avalon42
04-02-2009, 01:33 AM
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/apr/01/bn01sheriff-stepping-down/
Sheriff Kolender decides to retire
By stepping down mid-term, he allows supervisors to name successor before 2010 election
By Jeff McDonald (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer
8:36 p.m. April 1, 2009
Sheriff Bill Kolender has been a high-profile law enforcement officer in the San Diego area since the 1950s. - Union-Tribune photo
Previous coverage
http://media.signonsandiego.com/img/photos/2009/04/01/090401kolender_t350.jpg?1640fae913a1dac1b26c7eb888 06b9f9b0341305
# County sheriff has no retirement plans (Oct. 2007)
# 3 sheriff hopefuls lining up support (July 2008)
# Bejarano to run for sheriff in 2010 (March 2009)
PROFILE
Bill Kolender
Born: 1935 in Chicago
Family: Married to Lois, his second wife, for 27 years. Four grown children and five grandchildren.
Education: Bachelor's degree in public administration, San Diego State University, 1964
Career: San Diego police chief, 1975-88; assistant to the publisher for the Union-Tribune Publishing Co., 1988-91; director of the California Youth Authority, 1991-94; sheriff of San Diego County, 1995-2009.
Appointments and boards: Past president of California State Sheriffs Association, California Board of Corrections, San Diego Judicial Selection Advisory Committee.
Sheriff Bill Kolender, the gruff and widely respected career lawman who served San Diego County for 14 years, has decided to retire.
His decision comes in the middle of his fourth term, and throws the race to succeed him into disarray just as it takes shape.
The sheriff, who is 73 and has been in ill health over recent months, began telling friends and county officials of his decision Wednesday.
The Sheriff's Department issued a news release after The San Diego Union-Tribune confirmed independently that he is stepping down.
Even before the official announcement, accolades for the sheriff were pouring in from all quarters.
“Everybody in the county talks about this great relationship we have between the federal, the state and the local police,” San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne said. “It's because of Bill Kolender. He is the person who puts that together. I see him as a mentor.”
Kolender himself declined to discuss his looming retirement. Reached at home earlier Wednesday night, he at first said he had not reached any such decision, and then said he was not prepared to discuss it publicly because he had not informed much of his staff.
The race to succeed the longtime sheriff began taking shape as early as last year – perhaps even earlier, when former FBI special agent in charge William Gore left the federal government to assume undersheriff duties.
In addition to Gore seeking the office, candidates include former sheriff's Lt. James Duffy, former San Diego police Chief David Bejarano, former sheriff's official and state legislator Jay LeSuer and former sheriff's Sgt. Bruce Ruff.
But the surprise retirement throws the expected political scrum for the job into something of a lurch.
County supervisors reached Wednesday said they have the authority to appoint a successor or call a special election to fill the vacancy. Three of the elected supervisors have already endorsed Gore – Greg Cox, Pam Slater-Price and Bill Horn.
Supervisor Ron Roberts hired Duffy away from the Sheriff's Department last year to be his chief of staff, and has endorsed his trusted ally. Duffy is also the son of former Sheriff John Duffy, whose name is emblazoned across the department's administration center in Kearny Mesa.
Although they declined to say who should be named to the job, Supervisors Slater-Price and Horn both said they favor appointing someone to fill the vacancy rather than spending money on a special election.
“The next election is in a year, so that's not a big deal,” Horn said.
Slater-Price downplayed the advantage any incumbent may have come, especially if Gore is appointed, because of his relatively low name recognition.
“He (Gore) is not an experienced politician, and those are negatives in terms of name ID,” she said. “If you were going to choose a person who has a high profile and put them in that position, then they would have an advantage.”
Gore did not return a call seeking comment about the possible appointment.
Kolender, who retires as the oldest of California's 58 county sheriffs, began his career in law enforcement as a San Diego police officer in 1956. He made lieutenant inside a decade and chief by 1975.
He was the city's top lawman from 1975 to 1988, overseeing the department's response to a number of national tragedies, including the Cleveland Elementary school shooting by Brenda Spencer in 1979 and the mass murder at a McDonald's in San Ysidro in 1984.
In 1988 he was hired as an assistant to the publisher at the Union-Tribune Publishing Co., where he remained until 1991, when he was tapped to manage the California Youth Authority by then-Gov. Pete Wilson, the former San Diego mayor.
Kolender served three years in the state position before winning election as county sheriff in 1994. He was re-elected three times with no serious competition.
