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Sheriff hit with no-confidence vote Kennedy calls move politically motivated By Dani Dodge and Jill Briskey The president of the Jackson County Sheriff�s Employees� Association presented county commissioners Wednesday with a letter expressing union employees� lack of confidence in Sheriff Bob Kennedy. Association president Robert Stark said that employees of the association held a vote several weeks ago in a secret ballot. "The results of that ballot was, 94 percent of the Jackson County Sheriff�s Employees� Association has �no confidence� in Sheriff Robert O. Kennedy to safely, efficiently and effectively operate the Jackson County Sheriff�s Department," Stark read from a letter at the meeting. Kennedy, who announced two years ago that he wouldn�t seek re-election, called the no-confidence vote politically motivated. Kennedy said Stark and some other sheriff�s employees support former Oregon State Police trooper Mike Winters to replace him as sheriff, while he supports Sheriff�s Department Capt. Ed Mayer. "They�ve decided if they can discredit me then when Ed Mayer announces, I�ll have no credibility and they can get their guy Winters elected," Kennedy said. "It�s just crap." Kennedy said the support for Winters stems from false promises. "This guy (Winters) has promised them that corrections officers can work patrol," he said. "And that he can repaint the patrol cars. "He�s promised them all kinds of stuff." Winters, who owns an Ashland construction company, has been out of town for more than a week. "I don�t have anything to do with this whatsoever," Winters said. "I can see the handwriting on the wall but I don�t have anything to do with (Starks�) letter." Winters said it was inappropriate to talk about the "promises" referred to by Kennedy or to discuss his campaign at such an early date. According to Stark, 132 ballots were hand-delivered to sheriff�s department personnel. Eighty-four were returned, he added. "This is not a political scheme," Stark, a corrections deputy, said Wednesday. "This has been building within the employees association for some time." "This is not something that the association or the employees took lightly." Medford officer Nate Banry also has announced that he will run for the sheriff�s position in 2002. Mayer declined comment on the association letter except to say that not everyone in the department participated in the association vote. "There is an awful lot of people who refused to turn in a ballot," Mayer said. "They were upset with it." Jackson County Commissioner Jack Walker said he was shocked when Stark brought the letter to their meeting. "It caught us by so much surprise, I�m reviewing the tape now," he said from home Wednesday afternoon. "I had not heard one thing about it." Walker said he also believes there was some political motivation behind the letter. "It�s pretty obvious to us the sheriff�s office is going to be behind (Winters)," Walker said. At the meeting Stark simply read the letter to commissioners: "We, the employees of the Jackson County Sheriff�s Department, are compelled to bring the working conditions, environment, and poor morale within the department, to the attention of our county governing body and the citizens we are sworn to serve and protect." Stark went on to say that the employees� association has successfully challenged 13 violations of the collective bargaining agreement, including one unjustified suspension and two wrongful terminations. Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.