It’s less than two weeks to Election Day, when Onondaga County voters will cast a ballot for a new sheriff. A county chief deputy and a military veteran are running to replace Sheriff Eugene Conway.
Republican Esteban Gonzalez has been with the department for nearly 30 years and has managed the county jail for the last ten. Gonzalez said he wants to boost the department’s ranks and improve the public perception with an advisory group.
"That's a combination of citizens and law enforcement working together to proactively stop crime before it starts, and then combat it once it does start. So I'm looking at things like that," Gonzalez said. "I'm looking at bringing a recruitment team and everybody says, there's not enough money for budgets, when you have no money for paying for people's jobs, that's when you need a recruitment team even more, because not enough people are out there that want our jobs."
Democrat Toby Shelley is a police officer in the Village of Jordan but previously served in the sheriff’s department and spent 30 years in the U.S. Air Force. He said the biggest issue he plans to tackle is boosting morale in order to grow the force.
"With the bail reform hanging over their heads with the press saying defund the police, things like that, it's really hurting morale. And you couple that with things going on within the administration department itself. That's one of our biggest hurdles," Shelley said. "We're going to try and improve on and when you improve morale, improve a lot of other things. Like question was just asked How would you recruit people of color? Well, when you improve morale, people of color recruit their friends."
Election Day is Nov. 8, but early voting begins this weekend.
For more in-depth coverage of the races on your ballot, tune in to WAER's Syracuse Speaks Election Special on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 2 p.m on 88.3FM.