While the three Republican candidates for Island County Sheriff may give similar answers to questions at forums, they do offer voters some pretty distinct choices.

One of the important differences between Coupeville Marshal Lenny Marlborough, retired trooper Mark Brown and Island County Jail Administrator De Dennis is simply style and personality. The three men are campaigning to replace Sheriff Mike Hawley, who announced last year that he wasn’t running again.

Voters will choose between the candidates in the Sept. 19 primary. The Democrat candidate, Jay Wallace, could not be reached for an interview. The Attorney General’s Office recently charged him for allegedly lying on a police report.

Marlborough has set himself apart from the other candidates by being openly critical of Sheriff Mike Hawley and his administration in an interview. For good measure, he also has unfavorable remarks about Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks and questioned his opponents’ qualifications.

In some ways, Marlborough, 51, fits the image of an old-fashioned “marshal” with his shoot-from-the-hip style. He caused a low rumble at the Island County Republican Convention when he announced that he didn’t identify with either political party in the past, in contrast with the other candidates.

“I sometimes say something, put my foot in my mouth and get in trouble because it’s not politically correct, but it’s true,” he said. “You’ll always get the truth from me.”

Marlborough is best known outside of Coupeville for his work educating the community about the effects of methamphetamine, with a frank and compelling presentation.

In contrast, Brown is a Boy Scout. A political science major, Brown oozes professionalism and speaks with a earnest, politically-savvy style. He doesn’t talk about making major changes in the sheriff’s office, but says he can make it an exceptional department through leadership and communication — both within the department and with the community.

The 58-year-old Oak Harbor resident is the candidate with the most support from the law enforcement community, including Island County deputies, but also has the least management experience. He seems to be the most true-blue Republican among the candidates.

“I’ve been motivating cops for 26 years,” said Brown, who was recognized as one of the Washington State Patrol’s best field training officers in the state. In fact, he recruited and trained one of his opponents, De Dennis, to be a trooper.

“I am convinced that I have the skills to pick the right people,” he said.

The former Trooper of the Year has also run the most skillful campaign and raised about as many donations as the other two candidates combined.

Dennis, a 58-year-old Oak Harbor resident, is an extremely social character who is “very involved in the community.” He has a sense of humor and doesn’t try to hide his personality behind political jargon — for better or worse. He and his wife, Cherry, are well known on North and South Whidbey.

“If there’s finger food or dancing, De Dennis is there,” he said.

Dennis came into law enforcement late in life, after 30 years as an enlisted member of the Navy. In fact, he may have been the oldest man to graduate from the Washington State Patrol Academy. He frowns upon micro-management and a punitive style of leadership; he hopes to instill a sense of “service to the community” in deputies.

He believes in working with people to solve problems.

“It’s not Matt Dillon, going out there with a gun strapped to my hip,” he said, referring to the old TV show “Gunsmoke.”

Beyond personalities, there’s a lot of issues at stake in the election. Here’s a look at some of them and where the candidates stand:

Hunting in

the Kettles

A controversy about hunting on county land erupted after officials considered changes to the rules. Many dozens of people on both sides of the issue attended meetings and wrote letters to the editors. Hunters wanted to preserve their rights to hunt in the areas, while hikers and homeowners were concerned about safety. In the end, nothing changed.

The areas in question are the Kettles trails near Coupeville, part of the Greenbank Farm property, Deer Lagoon in the Useless Bay area of South Whidbey, and Camano Ridge on Camano Island.

The sheriff is in charge of enforcing rules and undoubtedly has some sway in policy matters.

Both Marlborough and Brown say they support the idea of shutting down the Kettles trails to hikers during hunting season. Marlborough said citizens should “share the use of county resources” while Brown said it’s a good compromise between hunters and hikers.

Dennis, however, said he would have to investigate the issue further before making a decision.

“Hunting is a tradition that should be allowed to continue,” he said, “yet safety should be the sheriff’s paramount concern.”

Budget and overtime

Perhaps the only place to cut in the sheriff’s famously tight budget, with strings held by county commissioners, is in overtime. In 2005, the top earner among Island County deputies grossed nearly $89,000, with $27,600 in overtime pay.

Insiders say overtime pay has created an unusual situation in the department in which deputies are sometimes reluctant to take a position in which they won’t get overtime. Promotions can mean less money.

Oak Harbor Police Chief Steve Almon proved that cutting overtime can be done by drastically reducing the hours, and money spent on personnel, when he was hired.

It’s a tougher issue for an elected sheriff to face. A candidate who covets support from deputies would probably be reluctant to make promises about cutting overtime. And some overtime is a necessity, especially with high turnover.

All the candidates said their main concern about overtime is officer safety. Too much time on the job can be dangerous, they said.

While Brown and Dennis were reluctant to promise any cuts to overtime, Marlborough said he will work to lessen it.

“One of the ways I want to curtail overtime is looking at scheduling,” he said.

