Two races in Adams County with no good choices in either of them. Sheriff Doug Darr is finally on his way out and voters are left picking between the lesser of two evils. In the coroner’s race, it is a rematch of the election four years ago with both candidates assured jobs with the county no matter who wins.
County Sheriff
This has been a nasty, nasty race and one in which residents don’t really have a good choice.
Mike McIntosh is the hand-picked successor to current sheriff Doug Darr. I spoke extensively to McIntosh before the primaries and after hanging up the phone it was clear he sees little wrong in the sheriff’s office and is going to continue down the same road Darr set the department on. Unfortunately that road is the wrong one. Like Darr, McIntosh blames the jail issues on judges and the cities which means that municipalities will continue to be restricted on sending criminals to the jail that their citizens paid for. Actions during the election by McIntosh’s proxies within the department are troubling with charges of intimidation and coercion. Perhaps most troubling is that the majority of the rank and file within the department simply do not support him.
The other choice, Rick Reigenborn, comes into the race with some trouble of his own. Personal scandals seem to have plagued him in the past, many of which have surfaced again as the election draws nearer. I don’t deal in tabloid he said / she said drama on my website however what I have seen does give me pause. Certainly he is not one of the chosen few in Doug Darr’s regime and that isn’t a bad thing.
Who to vote for? Plug your nose and pick one of the two or do as I am going to do and leave it blank. I am not convinced either is worthy of the ink used to color in the bubble on the ballot.
County Coroner
This is a re-run of the last election for the seat once again pitting Mike Arnall against incumbent Monica Broncucia-Jordan.
Like most county offices, the coroner has not been immune to scandal although most of the drama occurred prior to Broncucia-Jordan taking office in 2010. Since then however, there have been cases of unprofessional conduct and mismanaged autopsies.
This is a race where you can just pretty much pick one or the other and the end result likely won’t be all that different. The two have a long-standing quid pro quo agreement where the winner will simply hire the other as a contractor to perform autopsies.
I am less than thrilled with either Arnall or Broncucia-Jordan so will be leaving this one blank.
