Turner is Best Choice for Sheriff

Dear Editor:

John Turner is by far the best candidate for sheriff and here's why. About six months before John Turner was first elected I was out driving around and stopped to take a look at what used to be a school house in Clyde. I walked up to the building and was astonished to see most of the inside and some of the outside covered in gang graffiti. I was shocked and angered that gangs had spread their cancer to this rural location. A few days later, I was having lunch at the Lyons Ferry KOA and noticed a poster, "Elect John Turner." I was Chief of Police in Quincy at the time and had many fond memories of growing up in Walla Walla County, going to school in Prescott and Waitsburg, fishing in the Snake, hunting in the wheat fields and Blue Mountains, and going to Walla Walla on weekends for shopping trips. I asked a number of my law enforcement contacts, sheriffs and police chiefs, about the sheriff's campaign in Walla Walla County and who would be the best choice. They all said John Turner. They further indicated that Walla Walla County was having gang problems, among other problems, and most importantly, the Sheriff's Department was having leadership problems. They said a change was necessary and John was an outstanding candidate would most likely be a welcome improvement.

Well, John Turner was elected Sheriff of Walla Walla County and we became good friends in the law enforcement community. John Turner is still the best choice for the position of Sheriff in Walla Walla County and the community can sleep well at night knowing they have one of the finest law enforcement professionals I have known in my almost 40 years of law enforcement experience. Every sheriff and police chief that I talked to during my attendance at various Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) functions had nothing but high praise for John's leadership style and the positive changes he has made for the community and the men and women of the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office.

The best choice is still John Turner who will keep the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office under the outstanding leadership the community deserves and needs to control crime and provide quality service.

Rich Ackerman

Chief of Police, Quincy,

Wash.