Ben Johnson, left, Kevin Vaughn, right.
By Al Everson
posted Oct 3, 2008 - 2:46:29pm
Two seasoned peace officers, each born in Volusia County, are vying for the Sheriff's Office in 2008.
In a time of recession and revenue reductions, dollar signs loom large in the campaign dialogue.
First elected in 2000, incumbent Sheriff Ben Johnson has drawn opposition from Kevin Vaughn, a former Florida Highway Patrol trooper.
Johnson, 58, has spent more than 35 years with the Sheriff's Office, while Vaughn, 43, has served more than 20 years with the FHP.
Johnson has immense institutional knowledge of the Sheriff's Office, beginning with his hiring as a deputy in 1971 and continuing with his advancement up the career ladder and in various assignments under two of former sheriffs, Ed Duff and Bob Vogel.
"A lot of what I want to do is to continue the work we have started," said Johnson.
He can list several policy changes, programs and equipment purchases since he took office almost eight years ago.
Accomplishments, too: greater consolidation of emergency dispatching, improved public relations, and better sharing of law-enforcement intelligence among agencies.
Vaughn claims there is room for improvement, and he wants to be the county's next chief enforcer.
"I love living here in this county. It's my county, and I want to be in public service for Volusia County," Vaughn said. "I want to serve in our Sheriff's Department."
The be$t policing money can buy?
One area Vaughn targets for improvement is in the Sheriff's Office budget. Johnson's total expenditures have risen annually.
"The big issue in this race is the overspending by this sheriff ... doubling the budget from $35 million to over $72 million in seven years," Vaughn told The Beacon. "Everything I've heard has been about spending money, not saving money."
Johnson sees it differently. The Sheriff's Office had a budget of approximately $43 million in the 2000-01 fiscal year, he said, and that increased to just under $72 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year. But, Johnson notes, expenditures don't tell the whole story.
One key reason for the rise in spending was consolidation of emergency dispatching under the Sheriff's Office, Johnson explained. Several cities — including DeLand and Orange City — as well as EVAC have transferred their dispatching to the Sheriff's Office.
Adding those services, and the fees the cities and EVAC pay for those services, swelled the budget, the sheriff notes.
"You're talking about $20 million that has been put in my budget by budget shifts," he said. "We dispatch for the majority of the county. It's a big savings on money. Does it increase our budget? You bet it does, but it decreases their [cities'] budgets."
Incumbent defends outlays
Johnson also notes the Sheriff's Office assumed control of policing the Daytona Beach International Airport during the 2003-04 fiscal year.
"They took it from one budget to another budget," he said.
There are other reasons for the upward climb in spending, Johnson said, notably state-mandated increases in contributions for pensions for law-enforcement officers.
"My budget is 74-percent manpower," Johnson said.
Also in the budget, he said, is the law-enforcement the Sheriff's Office provides inside some cities, under contract with the county. Besides Deltona, the cities of DeBary, Oak Hill and Pierson rely on the Sheriff's Office for patrols and criminal investigations.
Besides the increases in total spending by the Sheriff's Office under Johnson, Vaughn is critical of the sheriff's spending policies and priorities.
"The lack of school resource officers," Vaughn said, is one of the most critical needs waiting to be addressed.
Johnson agrees there is a need for more deputies in the public schools.
"My goal was to put school-resource officers in the elementary schools, and that was financial," Johnson said.
He explained the school-resource-officer program had to be scaled down in the wake of revenue reductions brought on by tax reform.
Johnson regrets the necessary cuts.
"That's a big disappointment to me," he said. "In elementary schools, you can let these young kids know the law-enforcement office is their friend, and not just someone that shows up in bad situations."
Vaughn claims the money could have been found by cutting elsewhere.
"With gas at $4 a gallon ... why don't we see about expanding the number that ride on motorcycles? Expand it by 10 percent," he suggested.
Earlier this year, the Sheriff's Office purchased 68 Chevrolet Impalas to replace the Ford Crown Victorias, which have become standard patrol vehicles for many police departments around the country.
The Impalas are smaller and have greater fuel economy, county officials say.
