Francis Democrat Dax Shane said he will campaign against Republican Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds this year. Edmunds has told The Park Record he will run for a third term in 2010.
Shane has been a Salt Lake City police officer for more than seven years.
“Approachability and trust are two important aspects of policing; under my leadership (I) will ensure that the entire department is accountable and prepared to use good judgment, prudence, and respect in their encounters with the citizens and visitors of Summit County,” Shane said in a prepared statement.
If elected, Shane said he hopes to reduce employee turnover at the Sheriff’s Office.
“Recruitment and training of new recruits is far more costly than promoting and rewarding our current team. The citizens of Summit County are concerned by the significant turnover in the Sheriff’s Office, and that is something I intend to solve,” Shane said.
Edmunds, a Kamas resident, was elected sheriff by defeating Democrat Joe Offret in 2002.
“We have changed this organization from the top down,” Edmunds said in a telephone interview. “It needed to be completely overhauled and that has been accomplished.”
“This office is functioning at an extremely high level,” Edmunds said. “If you are looking to initiate major overhauls, you better have a lot of experience, you better have a lot of education in government operations and you better have a lot of overly creative ideas because we are doing some extremely innovative things here.”
More coverage about this race will appear in Wednesday’s edition of The Park Record.