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Sheriff, Smith square off By BARBARA LIVINGSTON NACKMAN CARMEL — The election season got off to a running start last night as Putnam County Sheriff Robert Thoubboron, who is seeking a fifth term in office, squared off with his opponent, Deputy County Executive Donald Smith. In their first face-to-face encounter before voters, the two sat shoulder to shoulder on a dais in the cafeteria of Carmel High School with two of four candidates for the Carmel Town Board and two candidates for the county legislative seat in district 9 at a forum sponsored by the Concerned Residents of Carmel and Mahopac. A third candidate for sheriff, Gordon Moccio, 42, a part-time Lewisboro police officer and full-time supervisor at a Westchester sewage treatment plant, also participated. "Look at the record and of what we've accomplished," Thoubboron told the room of about 60 people. "I want to continue working as your sheriff. There's so much more to be done." Smith, 53, told the group he would lead the department back to "the glory it once had." The problem with the current administration, he said, is "a troubling pattern of behavior ... those who enforce the law must follow the law." On May 10, the GOP committee by a four-vote margin endorsed Thoubboron, 64, a former state police commander, who has been sheriff for 16 years. In his current four-year term, Thoubboron has been enmeshed in several controversies, including settlements and judgments in federal civil rights cases against his office, with some people saying he is vindictive toward his critics. Thoubboron has won praise for the county's low crime rate, for getting substantial grant money and numerous technological advances to the department, for adding space to the county jail to relieve crowding and for bringing in revenue for boarding prisoners from other regions. Smith, a retired Army brigadier general, has been deputy county executive to Robert Bondi since 1998. A longtime Republican, Smith received the endorsement of the Independence, Conservative and Green parties and has received support from the Democrats. Most comments from the audience were in defense of Thoubboron and directed against Smith. "The sheriff is doing an excellent job," said Donald Omara, a business owner in Carmel. Much of the controversy surrounding Thoubboron centers on a much-publicized case in which the county lost a civil rights lawsuit brought by John Leather, who said he was targeted for a drunken-driving arrest for political reasons. Leather, the former county fire coordinator, won a $645,000 jury verdict against the county, Thoubboron and his department. The amount was reduced to $203,000 by a federal judge, and Thoubboron was personally responsible for $3,000. "It is a case that newspapers sensationalized," said Thomas Saint Angelo of Mahopac, who criticized Smith for not having police experience. Smith reacted by saying he had experience supervising large departments. "What the sheriff's department needs is a leader," he said. The election, he said, is about building a team to work together with local and state police. |
