Dear Editor,

I would be highly surprised if I was the only voter in Kosciusko County that is sick of the constant smear campaign that is being run in the election for Sheriff.

There seems to be a whole lot of negativity coming from a particular side, and without finger-pointing … forget it. The Jim Smith Campaign is nothing more than a poor attempt at pulling a blindfold over the eyes of the voter and getting them to elect an administration that has already truly spent countless years in office.

A letter to the editor was sent in from JD Ayres not too long ago that needs to be closely looked at. The letter was essentially saying the previous good ol boy system was better than the current one (even though very few people actually believe a system as such is still in place.) This letter, after all, came from a previous Aaron Rovenstine supporter. If you dig even a centimeter deep, you will find that actually a majority of Jim Smith’s supporters are the exact people that stood behind the felony convicted Sheriff of the past. If they could vote him in again, they would. This possibility was taken off of the table once his appeal to lower his felony conviction to a misdemeanor was denied, denying the ability to hold this office.

There is all of this talk about how our sheriff is making more of a salary than his predecessors. Where was the uproar from Jim Smith supporters when Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine accepted $40,000 under the table from an inmate for preferential treatment according to court documents? I’m not sure about everybody else, but I would much rather the sheriff’s true salary be public compared to getting another administration elected that would support and stand behind allowing bribery. If the Jim Smith campaign isn’t just Rovenstine/Rocky 2.0 then it would be great if he could publicly condemn the administration that so many of his cronies still support. Even if you check the “Jim Smith for Kosciusko County Sheriff” Facebook page, you will find that several posts have been liked by Aaron himself.

As to the fentanyl that circulated in the jail; if you have any common sense at all, look up the statistics for fentanyl overdoses behind bars everywhere else. They have skyrocketed, and if you think our county jail would be exempt from a national crisis, then I’m not sure you should even be voting.

I’m sure I don’t stand alone when I say it would be refreshing to hear what Jim Smith actually plans to do if elected, rather than just a Kyle Dukes smear campaign. The voters of this election deserve to hear what each side can do for us, since after all, they do work for us.

John Coleman
Syracuse