Primary 2020: Democrats Vie To Face Pinellas Sheriff In November

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Two Democrats will face off in the primary Tuesday to take on Republican Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri in the general election Nov. 3.

Eliseo Santana

"I served in the army and worked in the sheriff’s office in Pinellas County for over 30 years. I am a progressive leader in the community with a passion for improving our culture of policing. Having experienced a negative policing culture, I am prepared to lead Pinellas County to adopt a positive, nonviolent culture.

"My experiences and commitments to justice, safety and accountability have shaped me into the type of leader I am today. When I joined the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, I was immediately met with hostile, racist rhetoric from a superior. I was treated differently simply because I am a Hispanic man. Experiences such as these have prepared me to be the leader that the men and women of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the people of Pinellas County, so desperately deserve. I know and have experienced racism, so I will work tirelessly to improve the lives of other people of color in Pinellas County.

"Implementing values like service, security and compassion will assist us with our transition to change. I would also make sure that we transition away from the violent 'domination tactics' of the sheriff’s office — by utilizing social workers, community policing, de-escalation tactics and limiting the use of armed intervention.

"Seeing the resistance to change, reform and modernization motivated me to run for office. If we start our changes from the top, we will be able to end the militarization of our domestic police force."

James McLynas

"There is little doubt America has a police problem and so does the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office," James McLynas said. "Mass incarceration, record numbers of citizens abused, assaulted and killed by police, lack of police accountability, skyrocketing costs, bloated unsustainable pensions and overall corruption within these agencies are today’s reality. Combine this with the ever-expanding police state, policing for profit, unprecedented warrantless citizen spying and civil asset forfeiture that the FBI claims took 'more cash and assets from American citizens than all other burglaries and robberies combined,' and one begins to understand the magnitude of the problem.

"We need and deserve a sheriff not indoctrinated into police culture their entire career, one not preselected for us by the police industry, so the same issues continue unabated. We need someone not engrained within and supporting the 'Thin Blue Line' mafia-style code of silence currently protecting bad cops," McLynas said. "As your sheriff, I will hold all Pinellas County deputies to a higher standard."

McLynas said he is running for sheriff:

• To ensure that each Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy and employee treats every single person they come in contact with in a professional and courteous manner, without exception.
• To create a more user-friendly agency that includes community input, complete transparency, open records and that literally protects and serves the people of Pinellas County.
• To weed out every corrupt, hostile, racist, abusive, rude, arrogant and deceptive officer in every agency in Pinellas County, so that law enforcement can regain the trust of the entire community.
• To ensure that the PCSO is dedicated to solving actual crimes rather than generating revenue and to initiate sweeping reforms that reduce the use of force and make preservation of all life the No. 1 goal.
• To create an environment where the sight of a PCSO patrol car in your rearview mirror does not invoke fear.
• To reduce costs and the tax burden on the fine people of Pinellas County."

He said other goals include ending the war on drugs and reviving tourism in the county, using body cameras and promoting 100 percent accountability by all sheriff's office sworn employees, and ending mass incarceration, petty arrests and debt prison.

"The coronavirus has now highlighted the ludicrous and dangerous practice of arresting people over the slightest civil infraction," he said. "Their goal is to fill jails to overcapacity in order to collect federal subsidies and protect deputy payroll and pensions. This is job security at the taxpayer’s expense. Sheriff Gualtieri arrests a stunning 4 percent of the total county population every year. That is more than 45,000 arrested annually. Roughly 35,000 of these arrests are for minor, petty and victimless offenses such as traffic tickets, open container, trespass and cannabis.

"Criminalizing such a large segment of the people of Pinellas over minor infractions is costing hundreds of millions in attorney’s fees and lost employment. Families and children go without support and a massive toll is taken on the health of our community," McLynas said. "As your sheriff, I will save taxpayers over $50 million annually by ending the barbaric and outdated practice of incarcerating people for nonviolent petty offenses. I will focus full time on the 80 percent of real crimes that go unsolved each year like rapes, murders, assaults, robberies and crimes against children."