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Highlands Today

Sheriff Benton Has Proven Herself

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By RUTH HANDLEY GUEST COLUMN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 22, 2008

During 50 years of living in Highlands County, I have been very involved with many public issues. Not only have I served in numerous volunteer capacities, I have also served two terms in a county-wide elected position. I continue to participate in many local public service projects designed to improve the quality of life in our community.

I have seen Highlands County grow from three "sleepy little towns in south central Florida" (as described in The Tampa Tribune many years ago) into a dynamic and progressive hometown which has become a haven for thousands of new residents fleeing more urban areas. I feel strongly that your newspaper (which plays a very critical role in providing local citizens-voters information essential to wise decision making) should examine fully the record of Sheriff Susan Benton who is seeking re-election in 2008. You will find that many charges made by her opponents at the forum you hosted are not correct. Her record is most impressive. She deserves your enthusiastic endorsement.

For the past four years, Sheriff Benton has demonstrated remarkable and unprecedented professionalism, integrity, transparency, full disclosure and personal dedication in her leadership of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

I have personally known and consulted with every Highlands County sheriff in office since 1958. Each sought to provide a safe, clean, caring place for my husband and me to raise a big family. But only Susan Benton has been so deeply involved with all aspects of public safety and community improvement.

Only Susan Benton has been so quickly recognized by the Florida Sheriffs' Association and elected to the office of chairman of the board of directors of that statewide group. Only Susan Benton has inspired and led HCSO to earn full accreditation, a test of compliance with 250-plus professional law enforcement and operational standards.

Only Susan Benton has spearheaded crime prevention strategies, working with civic groups and agencies in all parts of the county. She has done this by being personally present and active at meetings of citizens who are addressing a wide range of problems.

Some programs in which she actively participates are the Children's Services Council, neighborhood watch groups, teen court, and task force-committees on juvenile justice, teen pregnancy prevention, domestic violence, inmate rehabilitation, sex and computer crime awareness, underage drinking, and addiction prevention (especially methamphetamines,) DARE and many more.

These prevention efforts are projects undertaken in addition to re-organizing the office of the sheriff, broadening training requirements for staff, upgrading equipment and facilities, accessing the latest applications of computer technology (especially the universal E-911 program and disaster preparedness,) and building better communication and coordination between the sheriff's office and municipal, state and federal law enforcement entities.

She has accomplished all these improvements by being proactive. She does not sit in an office and wait for a crime to be committed or a problem to be reported to her; she is actively identifying needs and striving to meet those needs.

The methodology currently used by the HCSD is known as "Strategic Planning," a proven widely used method for administering a business or a public service agency. While all Highlands County government sets out to apply this method to their operations, the sheriff's department has most actively engaged its staff in designing a vision, a mission and values. These gave rise to a set of goals that were further broken into measurable objectives and strategies to produce the improvements needed. Detailed demographics and action reports show great progress toward reaching the goals. In fact, on Aug. 12, Sheriff Benton presented a most impressive accountability report to the county commissioners. I regret that the media apparently did not cover that outstanding review.

One key element in her report was the fact that the sheriff's total budget (covering law enforcement, detention and courthouse security) has remained the same for three years: 2006-7, 2007-8, 2008-9. It is $27,101,777, which represents 15.95 percent of the total county budget of $169,930,576 proposed for the coming year.

It is important to recognize that while the new initiatives described above were being launched, deputies were patrolling neighborhoods, working accidents, answering hundreds of citizen calls each month, incarcerating offenders and expediting judicial action (see the reports which appear regularly in the paper,) the jail was operating more efficiently and safely, 77 marijuana "grow houses" were raided and closed down and law and order were imposed on public events including the Sebring races. This kind of record can only be built if there is a strong leader heading up the team of workers involved.

Yes, Sheriff Benton "runs a tight ship" but no elected official can please all the constituents or keep every employee happy, and the accomplishments of the last four years far outweigh any failures or omissions. I do not understand why her opponents are circulating incorrect information and I surely hope that Highlands County voters have moved past any trace of gender bias that may linger from the days when "the good ole boys" would suggest that a female could not handle the management duties of a sheriff. I urge you to heartily endorse Susan Benton for re-election as sheriff of Highlands County.

Ruth E. Handley lives in Sebring.

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