From Chelsea Phua and Bill Lindelof:
Four men have taken official steps to run for El Dorado County sheriff.
A former chief in the California Highway Patrol, an investigator for the El Dorado County District Attorney's office an investigator with the Amador County District Attorney's office, and a retired El Dorado sheriff sergeant are vying for the opportunity to run the 395-member department.
Stan Perez, former chief of the CHP's Valley Division, said he has resigned from the force to begin his campaign in anticipation of the 2010 election.
John D'Agostini, an Amador County sheriff sergeant before he joined the District Attorney's office in Amador County, said he plans to formally announce his candidacy June 13.
Bob Luca, an El Dorado County district attorney's office investigator who has three decades of experience in law enforcement, also has officially filed his intention to run.
Larry Hennick, who retired in 2006 from the El Dorado County Sheriff's department after 32 years of service, is running for the office a second time.
Hennick, 56, who lost to incumbent Jeff Neves in a closely-fought race in 2002, said he wants to bring back "resident posts," where deputies who live in outlaying areas patrol their own neighborhoods. It would reduce response time and also cut fuel costs for the department, Hennick said.
Also, deputies would have the personal contacts in their communities. "They're in tune with the area that they live in, they know the problems, they know the businesses," Hennick said.
Hennick also plans to work on a long-term rehabilitation program for misdemeanor offenders, who would do community services instead of jail time, he said. That way, jails are reserved for those with the most serious felony offenses, he said.
Hennick was one of the first members of the department's SWAT team when it was founded in 1977. He was voted by his peers as "Officer of the Year" in 1980, promoted to detective in 1981 and soon after, started the El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement team. As a sergeant in charge of courts services and extraditions in 1997, Hennick commanded 30 deputies under him.
Hennick said his roots in El Dorado County go back to his grandfather, who was born in the county in 1901.
Luca, 63, spent 30 years at the state Department of Justice where he was chief of the California Bureau of Investigation. He works as a criminal investigator in the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office.
Luca has lived in El Dorado County for 22 years. He began his DOJ career as an undercover narcotics agent. While attending college, he was a reserve deputy sheriff in Fresno County.
After retiring from DOJ he was global director of security for Eo Trade Financial.
"We need someone with broad-based experience in the public and private sectors who can lead the sheriff's office through tough fiscal times without compromising core services," Luca said.
D'Agostini, 43, is a fourth-generation El Dorado County resident whose grandfather was a county supervisor and whose father served on the board of the Pioneer Union School District. D'Agostini is a Pioneer School District trustee and is second in command for the Amador County Combined Narcotics Enforcement Unit.
D'Agostini graduated from the Sacramento County Sheriff's academy and in 1994 became an Amador County sheriff's deputy. He was promoted to sergeant in 2001 and was transferred to the district attorney's office in 2003.
Most of D'Agostini's experience is in investigating narcotic cases, but he also dealt with various cases including fraud, child abuse and homicide.
As sheriff, D'Agostini said he wants to emphasize community-oriented policing. Getting deputies more involved with the community is a more efficient way of policing, especially when budgets are tight and resources limited, he said.
"What I want to do is get back to the roots of true community service enforcement," D'Agostini said.
Perez, 52, a Sacramento native, served nine years active duty in the Air Force and 14 in the reserves, retiring as a chief master sergeant. For the past six years with the CHP he has commanded 19 stations and managed 1,100 employees and a $200 million budget.
He began his CHP career in 1983 and has had a varied law enforcement career: commander of the governor's protection detail; special adviser to Ukraine on converting military police to a state agency; CHP's state legislative liaison; and Valley Division chief.
For Perez, the fight against drugs and budgetary problems are the most pressing concerns in El Dorado County.
"There a growing concern about drugs and gangs passing through our community," Perez said Tuesday. "We don't want to let them take root here."
Current El Dorado County sheriff Jeff Neves is "leaving his options open right now," said a department spokesman, adding that Neves is focused on budget constraints and has not decided if he will run for another term overseeing a 395-employee department.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.