Sonoma County moves one step closer to selecting the next sheriff in the first contested election in more than two decades with absentee voting underway in the only countywide candidates race on the June 5 ballot.
Sheriff’s candidates have been battling on the campaign trail for months and as the primary election draws near, only three remain–Ernesto Olivares, Mark Essick, and John Mutz—after several others dropped out.
The next sheriff will step into one of the most significant roles any county elected official can take on with an operating budget of $180 million, almost half the county’s general budget. The sheriff will also direct a staff of more than 650 employees.
Responsibilities for the sheriff vary from law enforcement to overseeing the detention facilities. The boundary of the delivery of law enforcement and related emergency services encompasses the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County, but the department’s officers frequently cooperate on investigations with city police departments.
The sheriff also is in charge of the law enforcement contract services to the Town of Windsor and the City of Sonoma and is responsible for the operation of two adult detention facilities.
Under the county’s nonpartisan election rules, if a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, the race is over and that candidate takes office in January. If that doesn’t happen, the top two vote-getters will face off in the general election on Nov. 6 general election.
Sonoma County hasn’t had a contested race for sheriff since 1990 when Mark Ihde, a lieutenant in the sheriff’s department, challenged his boss, Sheriff Dick Michaelsen, winning in an upset in that June’s primary race.
Sonoma West Publishers sent each candidate a questionnaire with the same questions. The following is taken from the responses as well as candidate websites.
Ernesto Olivares
Ernesto Olivares serves as a Santa Rosa city council member and worked for the Santa Rosa Police Department from 1979 to 2008 as a patrol officer, he also served as a detective, crisis negotiator and field-training officer.
Campaign contributions for Olivares total more than $21,000 from January to April of this year. Organizations backing Olivares’ race financially include Teamsters Local 665, North Bay Labor Council and Operating Engineers Local 3.
When it comes to adult use cannabis, Olivares said what concerns him most is the assurance that all cannabis-related businesses come into compliance with new state and local laws. He said he will continue working with the industry to assist in this process.
“This is the role I have been in as chair of the Santa Rosa City Council subcommittee on cannabis,” he said. “From an enforcement role, I will be working with the industry and the community to ensure public safety through the safe operation of cannabis businesses and to identify illegal operations to bring them into compliance to pursue enforcement action.”
With 40 years of public safety and public service experience at the local, state, and national level, Olivares says he is a versatile candidate and has a breadth of knowledge that sets him apart from the other candidates.
“Upon retirement from the Santa Rosa Police Department I was elected to the Santa Rosa City Council and am currently serving my third term. I served a two-year term as mayor in 2010. Even after retiring from the Santa Rosa Police Department and during my current role as a Santa Rosa City councilmember, I have continued my commitment to public safety in my role as the executive director of the California Cities Violence Prevention Network.”
Mark Essick
Mark Essick, a captain in the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, started his law enforcement career as correctional officer and worked his way up from there.
Campaign contributions for Essick reached nearly $61,000 from January to April of this year. The organizations backing Essick’s race financially include the Sonoma County Deputy Sheriffs Association, the Sonoma County Law Enforcement Association, the Peace Officers Research Association of California-Northern Chapter, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau and the Sonoma County Alliance.
Essick said his biggest concerns about adult use cannabis are people driving under the influence, access to cannabis by minors and violent crime related to large amounts of cash in the cannabis industry that is prohibited from using banks from storing cash.
“Impaired driving continues to take a heavy toll on our society with serious injuries and deaths related to alcohol and cannabis impaired drivers,” he said. “Violent crime continues to be associated with cannabis because of the cash nature of the business, a method to process cannabis transactions through legitimate banking means must be established to remove the incentive to violently rob cannabis producers, processors and retailers.”
Essick said it’s his experience and his strong connection to Sonoma County that sets him apart from the other candidates.
“I’m the only candidate who has current executive level law enforcement experience with 24 years of service at the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office,” he said. “I was born and raised in the North Bay and my family was involved in Sonoma County agriculture beginning in the 1890s.”
In a blunt statement, Essick said he is simply the only candidate qualified to be sheriff.
“Having served as both administrative and field services captain, I’ve been responsible for the day-to-day operations of multiple divisions, managing budgets greater than $50 million and overseeing more than 250 employees who provide public safety around the clock.”
John Mutz
During his 40 years in law enforcement, Mutz has worked in various roles from narcotics to homicide and sex crime investigator and has reached titles such as commander and captain.
His campaign contributions reached more than $63,000 from January to April of this year. Mutz said the organizations that backed his campaign financially include the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), North Bay Labor Council and Sonoma Latino Democratic Political Action Committee and he notes he has been endorsed by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, along with Essick, and the Sonoma Index Tribune.
In reference to adult use cannabis, Mutz said his main concerns are how new policies affect illegal grows, any increase in black market activity, and auto accidents involving drivers on drugs.
“However, the biggest challenge I see is ensuring the safety of the new entrepreneurs who are now coming into the light of day,” he said. “They are a target for criminal predators, especially from outside the county, and we must be alert to protect them.”
His leadership in shifting police culture and practices is what Mutz said sets him apart from the other two candidates.
“I was commander of several stations—some as large as 450 personnel—where I was instrumental and effective in putting these changes in place,” Mutz said. “I’m very proud to have the support of several officers who were under my command at the time (and part of that transformation), who are now in leadership roles of their own.”
Mutz said this election presents the first significant opportunity for change in the sheriff’s office.
“The status quo we have now is not working. Right now, we have the opportunity to make this change here at home, and demonstrate that law enforcement based on dignity, respect and engagement will keep us safer, provide better deputy support and create a healthier dynamic with the community,” he said.
