Kevin Taylor: ‘I want to be a sheriff for all the people’

Recently I was pondering why I have decided to run for sheriff and the qualities I posses that Sheriff Babeu and his administration do not.
Before I begin I want to state, Sheriff Babeu and all of his predecessors have done some good for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. However, a leader’s worth is measured by more than just the palpable.

Human beings inherently make mistakes and I am the first to admit I’ve made my fair share since my birth 54 years ago. Ergo, it is unreasonable to expect perfection from anyone, but someone placed in a role of leadership should at the least attempt perfection.

This is where Sheriff Babeu fails badly. Sheriff Babeu believes in throwing stones, but doesn’t see all the dirt on the floor in his own house. In Sheriff Babeu’s delusional mind, the county attorney doesn’t prosecute, the HR director and board of supervisors have it in for him and President Obama is going after him because of his stance on immigration.

If Sheriff Babeu and President Obama were the only two in a room, the president would ask him his name. I can safely say the name Paul Babeu rarely if ever crosses the president’s mind. If Sheriff Babeu looks at the man in the mirror, he will see that all the negative attention he has received was well deserved and that he was the sole contributor who led to the inquiries.

Sheriff Babeu’s flouting of the law, the badge and his oath to the citizens of Pinal County has made him incapable of being what the citizens deserve, a professional leader.

When all of the negative press surrounding Sheriff Babeu surfaced, I was in disbelief, angry, dismayed, and knew change had to occur. Not just for my own personal satisfaction, but to remove the stench of arrogance, incompetence, unprofessional conduct, hedonism, and uncontrollable spending that hovers over its leader and the good men and women of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Babeu reminds me of the unruly kid on the playground. When you question his actions he plays the victim and cries, “They are picking on me.” A true leader would have admitted his failings and asked for forgiveness. 

Sheriff Babeu admits only what can be proven and stakes his service and reputation on the fact he wasn’t criminally charged. He forgets that his misdeeds cost the taxpayers thousands of dollars to investigate the claims. If Sheriff Babeu were in better control of his personal and professional lives there would have been no investigations and his department would not have been scrutinized by county, state and federal officials.
As I stated in my opening, Sheriff Babeu and each of his predecessors have done some good deeds for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.

Although he is commendable in some areas, Sheriff Babeu’s overall performance is a failing grade. He has not given the people of Pinal County what they deserve, a sheriff that’s an example to everyone else in the community.

If there is anyone in the community who believes that progress starts and stops with Sheriff Babeu, they don’t understand how and why America is the world leader it is today. Sheriff Babeu believes he invented the wheel. He insists he started the posse program, the only sheriff to arrests illegal aliens, started the multi agency narcotic task force, and that deputies rode horses until he arrived four years ago. This is outlandish and all of these programs have been around for years, and in most instances decades.