I am writing this letter to the editor in support of Sheriff Kirk Martin to be re-elected Sheriff of Orleans County.
Sheriff Martin is a lifelong member of our community.
He grew up in Brownington and attended Brownington Central School and Lake Region Union High School.
He was first appointed Sheriff in 2008 by Governor Jim Douglas, after the retirement of Sheriff Lance Bowen.
The job of Sheriff has many moving parts, they include formulating the annual operational budget, keeping in mind the wishes of the voters.
Supervising all personnel, including Deputy Sheriff’s as well as administrative staff. Attending meeting with towns to make sure the department is living up to the expectations of the towns who have contracts for services with the department.
He sets realistic goals for both the department and the voters.
An example of this is if the Sheriff’s Department was to go to a 24/7 operation, the cost for each town, excluding Derby and Newport (Derby because of the amount of service needed and Newport having its own Police Department), would be in the range of $230,000.00 per year.
This additional expense would be in addition to their current taxes, which is already out of control.
Sheriff Martin understands this fact and works to keep operational cost down to save taxpayers money.
Now let’s look at a few of Sheriff Martin’s accomplishments:
Thanks to Sheriff Martin over the last 10 years the Orleans County Sheriffs Department has seen many improvements including:
Securing funding for and moving into a new, modern and secure office on the Derby Road.
Increasing and modernizing the vehicle fleet.
Working diligently with towns to increases patrol hours.
Sheriff Martin added a K-9 program and worked for body cameras for added safety.
And let’s not forget Operation Santa!!!!
Also let us not forget, when North Country Union High School lost their School Resource Officer (SRO) Sheriff Martin worked with the school and placed a Deputy Sheriff at NCUHS.
Sheriff Martin also worked with Lake Region High School to place a Deputy at that school as well making these two schools safer for our children.
Stepping up to the plate is something Sheriff Martin does without fanfare or a need to “blow his own horn,” something very rare nowadays.
This is why I support the Re-election of Sheriff Kirk Martin!
Representative Gary Viens
Newport, Vermont
