Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Saturday

August 4, 2012

Kalkaska sheriff candidates prepare for primary vote

BY ART BUKOWSKI abukowski@record-eagle.com

KALKASKA — Bruce Soloway considers himself an outsider who has the best handle on what county residents want in their next sheriff.

Denny Corrado previously worked for the sheriff's department and believes he's no less in touch with the community's needs and concerns.

Soloway and Corrado, both Republicans, will square off in Tuesday's primary election. The winner will face incumbent one-term Sheriff David Israel, a Democrat, in the November general election.

Soloway, of Springfield Township, owns and runs the construction company Soloway and Sons. He has more than 40 years experience in the construction industry. He also teaches at Baker College in Cadillac and serves on the sheriff's posse in Wexford County.

Corrado, a former Coldsprings Township trustee and current Kalkaska County Road Commissioner, worked as a court bailiff for the sheriff's department for about two years before he was laid off last year. Before that, the Ohio native worked as a police officer in Florida, Ohio and Oklahoma. He also worked as a security guard in Florida and started a security company there.

Soloway contends there's been a "big problem" for years with sheriff's deputies not respecting the public's constitutional rights, and he plans to fix that perceived problem.

"One thing I'm promising is that I'll uphold my oath of office, which means, frankly, that I will hold up my end of the bargain when it comes to people's constitutional rights."

He also believes it's a good thing that he has limited experience in law enforcement and government.

"I am not an insider. The people of Kalkaska County have had enough of what's gone on inside the county for the last 20 or 30 years," he said. "As an outsider, I have a different point of view. I live the same life that these folks who are going to vote in the next sheriff are living."

Corrado counters that his years in law enforcement — and his experience in training law enforcement personnel — simply make him the best man for the job.

"It's my education and years of experience that gives me the upper hand," he said.

And he's only lived in the county for six years, he said, so he's hardly an entrenched "insider."

Corrado vows to make sure he's connected to the community.

"You've got to make yourself approachable," he said. "I'm not a sit-behind-a-desk sheriff. I'm out in the community seeing what the community's needs are."

Corrado previously said he wants to form a "township information board" in which representatives from the county's 12 townships would meet with sheriff's officials at least once a month to discuss questions and concerns.

He also wants to explore a community volunteer patrol program that would enlist and train volunteers to help with crime prevention and non-enforcement matters.

Soloway isn't committed to more programs.

"I don't want to implement a bunch of new programs," he said. "I want to review the programs that we have and see what's working and what isn't."

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