The year-long contest for who will be the next sheriff of Deschutes County is quickly coming to a close, but not without more allegation-slinging – a consistent activity since the race began.
In the final weeks of the race, candidate William Bailey – a captain with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office — fielded criticism and accusations of deceit for his educational record, service with the Coast Guard and favoritism by the outgoing sheriff, Shane Nelson.
Last week, Bailey’s campaign responded to these allegations with a public statement refuting their merit and laying the blame at the feet of DCSO Follies, a blog and Facebook page that posts regularly about the sheriff’s office and purports to have insider information.
The site focuses on, “Holding Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Leadership to account,” according to the website’s “about” information. The blog’s authors are unknown, but given the tenor of their posts, they support the other candidate, Kent Vander Kamp, for the top office and are critical of Bailey and others in leadership positions at DCSO.
The most recent claims against Bailey included a question of whether he had enough credits for the management and executive certifications he holds. According to an investigation by the state’s Department of Public Safety Standards and Training following numerous complaints, he does.
With regard to another allegation that he was discharged mid-service by the Coast Guard for suspect reasons, Bailey says that it was an honorable discharge and he has made redacted copies of his discharge papers available to corroborate. The redacted part, he says, and the reason for the discharge is due to a personal family matter.
“I served four years, reenlisted and a very personal situation arose, and I made a choice to focus on myself and my family and was honorably discharged,” Bailey said in an interview with the Source Weekly.
Similarly, Bailey parried the claims that he has been promoted swiftly over the last few years because he is Nelson’s hand-picked replacement. Bailey joined DCSO as a reserve officer in 2000 and held an entry-level rank until 2014 when he was promoted to sergeant. In 2020, he made lieutenant and two years later captain, according to his employee transcript from the Oregon Criminal Justice Information Records Inquiry System. The timing of the lieutenant and captain promotions are what critics point to as fast-tracking by Nelson.
“Any narrative that I have not completely earned my positions over the last 20 years is completely false,” Bailey said. “I’ve worked incredibly hard…other people have been promoted over me at times, too, but that doesn’t get discussed,” he added.
Harder to substantiate is the assertion that Bailey is too closely aligned with Nelson and that some within the office are concerned he will continue in the same spirit of retaliation and silencing that many have alleged of Nelson over the years.
During the course of this year’s race, four tort claim notices were filed against DCSO, all with related accounts of discrimination and retaliation against Vander Kamp’s supporters and favoritism for those who support Bailey. A tort claim notice is an official declaration that a person believes they have grounds for a lawsuit. The notices are from Sgt. Jeremiah Minton, Sgt. James McLaughlin, deputy Matthew Palmer and Vander Kamp.
In Minton’s notice, Bailey is specifically named as allegedly persecuting DCSO employees with “strong personalities and operational experience.” The tort claim notice by Matthew Palmer describes an incident in Minton’s claim as well, where Palmer said he is “concerned about retaliation if Bailey wins the election…”
Under Nelson’s command, the office has been sidled with similar lawsuits over the last eight years. In 2021, former deputy Eric Kozowski was awarded over $1 million from a lawsuit claiming he was fired by Nelson in retribution for running against him in 2016. Earlier this month, Deschutes County was ordered to pay $265,000 as a settlement to a former sheriff’s captain for claims that Nelson retaliated against him in an attempt to cover up misconduct.
Bailey, however, says it is unfair to ask him to answer for Nelson’s actions.
“I’m being attributed to lawsuits over the last eight years because I am being endorsed by the outgoing sheriff,” he said. And despite the suits, he says that the toxic work environment narrative is one that’s developed over the last year, fueled by the election.
At a meeting on Sept. 18, the Deschutes County Sheriff Employee’s Association union, which represents 159 employees at DCSO, held a show-of-hands vote for who to endorse for Sheriff. There were 54% of due-paying members present and 96% of those present voted for Vander Kamp, according to Chris Erhardt, DCSEA president. Erhardt said that he considered the turnout to be strong for the meeting and all members were notified well in advance that the vote would take place.
“We wholeheartedly support Kent in his campaign for Deschutes County Sheriff,” read a press release from the organization the next day.
Vander Kamp, a member of DCSEA, attended the meeting but says he didn’t say anything and abstained from voting.
Bailey is not the only one to face allegations during this election cycle. Vander Kamp likewise has faced new scrutiny since joining the race, from concern over his long held real estate company to claims he intentionally left off past employment at a police department in Southern California.
An internal investigation into a tip that Vander Kamp was employed and discharged for cause from the La Mesa Police Department in California led to a months-long undertaking by Nelson to get Vander Kamp’s personnel records released. In the end, DCSO received the records and despite efforts by Vander Kamp to keep them private, the records were made public earlier this month. Among other things, the memos from the mid-’90s detailed concern over Vander Kamp’s unauthorized use of a radar gun and insistence during an internal investigation that he was certified despite the investigator’s inability to find proof of certification or training for the tool.
In interviews with the Source Weekly’s editorial board last month, each candidate detailed their plans for the office should they win the election. On matters of houselessness, fire safety, deflection and staffing the two men were mostly in agreement. Yet, the view each holds on the satisfaction of those within the office clearly differs.
Editor’s note: This article was adjusted to clarify the percentage of the vote Kent Vander Kamp received from the Deschutes County Sheriff Employee’s Association.
—This story is powered by the Lay It Out Foundation, the nonprofit with a mission of promoting deep reporting and investigative journalism in Central Oregon. Learn more and be part of this important work by visiting layitoutfoundation.org.
This article appears in Source Weekly October 24, 2024.
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Candidate Bailey’s DPSST education claims are again being reviewed as of last week, per Sam Tenney, Communications Director.
Bailey has now given 3 different accounts for his involuntary discharge from the Coast Guard, 2nd enlistment. His redacted DD214 per the Coast Guard and for all military service DD214s, voids any and all information in the dicument for any form of official use or inquiry.
His ELS discharge, per regulations, is Command driven and not a “business agreement”. He was booted out – the reason why is contained in the redacted codes.
Bailey’s excuse that he is being unfairly tarred due to his endorsement by Nelson is untrue. He is part and parcel tied to Nelson’s actions the past 8 years and has boasted of this throughout the campaign.
Bailey plays the victim nicely, a trait true and accomplished leadership does not recognize.
Greg Walker, as long as he wasn’t dishonorably discharged who cares? Only you. You already made yourself look like an idiot on the college credit sham… Maybe its time you should just back away from the keyboard?
You have tied yourself to a candidate who, according to the documents from La Mesa, assaulted a man who was in cuffs, had been pepper sprayed, and was compliant. Who pulled his gun on a hispanic family, cuffed them all, and tried to impound their car because they didn’t stop quite fast enough for him. Who made the document release only about his use of a radar gun and then tried to get a judge to keep his dishonesty, violent/aggressive behavior and the distrust of his superiors from the voters. For what it’s worth, Vanderkamp WAS NOT exonerated on these things, he was referred to additional training and then it was suggested he be removed. There’s a big difference. Vanderkamp is still under investigation by the DCSO, and has not been exonerated there either.
You are a one man smear campaign. You have lied, slandered Bailey, and attacked his family. You are what is wrong with American politics, and you should be ashamed of yourself. I voted for Bailey, but if I were undecided you alone would have given me all that I needed to vote against whoever you were supporting.