He Brought A Textbook To A Gunfight

This evening I attend the debate between Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovitch and his challenger, Douglas Orr. Orr is looking to unseat Knezovich in the fall election. The debate was sponsored by the 6th Legislative District Democrats who I appreciate for doing so. I live in the 7th Legislative District but I attended since I am a county resident.

Da Man.

Well, if anyone came prepared to answer questions, it was Ozzie Knezovitch. He took every opportunity to cite numbers, dollars, accomplishments, and highlight everything he's done as sheriff since 2006. Mr Orr, on the other hand, kept bringing up that he doesn't want to raise taxes like Knezovich does. He says he has a program that could save $20 million and pump either $6 million or $1.6 million, depending on when he said it, back into the department.

Knezovich stressed his leadership with concrete examples. Orr questioned his leadership with innuendo and insinuation. Concerning the 46 deputies who are eligible to retire he said, "I don't know this for a fact but I heard that Sheriff Knezovich asked for a letter from each deputy who would leave the department stating why they would leave." The fact that he doesn't know something is true didn't stop him from repeating it as fact. What kind of person does that?

I also noticed that Orr would take Knezovich to task for not completing things fast enough, such as implementing body cameras and getting the city and county courts combined. He would ask, "Why not do it now?" Then in his closing remarks he says, "You have to be naive to think everything is going to be implemented right away." Wait, for the last hour it's been, "Why not do it now?" What changed?

Several times during the debate, Orr would finish his remarks and Knezovich would plainly state that what Orr said about a topic was false. Orr remained impassive and didn't respond to any of the accusations. After stating Orr had just told yet another falsehood, Knezovich pointed out that "truth, fact, and integrity" is where he and Orr differ. Ouch.

Knezovich also pointed out that while Orr keeps emphasizing leadership, Orr actually has never lead anything. Ever. Ouch again. Orr admitted to that but countered that he's an academic and he has a masters degree in Organizational Leadership, a masters in Business Administration, and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice.

Looking all Anchorman.

When asked what type of training each has provided other law enforcement officers, Knezovich pointed out he has trained officers in all facets of law enforcement. Orr said he was an NRA pistol instructor once, but he's an academic and that's mainly where his experience has been. Well then.

There were no questions concerning Orr's strange respectful acknowledgement of a theory that legalized abortion in 1973 contributed to the drop in crime that began in 1992. Orr, with a B.A. in Religious Education from Bob Jones University, thinks it's important for voters to know that he's a conservative Republican who is opposed to abortion. On a question about drug enforcement he mentioned, "There's a 10th Amendment. Interesting." But then he didn't explain why he brought it up. I think this paragraph tells me all I need to know about Douglas Orr.