision on June 2.

There are 11 candidates running in the race; eight were in attendance last night at the forum I attended. I went into it expecting my choice to be obvious at the end of the night, but the opposite is now true.

There were no ringers last night and no throwaways, either. The race will likely come down to who is working the hardest on social media and boots-on-the-ground campaigning.

In the experience field, from the candidates who participated last night, you have a retired DASO captain, former LCPD officers, a retired US Marshall, a former Anthony police chief, a retired New Mexico State Police captain, a retired Customs and Border Protection commander, a former DASO undersheriff and a former White Sands patrol officer. Each also brings a plethora of additional life and career experience that is too lengthy to discuss here.

Each of them have plans to invigorate public trust in the department, focusing on communication improvement as a huge priority, especially as it relates to the relationship between the office and the county administration. Opinions varied on some of the programs that have been removed as part of the current sheriff tenure, including the DARE/GREAT program for students, the DASO Chapel and Honor Guard and the DASO Museum.

Operation Stonegarden was also discussed, although it seemed a touchy subject given NM HB 9, although other mentions of working with the state legislature came up regarding potential laws to ensure personnel actions and the full management of the sheriff’s office be returned to the sheriff rather than county administration.

I was disappointed that the juvenile crime epidemic was not discussed more, although there were passing mentions of engaging youth more in our community, although the question wasn’t specifically posed.

Two questions, however, yielded the most hope I have had for an office in a while. One centered on reducing suicide rates of law enforcement officers. Answers included peer-to-peer therapies, critical incident debriefs and normalizing talking about how life and work affect officers’ mental health.

Additionally, nearly every candidate seemed poised to hit the ground running with regard to the number of deaths occurring in the desert region in the southern part of the County. Most mentioned that the deaths needed to be investigated as if they are a crime, even if to eliminate that a crime occurred and to give closure to families. One candidate mentioned that he has already been talking with the Search and Rescue team that discovered many of the remains.

I would never tell readers who to vote for. The point is, it is critical to attend forums, follow candidates on social media and do research about past experience and policy implementations to ensure that you make an educated choice at the ballot box.

Mine is now harder when I cast my ballot because of the competence I witnessed last night, but that is a good problem to have in New Mexico.

Shawna Pfeiffer is a life-long Dona Ana County Resident, graduate of NMSU, small business owner, hobby farmer, dog-lover, outdoor enthusiast and mother to two young children. She can be reached at srpfeiffer1@gmail.com.