By Michael Howell
Ravalli County will go into the new year with a new Sheriff and a new County Commissioner. Last Friday, on December 30, outgoing Sheriff Chris Hoffman was sworn in as Ravalli County’s newest county commissioner and within minutes former Undersheriff Steve Holton was sworn in as Ravalli County’s new Sheriff.
Asked about the transition from being the head of an office to being one member of a board, Hoffman said, “It all comes down essentially to continuing in public service.” He said even as head of an office he always took a team approach and that meant listening seriously to what the team members had to say. He said the goal in the Sheriff’s Office was the same as the goal for the commissioners.
“Our goal in any office is to provide the best services possible to the citizens,” he said.
Hoffman drew a strong line, however, in his election campaign between the way in which an office head or department head serves the public interest and the way in which the board of county commissioners serves the public. In the first case, it is mostly a matter of enforcing and implementing policy. In the case of the board of commissioners it is setting policy. Hoffman has made no secret of the fact that he believes the Board of County Commissioners has been overstretching its authority in its efforts to micro-manage the various offices and departments in the county.
“I’ve had some issues with the process,” said Hoffman. He said that he believes the board of commissioners has interpreted state law to mean that they can be more involved in the day to day operations of offices and departments. He said he witnessed first-hand the negative impacts of this on the operations of the Sheriff’s Office, but he was aware of how it impacted other offices and departments as well. He said that elected officials and department heads need to be able to operate freely within their approved budgets.
“The commissioners’ job is setting policy and ensuring that department heads and officials are following state law and operating within their approved budgets,” said Hoffman. “It isn’t to take on people who have garnered the public trust and interfere with their operations.”
Hoffman was critical of what he calls the tendency towards consolidation of power in the commissioners’ office and the overarching focus on liability issues. He said if this tendency continues the county will end up operating more like a municipality.
“In the end, instead of government by the people for the people,” he said, “we’ll end up with government by the insurance company for the insurance company.”
“That’s not to say I don’t think limiting liability is important,” he said. “That’s what makes training an imperative at the Sheriff’s Office.” He said that it is constant training and updating on matters of practice and law that help limit liability, but that the current board of commissioners has been questioning those expenditures.
Hoffman said that he knows he will only be one voice on the board, “and I am under no illusion that one voice will bring any dramatic change. Change will come slowly and only with persistent pressure,” he said.
He also believes that he is bringing an important voice to the table.
“I know what the budget looks like,” said Hoffman, “but one thing the commissioners can have an impact on is they can choose to make the job of delivering services easier. What I bring to the table is a perspective on what does or doesn’t work in the trenches.” Hoffman said that he has deep roots in the Bitterroot valley.
“I owe this community a lot, most of which I don’t think I could ever repay,” he said.
As exciting as the changes are, however, the transition leaves him with very mixed feelings.
“I’ve been a peace officer for 32 years. There is no way to explain what that means,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman said that he was glad that the commissioners saw fit to appoint Steve Holton as the interim Sheriff.
“I have a lot of confidence in his skills and abilities,” said Hoffman. “It will be business as usual at the Sheriff’s Office.” He said that he watched Holton move from reserve deputy all the way up to Undersheriff and it gave him great reassurance that Holton was going to step up and carry on.
“I have the luxury to be walking away from an office that won’t miss me,” he said. He believes that the office will only get better under Holton’s direction.
Holton started on the reserve force in 1996 and became a full-time officer in 1999. He was made Undersheriff in 2013. He has also served as coroner for several years and was instrumental in integrating the 9-1-1 emergency call system back into the Sheriff’s Office after a brief period of operation under the board of county commissioners.
“Chris (Hoffman) left us in a really good position,” said Holton. He said he appreciated the community support that he was inheriting and was very appreciative of the support he had from his fellow officers.
“As long as we have that, we will be successful,” he said.
He said that, on the whole, nothing is going to change much under his leadership. One big change that is coming that he looks forward to is the installation of a new electronic communication system that can send emergency alerts to citizens on cell phones and land lines.
“We will not quit going door to door to alert people in an emergency,” said Holton, “but it will give us a chance to reach a lot more people a lot quicker.” The system will eventually be connected to the existing alert systems that have been implemented in some of the school districts.
The most pressing issue right now facing the office is the continued severe weather. With an arctic cold front that has descended on the valley, sub-zero temperatures and two recent automobile collisions resulting in fatalities, Holton cautions people to slow down and take extra care on the road.