October 21, 2002

With Bigger gone, candidates for sheriff pledge a hands-on approach

By Brendan Scott
Times Herald-Record
bscott@th-record.com

Goshen - One thing's for sure: There's going to be a new sheriff in town.

Republican Carl DuBois and Democrat John Whiffen may differ on the details but both promise sweeping changes should they succeed departing Orange County Sheriff H. Frank Bigger.

Start with politics. Each candidate believes politics loomed too large in the Bigger administration. So DuBois and Whiffen both guarantee that they're out to make a difference, not to gain an office.

Cognizant of the scandals and public relations flops that hounded Bigger during his two terms in office, the sheriff contenders each promise an open-door policy.

How about qualifications? DuBois and Whiffen point out each other's differences - DuBois says he's got the connections; Whiffen says he's a better administrator - but both boast strong records in leadership and law enforcement.

Each pledge to bring a hands-on work ethic to the sheriff's office as they overhaul its management and expand its reach.

Just listen to them:

"A good sheriff leads by example and gets his hands dirty," DuBois said. "I plan to work evenings and to work nights and not just for show. I'll patrol the Heritage Trail. I'll be working next to the correctional officers on midnight-to-eights. I would not expect someone to do something I wouldn't do."

Said Whiffen, in a separate interview: "I like to lead by example. I'm one of those people who wouldn't ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't do myself."

In pre-primary politics, both camps spent most of their energy slinging mud at Bigger.

But the sheriff's stunning defeat in the Republican primary last month has left both candidates scrambling to sell their vision of the post-Bigger sheriff's office.

For DuBois - a retired Middletown police lieutenant and a Town of Mount Hope native - the platform is "moving forward for today, protecting tomorrow."

Whiffen - who was born in Liberty and has been Highlands town police chief since 1997 - is stumping for "Real Change."

Whiffen set himself apart earlier this month when he said he would take a hard look at replacing the elected sheriff with an appointed public safety commissioner.

The 56-year-old Democrat also said he would prefer the Orange County Jail be placed under the county executive's control.

"My background is as a police officer. I don't really like corrections all that much," Whiffen said. "I don't really know corrections."

In a follow-up interview, he added: "It wasn't my career choice. But that's why I'm going to hire a professional jail administrator."

Whiffen wants to thicken the imaginary line separating the sheriff's road division and corrections department - or the "front" and the "back" as they're known on the inside.

But DuBois opposes handing any of the sheriff's authority to the county executive and he would erase the line between the front and the back altogether.

"You've got to get people out of that," said DuBois, 48, who proposes reorganizing the office under a unified chain of command. "By unifying the command and getting people to work together, that'll change. It's one sheriff's office."

DuBois plans to establish four deputy undersheriffs to oversee corrections, investigations, administration and the road division. That way, everyone would be accountable to the top.

"We've done our homework," said DuBois, who's made overtures to various lawmakers, police chiefs and officer groups to ask what they want out of the sheriff's office. "We have a plan. We can do it with the resources we have. We dive in right now."

Whiffen thinks his opponent's management plan is misguided. He says it shows DuBois, who retired in 1997, has been out of police work too long, especially considering anti-terrorism measures of the last year.

"I'm in law enforcement," said Whiffen. "He got out five years ago. A unified chain of command doesn't make any sense in the sheriff's office. Corrections officers and sheriff's deputies are two different things. I wouldn't want a corrections officer telling a police officer what to do. I wouldn't want it vice versa, either."

But Whiffen has taken a wait-and-see approach when it comes to his specific management plans:

"I wouldn't say there's anything major I would like to bring up right now because I'm not on the inside yet."

Whiffen hopes that will change Nov. 5. But there is still competition from Green Party candidate Neil MacDonald Hickok, who vows to fight, among other things, the war on drugs and corrupt government officials.

Whiffen and Hickok face stiff resistance from DuBois, who is coming off a surprise 2-to-1 victory over an incumbent sheriff who many considered politically bulletproof.

"I don't feel comfortable about an election until it's over," said DuBois. "But I will say this: The record speaks for itself. We have overcome insurmountable odds."

Whiffen's unfazed. After all, he ran for sheriff four years ago.

"Where was Carl DuBois, then?" he said. "I've got the 24 years' experience as an administrator, not as an investigator. I've got the background."

John J. Whiffen
Age: 56
Hometown: Fort Montgomery
Personal: Married; two grown children
Education: Associate's degree in police science from Rockland Community College
Occupation: Town of Highlands police chief, 1993 to present. Executive director of Rockland County Police Athletic League, 1992 to present. Director of security at the Galleria Mall in White Plains, 1991-92. Village of Spring Valley police officer, 1970-90. Sullivan County sheriff's deputy, 1968
Political Experience: Unsuccessful run for Orange County sheriff in 1998
Military Experience: U.S. Air Force Military Police in Southeast Asia, 1964-68
Term of Office: Four years
Salary of Office: $70,989

Carl DuBois
Age: 48
Hometown: Mount Hope
Personal: Married; two grown children
Education: Bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Mercy College Dobbs Ferry
Occupation: Technical analyst and computer systems administrator at Citizen Communications, 1997 to present; Middletown City police officer, 1974-97
Political Experience: Otisville village justice, 1998-02; Mount Hope town justice 1999-02
Military Experience: None
Term of Office: Four years
Salary of Office: $70,898

How to reach them
Carl DuBois
Phone: 346-4653
Address: P.O. Box 232
Otisville, NY 10963
Web site: www.dubois4sheriff.com

John Whiffen
Phone: 294-5264
Address: P.O. Box 299
Fort Montgomery, NY 10922
Web site: www.whiffenforsheriff.com