Vancouver resident Ann Marie Paque assesses the candidates in the race for Clark County sheriff

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

I have been following the race to the primary closely, all the candidates say similar things. They will all bring back safety to the community, they all have some form of experience or education that makes them qualified, they will all listen to the citizens. Sounds good right? No need to worry about which two move forward or which one becomes the sheriff in 2023.

I beg to differ. The sheriff is responsible for the jail in our community. The jail serves all the local agencies and is one of the most expensive line items for the county. In addition to the housing of inmates, it appears to have an extraordinary number of lawsuits and claims of misconduct. Now add in the number of lawsuits and complaints for the deputy side of the operation, internal complaints and lawsuits from the civilian staff and the excessive overtime for all three and we as citizens have a real financial problem on our hands. Our tax dollars are not being efficiently used for public safety.

I have listened to all the candidates and here is what I have determined. Rey Reynolds serves the city of Vancouver and is well liked, but he has no experience running any type of large organization with a large budget. 

John Horch currently serves in a leadership role for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office as chief of enforcement. He is the No. 3 guy and we have not seen significant change beyond uniforms and beards and an increase in crime. John Horch is entrenched in the current way of doing business at the sheriff’s office and has not displayed or even communicated any plan to make significant improvements to the operation. In fact, John Horch has no experience outside of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. 

David Shook has experience in a leadership role in a larger organization where he was successful in implementing large projects, improving training, and forecasting future needs without burdening the taxpayer even further. David Shook has an outside perspective, and a strategic plan to replace current leadership and bring in a well-rounded group of advisors with expertise to not only improve law enforcement but to assist in improving financial controls and use our tax dollars wisely and conservatively. 

The citizens of Clark County need a professional organization not the current long standing entrenched good old boys club throwing our hard-earned money away on the “doing business as usual.” It is time for a fresh start. We have until Tuesday folks to keep at least our wallets a little safer.

Ann Marie Paque
Vancouver