What if Nygren had lost in 2010?

What would the McHenry County Sheriff's Department be like today, had Keith Nygren lost his bid for re-election in November 2010?

Fifty-three percent of the lemmings voted for him. What did we get? More of the same. And what have we got right now? The same.

Had I been elected Sheriff of Nottingham, I intended to hire as Undersheriff an Illinois State Police trooper with considerable command experience. That trooper would have supported a no-nonsense approach to running the department with integrity and respect for the public.

Being a deputy is often a hard job. There is no need to make it more unpleasant from the top.

All of the pending lawsuits would have been carefully re-evaluated and discussed with the State's Attorney. Jim Sotos would have had to look for another sugar plum fairy. The Sheriff's office would have used the State's Attorney's Office. I would have listened to the legal advice of Lou Bianchi, and we would have worked well together, saving the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in outside legal fees.

But, more importantly, my Undersheriff and I would have started cleaning house. Cliques would have been broken up. Favoritism would have stopped. There would be no hiring of unqualified applicants. The unfair and partial meting out of discipline would have stopped. Crimes by deputies would not be handled "administratively" and out of sight of the public.

Seipler would be back at work and Milliman would be working. Schlenkert would have been back at work and paid promptly for the money owed him.

Shoddy investigations of crime scenes would not be tolerated. Detectives would actually have to do their jobs. There would be no "orchestrated" report-writing. In complicated cases deputies would be required to write complete, coherent reports independently. They would not be allowed to get their heads together, so that all the reports fit together like a well-oiled Swiss clock. Discrepancies would be resolved.

Voters are going to get a chance to elect a new sheriff in November 2014. Hopefully, a fully-qualified, competent, experienced candidate will move into the County and live here for the required year.