Budget plans, attacks paint race for sheriff

King County voters have to sift through a cloud of accusations that often obscures what either Sue Rahr or Greg Schmidt would do if elected sheriff.

Rahr, the incumbent, is battling criticism over her handling of the case of former sheriff's Detective Dan Ring, who faced numerous criminal charges before she intervened earlier this year.

Schmidt, a veteran Seattle police officer, continues to answer questions from his 1998 acquittal on domestic-violence charges.

Schmidt, a police lieutenant, has blasted Rahr for agreeing to settle with Ring, who was accused of taking money from an elderly man, doing favors for escort services, purchasing illegal drugs and using police sources to stalk his ex-wife. Rahr agreed to dropping the criminal charges and letting Ring retire after prosecutors said there were problems with the case that might mean Ring would be back on the force if he won at trial. Rahr did not want Ring back.

Rahr, who was named sheriff in January after Dave Reichert was elected to Congress, said she had no control over how the Ring case was handled before she took over from Reichert. Yet, she has found the Ring case a recurring issue she must defend herself against throughout the campaign.

She insists the majority of county deputies have high integrity, and she has hired an attorney to work with the department in personnel issues — making it easier to fire someone if necessary. She also started employee evaluations and implemented a number of rules for undercover detectives, including rotating them into other assignments.

Sue Rahr, 48


Residence: Bellevue

Occupation: King County sheriff, appointed in January to fill the remainder of Dave Reichert's term after he was elected to Congress

Personal: Grew up in Bellevue, graduated with a police-science degree from Washington State University; married to high-school sweetheart Bill Rahr, a Sammamish High School teacher; has two sons

Background: Joined Sheriff's Office in 1979, moved quickly through the ranks, worked in the gang, drug and sexual-assault units, special operations and internal investigations and was the Shoreline chief of police

Top endorsements: King County Fire Chiefs Association; Aerospace Machinists Industrial District Lodge 751; 5th, 37th, 41st, 43rd and 45th District Democrats

Campaign Web site: http://www.suerahr.com/

Greg Schmidt, 42


Residence: Unincorporated King County, Renton

Occupation: Seattle police lieutenant

Personal: Grew up in Spokane, graduated from the University of Washington; married to Jana Schmidt; a blended family of four children

Background: Seattle police officer for 20 years, commander of the warrants and narcotics units, pioneer in the domestic-violence unit and leader in others; Received an award from the Seattle City Council for cost-saving efforts; Founder of Families First, an advocacy group for families in conflict

Top endorsements: 31st, 32nd, 36th, and 47th District Democrats, Seattle Police Management Association

Campaign Web site: http://www.schmidtforsheriff.com

Rahr, a 26-year veteran with the department, has the support of top brass in the Sheriff's Office and of the region's movers and shakers, both Republican and Democratic. But she has not had the support of the rank and file, who in the primary election endorsed Jim Fuda, who finished third in the primary.

Neighborhood safety

Nonetheless, Rahr finished with more than 60 percent of the primary vote, while Schmidt and Fuda split the rest. Schmidt edged Fuda by 68 votes after their close race resulted in a recount.

Bob McBeth, a retired district-court judge who endorses Rahr, said the lack of support from the rank-and-file is not necessarily bad because she is in the position of being a manager and isn't going to "promise them everything" just to get their votes. In fact, Rahr has likened herself to being the "school principal who has to hand out the discipline" and therefore isn't always popular.

When it comes to the future of the department, Rahr lays out plans for cutting costs and making do with less money — rearranging the jail-transport system among them, adding more crime-prevention officers to work directly with the public, continuing stepped-up enforcement against meth labs and emphasizing neighborhood safety.

She is working to revive a computer system to alert authorities to parole violations and potential crime suspects. She's seeking federal funding for a heavy-capacity helicopter and finding ways to fix gaps in the county's Homeland Security plan.

Schmidt also said he would save the county money if he is elected. As head of the Seattle Police Department's warrants unit, he said, he streamlined the process, cutting the backlog of warrants from 50,000 to 15,000. If elected, he said, he would make sure there was a system that allowed errant officers to be fired.

"I'm someone who can look through the budget and see inefficiencies," he said. "I do the right thing, not the political thing."

Like Rahr with the county guild, Schmidt did not get the support of his fellow officers.

Overshadowing Schmidt's campaign is his arrest — and later acquittal — in a 1998 domestic-violence incident, which continues to live on, largely through his efforts to explain that he was the victim in the case.

Following his acquittal, he sued the Sheriff's Office, the deputies involved, the prosecutor and his ex-wife, alleging he'd been wrongfully arrested and prosecuted. The suit was later dismissed.

"Gender bias"

The experience turned Schmidt into an activist against what he calls "gender bias" in domestic violence cases.

Those in what he calls the "domestic violence industry" criticize him for his views expressed on men's rights Web sites.

Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper called Schmidt a "pioneer in the domestic-violence" field who was instrumental in putting Seattle's domestic-violence unit together. "I had no concern about his fairness. ... He was the person who made a decision to arrest John Manning," a former Seattle police sergeant and city councilman who pleaded guilty to fourth-degree domestic-violence assault.

But Stamper is concerned about Schmidt's "emphasis on male rights in domestic violence.

"There certainly are some male victims," Stamper said. "Not a lot. The figures run from 85 to 95 percent male suspects in domestic-violence cases. We should never lose sight of that."

In the 1990s, Schmidt founded Families First, an advocacy organization that, among many things, helps those facing domestic-violence charges to get the charges dismissed or to restore visitation rights with their children. He said the group has 75 volunteers and does everything from mediation — he's the mediator — to supervised visitations.

Agency not in coalition

That Families First is not a member of the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence — which offers training to volunteers and operational guidelines — concerns some domestic-violence experts. Usually, it means "they are operating outside our value system," said executive director Nan Stoops.

Schmidt said the coalition is part of the industry that fails to recognize that men can be victims, too.

The domestic-violence experts say Schmidt is naive about the realities of the problem, which is dominated by male abusers, they say.

"Any time somebody is running for a position where they are given power and authority over domestic-violence victims, it raises questions and concerns," said Merril Cousin, executive director of the King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "I certainly don't know what actually happened [between Schmidt and his ex-wife] ... but I don't need to bring up the [former Tacoma Police Chief David] Brame case," Cousin said.

Brame fatally shot his wife and then himself April 26, 2003, a case that has raised the awareness of law-enforcement officers and domestic violence.

Schmidt is quick to say that anyone of any age and either sex can be a victim of domestic violence, but that law-enforcement agencies need to know that "every victim counts."

Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com