What I don't understand is how he could work for the most anti-LE paper in SD county.
Sheriff Kolender decides to retire
By stepping down mid-term, he allows supervisors to name successor before 2010 election
By Jeff McDonald (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer
8:36 p.m. April 1, 2009
Sheriff Bill Kolender has been a high-profile law enforcement officer in the San Diego area since the 1950s. - Union-Tribune photo
Previous coverage
http://media.signonsandiego.com/img/photos/2009/04/01/090401kolender_t350.jpg?1640fae913a1dac1b26c7eb888 06b9f9b0341305
# County sheriff has no retirement plans (Oct. 2007)
# 3 sheriff hopefuls lining up support (July 2008)
# Bejarano to run for sheriff in 2010 (March 2009)
PROFILE
Bill Kolender
Born: 1935 in Chicago
Family: Married to Lois, his second wife, for 27 years. Four grown children and five grandchildren.
Education: Bachelor's degree in public administration, San Diego State University, 1964
Career: San Diego police chief, 1975-88; assistant to the publisher for the Union-Tribune Publishing Co., 1988-91; director of the California Youth Authority, 1991-94; sheriff of San Diego County, 1995-2009.
Appointments and boards: Past president of California State Sheriffs Association, California Board of Corrections, San Diego Judicial Selection Advisory Committee.
Sheriff Bill Kolender, the gruff and widely respected career lawman who served San Diego County for 14 years, has decided to retire.
His decision comes in the middle of his fourth term, and throws the race to succeed him into disarray just as it takes shape.
The sheriff, who is 73 and has been in ill health over recent months, began telling friends and county officials of his decision Wednesday.
The Sheriff's Department issued a news release after The San Diego Union-Tribune confirmed independently that he is stepping down.
Even before the official announcement, accolades for the sheriff were pouring in from all quarters.
“Everybody in the county talks about this great relationship we have between the federal, the state and the local police,” San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne said. “It's because of Bill Kolender. He is the person who puts that together. I see him as a mentor.”
Kolender himself declined to discuss his looming retirement. Reached at home earlier Wednesday night, he at first said he had not reached any such decision, and then said he was not prepared to discuss it publicly because he had not informed much of his staff.
The race to succeed the longtime sheriff began taking shape as early as last year – perhaps even earlier, when former FBI special agent in charge William Gore left the federal government to assume undersheriff duties.
In addition to Gore seeking the office, candidates include former sheriff's Lt. James Duffy, former San Diego police Chief David Bejarano, former sheriff's official and state legislator Jay LeSuer and former sheriff's Sgt. Bruce Ruff.
But the surprise retirement throws the expected political scrum for the job into something of a lurch.
County supervisors reached Wednesday said they have the authority to appoint a successor or call a special election to fill the vacancy. Three of the elected supervisors have already endorsed Gore – Greg Cox, Pam Slater-Price and Bill Horn.
Supervisor Ron Roberts hired Duffy away from the Sheriff's Department last year to be his chief of staff, and has endorsed his trusted ally. Duffy is also the son of former Sheriff John Duffy, whose name is emblazoned across the department's administration center in Kearny Mesa.
Although they declined to say who should be named to the job, Supervisors Slater-Price and Horn both said they favor appointing someone to fill the vacancy rather than spending money on a special election.
“The next election is in a year, so that's not a big deal,” Horn said.
Slater-Price downplayed the advantage any incumbent may have come, especially if Gore is appointed, because of his relatively low name recognition.
“He (Gore) is not an experienced politician, and those are negatives in terms of name ID,” she said. “If you were going to choose a person who has a high profile and put them in that position, then they would have an advantage.”
Gore did not return a call seeking comment about the possible appointment.
Kolender, who retires as the oldest of California's 58 county sheriffs, began his career in law enforcement as a San Diego police officer in 1956. He made lieutenant inside a decade and chief by 1975.
He was the city's top lawman from 1975 to 1988, overseeing the department's response to a number of national tragedies, including the Cleveland Elementary school shooting by Brenda Spencer in 1979 and the mass murder at a McDonald's in San Ysidro in 1984.
In 1988 he was hired as an assistant to the publisher at the Union-Tribune Publishing Co., where he remained until 1991, when he was tapped to manage the California Youth Authority by then-Gov. Pete Wilson, the former San Diego mayor.
Kolender served three years in the state position before winning election as county sheriff in 1994. He was re-elected three times with no serious competition.
What I don't understand is how he could work for the most anti-LE paper in SD county.