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Vail Daily letter: Van Beek for sheriff

After reading Andy Daly’s endorsement of Daric Harvey for sheriff, we are somewhat mystified. He states that the “town leaders” have the authority to hire the “best possible candidate from anywhere in the USA.” Apparently there were no qualified candidates within the Vail Police Department to choose from, which we have a difficult time believing, yet we digress. So, with all this in-depth searching, transportation of multiple candidates for their interviews (at the town’s expense I’m guessing) and the required vetting for this perfect candidate to fill this position, we would imagine this was no small expense that was picked up by the taxpayers of Vail. Do you truly think you got your money’s worth out of this candidate? He started in June of 2012 with the Vail Police Department, and sent to the Colorado Secretary of State in February of 2014 to request candidacy for sheriff documents. Do you truly believe that getting one year and eight months out of him was a quality find? Seriously?

James van Beek has been here a long time — that point certainly isn’t contested. He has been fortunate enough to wear many hats in this county as well. Not just in law enforcement but at Home Depot, Eagle County Transit, Vail Resorts and Conundrum Technologies to name a few. That makes for a very diverse understanding of the issues and people in this area. We believe that to be a better selling point than having law enforcement experience in Florida and very limited residency in this valley.

We are sure that Mr. Harvey is a nice person with good intentions yet we also somehow feel he may be a ladder climber. If he was truly interested in doing the right thing for the citizens of Eagle County, he might have considered staying in his current position until he had a better understanding of the locality and what makes this area tick, let alone complete his obligation to the taxpayers that brought him here in the first place. The council, or Mr. Daly, certainly don’t seem to be concerned about that fact.



John and Sandy Bishop

Eagle


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