on the cover / By Ryan Burns

Howdy, Sheriff

Philp, when questioned about this, said he, not Downey, is indeed the Chief Executive Officer of his department, though that doesn’t necessarily preclude his undersheriff from having some administrative authority of his own. Hislop insists Downey has gone further and claimed to be the CEO, though he was unable to provide documentation of this.

Regardless, the video reveals Hislop’s aggressiveness in going after not only Downey but his boss, Sheriff Philp. Between bites of a recent Mexican buffet lunch in his hometown of McKinleyville, Hislop laid out his case for why he’s better qualified for the job of the County’s top cop. With his crew cut hair and steely gaze, he looks every bit the seasoned investigator he is, and he went after Downey like a cop peppering a suspect.

“There’s a disconnect between the Sheriff’s Department and the community,” he said. And later, “I have numerous degrees. … My opponent, to my knowledge, has no degrees. I believe my credentials far outrank his. And my experience far outranks his. … I’m an innovative thinker. I’m proactive. My opponent, I think, is just status quo.”

Hislop, who was born in Oakland, describes himself as a Navy brat. His dad was often overseas. Most of his youth was spent in Lake County where he graduated high school and, at just 18, was hired as a reserve deputy sheriff. He moved to Humboldt County in August of 1983, attended the police academy at College of the Redwoods and was hired by the Eureka Police Department. There he worked his way up through the ranks from officer to corporal to detective to traffic sergeant. He led a SWAT team, worked as a K-9 officer and was in charge of a mounted patrol unit. He holds associate’s degrees in Administration of Justice and Manufacturing Technologies, a bachelor’s in Criminal Justice, and he graduated in the 198th national FBI academy.

In January 2007, he was hired as the DA’s chief investigator, and since then, he said, he’s helped make it the best investigative bureau in the county. Citing the successful conclusion of the Curtis Huntzinger cold case, in which the DA’s office got a murder confession 18 years after the disappearance of the 14-year-old Blue Lake boy, as well as the prosecution of corrupt Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen, Hislop said, “I’ve solved some major cold cases that they [the Sheriff’s Office] couldn’t solve [and] taken on corruption in Humboldt County that they didn’t want to do.”

Hislop’s fiercest allegations concerned the Sheriff’s Office budget. While officially the department ended last fiscal year over budget by $279,912 (about 1 percent of its total spending), Hislop contends the real overages were close to 10 times that amount. When fiscal year 2008/2009 ended last June, the Sheriff’s Office came in $1.15 million over its General Fund-allocated portion of the budget. And this was after some money shuffling at the county level in an annual process called “Payroll Clearing Appropriation Transfers,” aka “sweeps.” Through this process the County balances its books by using year-end surpluses from some departments to cover deficits in others. Last year, Hislop pointed out, the Sheriff’s Office had a year-end deficit of almost $1.2 million, which forced other departments to make up the difference. Add this to the $1.15 million total from after sweeps and you have a budget overrun in excess of $2.3 million, by Hislop’s estimation.

When presented with these allegations, Downey was flummoxed. “I don’t know where he’s getting these figures, but he obviously doesn’t have access to the budget — or doesn’t know how to interpret it,” Downey said. Philp later offered an explanation. First, he said, the payroll clearing transfers happen every year as part of the normal budget procedures. The Board of Supervisors is well aware of these sweeps, and the county budget office plans for them, Philp said. If the sheriff’s office’s deficit seems disproportionate, he added, it’s only because it has such a large staff. As for the post-sweep figure of $1.15 million, Philp said that too is misleading since all but $279,912 — the department’s official over-budget amount — was later compensated by the Sheriff’s Office itself. (While the fiscal year ends in June, the state doesn’t usually adopt its budget until September or later, and Federal funding doesn’t come through until October, which delays some bill paying, Philp explained.) County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes vouched for Philp’s math.

After this explanation, Philp fired back at Hislop, saying that by leveling such allegations he “shows a real lack of understanding of the process.” Hislop, though, holds firm to his stance that the Sheriff’s Office is in need of greater fiscal responsibility — that such budget shuffling shouldn’t be necessary. And he points to his own record of securing grants for the DA’s Office. His number one priority as sheriff, he said, would be streamlining the budget. “The only promise I’m making in the campaign is, before I lay a deputy off, or a correctional officer, I’m takin’ a pay cut myself,” he said. His second priority would be reconnecting with the community, which he would achieve in part, he said, by hosting monthly coffee-with-the-sheriff get-togethers.

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