Dennis said “managing overtime is important,” but he doesn’t see a lot of room to shrink the expense.

“With accurate documentation,” he said, “we can show the public where the money went.”

Brown promises to work with the deputies’ guild.

“I don’t want to take that fringe benefit away…” he said. “It’s a delicate balance. It’s something that I need to research.”

Philosophical differences

What philosophical changes will the candidates bring with them?

Dennis said he believes strongly in a public-service ideology and will have to encourage deputies to feel the same way.

“My philosophy is not a what’s-in-it-for-me philosophy,” he said.

Dennis described volunteers as the lifeblood of the organization and promised to work to get even more citizens involved. He hopes to expand programs like Citizens on Patrol and Explorer Scouts.

“We have a cadre out there in the community who want to serve,” he said, “and we have to recruit them.”

Brown plans to expand on Hawley’s successful community meetings for high-risk sex offenders. He said he’ll spend a lot of time meeting with community groups large and small.

“You’ve got to have the pulse of the community and the pulse of the officers,” he said.

He also plans to work more closely and in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies. A much-decorated state trooper, Brown was endorsed by the Washington State Troopers Association and the five sheriffs in the counties surrounding Island.

Marlborough promises wide-ranging changes from a big revamping of philosophy. First of all, he wants to adopt a mission statement.

“There is currently no goals, no objective, no vision,” he said, adding that he’ll also put together a five-year plan.

He said he believes in the de-centralization of command, which means handing over control to lieutenants in charge of precincts.

“They need to be able to run the precincts as the community deems necessary,” he said, “while keeping the department’s goals in mind.”

At the same time, Marlborough wants to stay in touch with the precincts by working regularly as a patrol officer if he becomes sheriff.

He also plans to boost morale, which he claims in low, by “actually listening” to deputies and beefing up recognitions. As Coupeville marshal, he hands out specially-made “atta boy” coins in recognition of a job well done.

“One of the biggest morale boosters you can have in a department is when the guys get recognized when they do a good job,” he said.

In the same line, he plans on instituting regular performance reviews.

“Island County has never given performance evaluations to deputies,” he said. “I just never understood that. How else do the deputies know where they stand and where they need to improve?”

Sheriff’s new administration

Nearly as important as who’s elected sheriff is the people who the new sheriff surrounds himself with. Under state law, the new sheriff can hire up to five at-will employees for the administration — including a chief criminal deputy, a jail administrator and a chief administrative deputy.

Brown has proposed to make the biggest change by hiring an undersheriff, which is a position Hawley never filled. It would be an expense that he can’t specifically explain how he can afford, but he said it’s worth it.

“I want to somewhat free myself up to work with the community,” he said.

Brown said he will try to promote from within, but he won’t hesitate to look elsewhere if “nobody steps up to the plate.”

Although he has a lot of support from deputies, Brown said he hasn’t promised anyone a job. In fact, only Marlborough has talked to any members of his campaign about working in the administration.

Marlborough said he would also like to have an undersheriff, but the budget doesn’t allow for it.

“It would mean losing a patrol officer,” he said.

On the other hand, Brown said an effort to get the department accredited, which Marlborough proposes, would not be worth the great expense.

Marlborough said he hopes to retain at least two of the current administration — Dennis and Chief Criminal Deputy Russ Lindner.

Dennis said it would be proper for the members of the current administration to submit letters of resignation and if they’re interested, also submit applications. He plans on convening a review board to look over applications, narrowing them down to the top three. He’ll choose the winners.

“I want to make sure to avoid even the appearance of cronyism,” he said.

Guild’s support

of Wallace

The biggest controversy within the Sheriff’s Office in recent years is over Hawley’s decision to fire Deputy Jay Wallace, while he was a candidate for sheriff, when he allegedly shirked his duty in response to a 911 call and lied on a report, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The Island County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild supported Wallace in his grievance against Hawley for firing him. The union’s attorney sent Hawley a harshly-worded letter, stating that Wallace was not dishonest and blaming the I-COM dispatch center for the problems. Later, the members voted to send the case to arbitration after Hawley denied the grievance and after questioning Wallace about the case.

Based on the facts that are publicly known, the Attorney General’s Office filed a gross misdemeanor charge of false reporting.

Nevertheless, the three candidates support the guild in their actions in support of Wallace.

“A man pays his dues to the guild,” Brown said, “and he deserves his day in the arbitration hearing.”

Dennis, a former guild president, went even further, claiming that the department tends to “jump to punitive action too quickly.” He worked in his years with the State Patrol to push for fair treatment of employees.

“I would be disappointed if (the guild) didn’t ask for a review,” he said.

Marlborough claims that the guild isn’t really supporting Wallace, they are just protesting the process by which Hawley fired him.

“If I was sheriff, there’s a couple of things I would have done differently,” he said.

You can reach Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or 675-6611.