Private help needed?
In a time when citizens are demanding tax cuts and revenues are decreasing, Johnson said he is capable of building more public-private partnerships to pay for some of the Sheriff's Office's capital needs.
"I think more like a businessman," he said, adding his work in his father's hardware store in his young years helped him.
In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Johnson recalled, he raised private funds to buy a high-tech piece of homeland-security equipment.
"We were able to buy that bomb robot," he said.
Different views of the balance sheet
Johnson defends his big-ticket purchases, including a new helicopter. The Sheriff's Office, with County Council approval, bought a third helicopter last year.
"We have a ship capable of being in the air 24 hours a day," Johnson said.
Besides aiding in searches for suspects, Sheriff's Office helicopters also serve as air ambulances, rushing critically injured people to hospitals.
As Johnson sees it, there are some savings, as well as many positives coming from his leadership.
"Improved employee morale and communication within the Sheriff's Office" are but two of the plusses Johnson cites, when explaining why he is seeking another term.
"My deputies endorsed me in this election," said Johnson, alluding to the union endorsements.
"You don't see lawsuits coming up from inside the agency like you used to," he added, alluding to a spate of civil-rights suits in the latter years of Vogel's tenure as sheriff.
Vaughn discounted the incumbent's boast of support.
"The only endorsement I need is the endorsement of the citizens," Vaughn said.
Service credentials compared — or contrasted
Experience — who is better qualified? — is also an issue in the campaign.
Johnson says it's him.
"He's worked mostly in traffic," Johnson said, referring to his opponent.
"I spent six years on the SWAT team. I know what's it's like to be shot at. I'm a full-service law-enforcement officer."
Vaughn, of course, says his experience is broader.
Now a Highway Patrol lieutenant, Vaughn went to work for the FHP in 1986. He, however, highlights his experience in a wide array of assignments, including drug investigations, traffic-homicide investigations, and evidence handling.
"I also conducted investigations in odometers," Vaughn said.
Rolling back mileage counters on cars to make them appear to be less "used" is a form of fraud.
"I think I have all the qualifications," said Vaughn.
Reaching out
If elected, Vaughn vows to make the Sheriff's Office more accessible to the citizenry. One idea he proposes is to offer law-enforcement exhibits and seminars in all parts of the county.
Vaughn said he would like to arrange a three-day event, where vendors, law-enforcement professionals and others could present valuable crime-fighting information and services to residents.
"Let's open it up to the public," he added, noting, for example, parents need tips on "how to protect their children from Internet predators."
"If someone wants to come in and talk with the sheriff, they should be able to," continued Vaughn. "Let's have town-hall meetings."
Yet another way the Sheriff's Office could help is to have one or more of its detectives dedicated to combatting crimes against older people.
"One out of five citizens in Volusia County is over 65 years of age. There is no one specifically looking out for seniors," Vaughn said.
Johnson said his agency is already working at the grassroots level.
"Every year I would do a public-service activity with the Sheriff's Office," Johnson said.
Regular Sheriff's Office events include Easter egg hunts, fundraisers for leukemia and cancer, and the 100 Deputies/100 Kids Christmas event.
Vaughn also promises, if elected, to limit his tenure as sheriff. Term limits for elected officials written into the county's charter or state law do not cover the sheriff, property appraiser, elections supervisor or the clerk of the court, but Vaughn says he will voluntarily cap his time in the office.
"I don't believe these offices ought to be entitlement offices. If eight years is good enough for the president of the United States, I think it should be good enough for the sheriff," he said.
Johnson, however, said Volusia County needs his experience now more than ever, as a weakened economy is likely to produce a spike in crime.
"We all know in a bad economy, it begins to increase," he said. "It's something we are concerned about."
The Sheriff's Office currently has 458 law-enforcement personnel. About half of them are assigned to patrol duties, while others work as investigators and provide security in the courts.
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You go BEN
Some things will never change. Good old boy Ben will ride through another 4 years until his hand-picked successor takes over and we go through this same **** all over again.
Thanks Ben for leading by example.
GO BEN !!!!
billy gardner
benton arkansas
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