Hampshire County voters this year will elect only the fourth person in the last 96 years to hold the office of sheriff.
That process starts in Thursday’s primary election when the three Democratic candidates – Patrick J. Cahillane, Kavern L. Lewis and Melissa E. Perry – will be narrowed to one. The top vote-getter will face Republican David F. Isakson, of South Hadley, a Hadley police officer, in the Nov. 8 general election.
Voters should carefully evaluate the candidates because turnover is extremely rare for Hampshire County’s chief law enforcement officer. Albert G. Beckmann was elected sheriff in 1920 and served through 1962, when he was succeeded by John F. Boyle. When Boyle died in office in 1984, Robert J. Garvey was appointed to succeed him. Garvey, who was elected to five six-year terms, announced in February that he would not seek re-election.
The sheriff, who is paid $151,709 annually, oversees the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction in Northampton, and is responsible for 262 inmates, managing a staff of about 175 and administering a $13.8 million annual budget.
Lewis, of Amherst, in his campaign literature asks voters to make history by electing him as the first openly gay and youngest sheriff in the state, and the first African-American sheriff in western Massachusetts, and describes his qualifications as “10 combined years experience in corrections, security and policing.”
However, an examination by the Gazette of Lewis’ background found that the agencies where he claimed to have worked as an officer show no record of his employment or described his tenure as brief. Those discrepancies – and Lewis’ subsequent denial of having told the Gazette certain details about his background, which is contradicted by a recording of an interview with the candidate – make him unfit to be sheriff.
The other two Democrats, Cahillane and Perry, have demonstrated that they are credible candidates with the professional experience and temperament needed to serve as sheriff.
Cahillane, of Northampton, has worked at the Hampshire County Jail for more than three decades, starting as a correctional officer, and has been assistant superintendent for 14 years. In that role, he has served as chief administrative and operating officer of the sheriff’s department. He earned
a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Western New England University in Springfield, and has been an adjunct faculty member for 10 years at Westfield State University in its criminal justice program.
Perry, also of Northampton, is director of behavioral health nursing at Holyoke Medical Center, where she manages more than 100 nurses, clinicians and social workers. A registered nurse, she has bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and psychology from Westfield State University. Perry frequently points to her lineage as Boyle’s granddaughter.
Both Cahillane and Perry have talked knowledgeably about the increasingly complex challenges in the correctional field as more prisoners, particularly in the county jails, require treatment for addictions or mental health issues to help them re-enter society and reduce the likelihood of repeat offenses.
The edge goes to Cahillane because of his familiarity with the sheriff’s department and the jail, which under Garvey’s watch has developed programs emphasizing rehabilitation by providing inmates with education and vocational skills. During the campaign, Cahillane has pointed to expanding initiatives such as the Bridge to the Future House, which moves inmates from minimum security to a home in the community where they are required to find employment as they make the transition to life after prison.
Our support goes to Cahillane for the Democratic nomination.
Voters in most Hampshire County communities will find other contested races on Thursday’s Democratic ballot.
In Amherst, Pelham, and Precinct 1 of Granby, voters will choose from among six candidates vying to succeed 3rd Hampshire Rep. Ellen Story, who is retiring after more than 24 years in the Legislature. They are Vira Douangmany Cage, Solomon Goldstein-Rose, Sarah la Cour, Bonnie MacCracken, Eric Nakajima and Lawrence O’Brien. There are no Republican candidates.
Voters in Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Worthington will help determine the Democratic nominee for the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin & Hampden Senate seat now held by Benjamin B. Downing of Pittsfield. The candidates are Rinaldo Del Gallo, Andrea Harrington and Adam Hinds. The Democratic winner will face Republican Christine Canning in November.
Also on the Democratic ballot in every Hampshire County community except Ware is the contest between Mary Hurley and Jeffrey Morneau to succeed Michael J. Albano as the governor’s councilor in the 8th District. There are no Republican candidates.
We urge all voters to inform themselves about the qualifications of these candidates and participate in the election. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday. Information about all the candidates is available online at www. gazettenet.com/2016election.