INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The two men vying for the top spot at the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office came together Wednesday for what could be the only debate between the candidates for the Sheriff’s race over the next 61 days.
Roughly 100 people, those mostly associated with the Indian River Republican Committee, filled the backroom of the Elk’s Club on 26th Street. Over the drone of karaoke singers in the bar area nearby, they heard why retired Lt. Bill McMullen wants to oust incumbent Sheriff Deryl Loar and why Loar thinks he should be re-elected.
This is the second election the pair have faced each other. In the last race, when there were four candidates, Loar and McMullen were the top two vote-getters.
“I have been your public servant for almost 30 years,” said McMullen, who rose from the rank of Deputy at the age of 24.
Loar, McMullen said, is the fourth Sheriff that he has served under.
McMullen spoke of morale being at its lowest point among the close to 500 employees of the Sheriff’s office. He said five unions now represent Sheriff’s Office employees when only one did when Loar took office in 2009.
“Why do you think an employee unionizes?” McMullen asked.
McMullen spoke of the lack of manpower dedicated to pro-actively protecting the residents and businesses in the county and vowed he could make the county a better place if elected Sheriff.
McMullen, who turns 50 in August, said he feels so strongly about the residents of the county that he retired just so he could run for office and try to right the wrongs.
Loar, 44, talked about the economic difficulties that the recession has had on his department and said that lack of pay raises as well as changes in the shifts have taken their toll on the deputies.
“(I’d like to) continue the mission to keep you safe,” Loar said.
Although the ground rule, or as a Florida State Committeeman Karl Zimmermann put it – the 11th commandment – of thou shall not speak ill of fellow Republicans wasn’t broken per se, the tension between the two candidates was apparent.
One matter the two agreed on was not changing the take-home car policy.
Other than that, the two didn’t meet eye-to-eye on much, with Loar saying he has cut the budget since he started; and McMullen claiming that, until the recently submitted budget, the ax to trim the budget came at the will and direction of the Board of County Commissioners.
When questioned about the changing the patrol deputies shifts from 12 hours to 10 hours, Loar said he had to cut back on overtime.
McMullen, who was a watch commander over the patrols since Loar took office, said the system isn’t working because there are not enough deputies to cover the county’s 11 zones around the clock.
“I think you, the citizens of Indian River County deserve better,” McMullen said.
Loar attempted to brush off a question about the recent Vero Beach 32963 investigation that revealed how the Sheriff’s Office has altered patrol records to blunt criticism about the lack of patrols on the barrier island.
He suggested the motivation was political because there have been other requests by McMullen supporters for similar records that 32963 requested.
Loar said the multiple public records request are taking up valuable employee time.
McMullen countered by noting that fulfilling public records requests is a responsibility that cannot be taken lightly.
Voters will decide in the Aug. 14 Primary which man should serve as the county’s Sheriff.
