 "Photo: Brian Ray")
Editor's Note: In this story, corrected 10/22/04, the Texan misstated the Austin American-Statesman's edorsements. The Texan regrets the error.
Dem, Rep agree county's overcrowded jails priority for position
Sheriff's races don't always yield big contributions, especially in presidential election years. So candidates often resort to the old-fashioned practice of going door-to-door to make their candidacies known to voters.
"Some slam the door in your face, but the overwhelming majority are happy to see me," said Duane McNeill, an Austin Police Department commander running as the Republican candidate for Travis County sheriff.
His main opponent is Greg Hamilton, a Democrat who was hand-picked by current Sheriff Margo Frasier to succeed her in December 2003, after she announced she would not seek a third term so she could spend more time with her family.
Hamilton served as chief of enforcement for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for the past 10 years. He was also deputy sheriff for Travis County from 1984 to 1994. He is backed by endorsements from the Travis County Sheriff's Law Enforcement Association, the Travis County Officers Association and a host of minority organizations. Should Hamilton win, he would become the first African-American sheriff in Travis County.
McNeill has 25 years of experience with APD. He worked as a SWAT commander in southeast and southwest Austin, supervising a team of more than 100 officers. He has the endorsement of the Austin Police Association and Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, a former Travis County sheriff. The Austin American-Statesman endorsed him in the primaries.
McNeill and Hamilton agree with each other on several law enforcement issues, but they differ in how they would solve problems in the sheriff's office.
The candidates agree that fixing the problem of overcrowding in Travis County's jails needs to be a top priority for the new sheriff. According to McNeill, 80 percent of the sheriff's job is dealing with jails.
The candidates also agree there are too many prisoners in jail who are mentally ill and need to be relocated to a more appropriate facility. Hamilton points to building better relationships with the mental-health community as a solution for getting these prisoners the right kind of attention.
"Bexar County has a mental-health program," he said. "Whatever issues Travis County has, they are not new. We need to customize to fit the needs of our community."
McNeill said that he would like to see minor offenders, such as public intoxication violators, weeded out of the jails and placed in a temporary holding facility.
"Right now we are behind the times," McNeill said. "We have had explosive growth in Travis County, and we haven't responded in terms of jail facilities."
Al Juranek, a UT government sophomore, is also running for sheriff on the Libertarian ticket. He said he agrees with McNeill that minor "victimless" crimes should be receiving less attention and jail space.
"We need to prioritize which crimes we go after," Juranek said. "Gambling and minor drug violations like marijuana shouldn't be creating inmates when we already don't have enough room to house them."
The next sheriff will inherit a department that the candidates say is in need of stronger camaraderie between the corrections and law enforcement associations. A pay disparity exists between the two groups, causing a rift between the organizations. McNeill says this situation will probably always exist.
"The budget can't support the same pay for both associations, but I will work to make sure that they are the highest paid in the state," McNeill said.
Hamilton feels he is best suited to handle this kind of problem because of his experience in managing large groups.
"We need to bring them both to the table and resolve this issue as quickly as possible," Hamilton said.
Juranek says his lack of experience in dealing with the associations is an advantage.
"One of my strongest points is that I am an outsider; this will give me more impartiality when dealing with these two groups," he said.
-Adam H. Covici
UT student juggles local third-party campaign, classes
The top two candidates for Travis County sheriff, Democrat Greg Hamilton and Republican Duane McNeill, have raised thousands of dollars for their campaigns. Libertarian UT government sophomore Al Juranek has raised nothing. Hamilton and McNeill have said they hope to air television ads if they have sufficient funds. Juranek hasn't campaigned since May.
"I didn't know there was a third candidate until I saw the voter's guide, but I'm sure he has his constituency, and I wish him luck," Hamilton said.
Juranek has never run for political office or worked in law enforcement. That's because he only became eligible to vote last year. He is 19 years old and one of three students running for county office on the Libertarian ticket.
Electrical engineering senior Benjamin Woosley is running for constable, and engineering route to business senior William Howell is running for county district attorney.
"That's not unusual for us to have students run; it's happened before," said Robert "Rock" Howard, Travis County Libertarian Party chair.
Juranek said his friends are aware he is running for office, but most of his classmates and professors have no idea.
"I love politics, but I try to keep it out of more personal relationships, because it can be a source of a lot of scrutiny, especially with someone who has as strong ideas about politics as I do," Juranek said.
"I think the biggest thing as far as a college student running is to talk to people, to interact with people and try to sway them on a personal level as opposed to running an ad campaign," Juranek said.
But that has proven difficult for the full-time student. Juranek's campaign has accepted no contributions and made no expenditures, largely because the paperwork would be too taxing, the candidate said.
In May, Juranek went door-to-door campaigning for the Libertarian Party and announcing his candidacy. He hasn't campaigned seriously since leaving town for the summer. School occupies most of his free time now.
"Let me make it clear," Juranek said. "If the people of Travis County invest in me the power of sheriff I will put off my school work and take on the job."
Juranek said he's always been interested in politics and law and has wanted to run for office.
"I saw on the state [Libertarian] Web site that they were looking for candidates to run, so I contacted them," Juranek said.
Juranek said he's not that familiar with local issues in the sheriff's race. His top priorities are civil liberties and ending racial and age-based profiling.
He plans to finish college if he isn't elected, but should he win the first thing he would do is keep his promise and refuse the full salary given to the sheriff. The Travis County sheriff earns around $100,000.
"If I'm going to run on saving the people their money, I better be ready to step out," he said.
-Aaron Nelsen
Be the first to comment on this article!