Even if Sheriff Garry Lucas doesn’t run for re-election, Clark County voters can expect to see at least one familiar name on the ballot this fall: Timothy Shotwell.
The corrections deputy has twice before challenged Lucas in the race for sheriff and has announced that he is again throwing his name into the hat for the 2014 election, making him the fifth candidate to do so.
“I don’t give up,” he said. “I haven’t given up on the people of Clark County. I refuse to.”
Shotwell ran for election in 2006 and 2010, losing to Lucas both times with 42 and 40 percent of the vote, respectively.
Lucas, 70, has stayed tight-lipped about whether or not he will run for what would be his seventh four-year term. He was first elected in 1990.
Either way, the 2014 sheriff’s race is shaping up to have the most entrants in nearly 30 years. The four other people who have announced their candidacy ahead of the May filing deadline include former sheriff’s office commanders Chuck Atkins and John Graser, both running as Republicans, and Sgt. Shane Gardner and former deputy Ed Owens, both running on nonpartisan platforms.
Shotwell, a 63-year-old Hazel Dell resident, said he is running as a Democrat even though he has conservative views, touting a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association.
“I want the Democrats to know they still have a say in this,” he said. “Democrats and Republicans need to quit acting like children and sit down and talk intelligently about what and where Clark County is going.”
Shotwell has accumulated more than 25 years of military service, retiring from the U.S. Army as a sergeant first class before joining the U.S. Army Reserve. He has worked at the sheriff’s office for 17 years, all in the corrections department.
He said that he is running this year for the same reasons he’s run in the past: He says Lucas is an alienated leader who has let stagnation set into the agency.
“I’ve run into people who say, ‘Who’s the sheriff?’?” he said. As for the other candidates, Shotwell said, “I don’t trust someone else. I don’t know where their head is.”
Shotwell said that he is a capable leader who wants justice for those arrested, the victims and the community at large.
If elected he said he would have an open and interactive relationship with the community and would strive to improve morale within the agency by increasing communication. He said he would also strive for fiscal responsibility with the agency’s budget.
“I’m going to deal with the budget like it’s my own money,” he said. “If you don’t need it, why are we buying it?”
The sheriff is responsible for running the county jail and providing police services to unincorporated Clark County, including Hazel Dell and Salmon Creek.
He also said that the $104,244 annual salary of the position is not what drew him to the job and promised not to take a raise if he is elected.
“I could retire tomorrow, but I choose to help. That’s my choice,” he said. “I want to be part of the solution.”
For more information on Shotwell, visit http://www.shotwellforsheriff.com.
