I worked for the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office in corrections from 1991 until 2016. My last position was that of jail chief, overseeing the corrections bureau for former sheriff Steve Mansfield and then for Sheriff Rob Snaza. During my tenure with the office, I worked for four sheriffs. Each sheriff had their own direction, with the safety of the community being the primary objective.
I am conservative. I am a taxpayer in Lewis County. I raised my family in Lewis County. I believe in efficiency, safety and effectiveness. Those obligations are ultimately the sheriff’s responsibility. I believe unspent allocated funds should not be spent just because they were allocated. When I took the appointed position of jail chief under Mansfield, I swore I would never be a leader who collected chief wages when I was no longer able to affect the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of the office. After serving roughly two years under Snaza and Undersheriff Wes Rethwill, I saw mismanagement of tax dollars and the expense on unnecessary vehicles, uniforms and equipment. It was a philosophy to spend every dollar they were granted by the Board of County Commissioners because it was allotted to them. I saw my friend, Rob Snaza, become a leader who rules by positional authority and violates his own office policy and county policy by hiring a member of his family to work under his authority as a partially commissioned officer. I left Snaza’s command team in September 2016 after 26 years working for the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and I have been the appointed jail chief for a neighboring sheriff since.
Snaza is a nice guy and has an awesome family, but the general public doesn’t know the behind the scenes truth about mismanagement of the sheriff’s office.
Some might say I’m just a disgruntled former employee, angry because he ran me off. Seek out the truth from the other former command team members and line personnel who have left his office. They will tell you similar stories. Ask Rob what he’s accomplished during his terms. It’s about power, prestige, shiny cars, motorcycles, sunglasses and campaign hats when it should be about safety, efficiency and effectiveness.
I believe things happen for a reason. I believe my leaving the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was by faith. I believe Tracy Murphy has been called to run against Rob by faith. Talk to Tracy. He is conservative, he supports the constitution and he will assure your rights are protected. He is committed to your safety. He is committed to the efficiency of the office by being a good steward of your tax dollars. And he is committed to the effectiveness of the sheriff’s office by restoring good partnerships with the courts, commissioners, prosecutor and other police agencies. He is humble, he is a rule follower and he will be an awesome leader for the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. We need a change and I urge you to support him in November.
Kevin Hanson
Winlock
