Voters keep Altiere as Trumbull sheriff

March 7, 2012 at 12:05a.m.

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Altiere

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Phillips

WARREN

Thomas Altiere, Trumbull County sheriff the past 19 years, apparently will spend four more years on the job before his retirement.

Altiere, 62, of Howland, topped his former chief of detectives, James Phillips, for the Democratic nomination Tuesday. Altiere has no Republican opponent in November and has said this will be his last term.

“They were happy with the job we were doing, and they just decided to keep me in,” Altiere said of why Democrats supported him.

“My opponent worked hard. We both worked hard. We got our message out,” Altiere said.

Phillips, 60, of Farmdale, who spent 36 years with the sheriff’s office until his retirement in 2009, criticized Altiere for a lack of professionalism during the campaign. Phillips said Altiere’s management had caused morale problems within the department.

“I’m trying to return the sheriff’s office back into a professional unit that the citizens of Trumbull County deserve. A sheriff’s office based on the principles of honesty, integrity and professionalism,” Phillips said on his election website.

But Altiere said county residents have a positive view of some of the innovations the sheriff’s office has put into place in recent years, such as the grass- cutting and snow-plowing programs that employ inmates.

“We do a lot of things for Trumbull County. We’re proud of doing that,” Altiere said. “Everything helps.”

He said this year’s race allowed voters to see inside the operation of the sheriff’s office.

“I’m about letting the people know who you are and what you stand for, and letting them decide who gets elected,” Altiere said.

Phillips could not be reached to comment Tuesday night.

On his election website and during interviews during the campaign, Phillips said Altiere has been “reactionary” instead of proactive in dealing with employee behavior. Several corrections officers and other employees have been convicted of crimes in recent years connected with their work at the sheriff’s office.

“I will provide better supervision to prevent bad behavior. Good supervision stops a problem before it occurs or escalates,” Phillips said.

Phillips, who has two sons who work as corrections officers under Altiere, said Altiere should be better at screening employees before they are hired, including physical testing.

Phillips also criticized Altiere for allowing most of his managers to work day shifts Monday through Friday, which makes other employees feel like they are doing more than their share of the work.

During the campaign, Altiere responded by saying corrections work is “like baby-sitting sometimes” and can cause people to act inappropriately, but there’s little that management can do to stop it. He denied that there is a morale problem or that he fails to properly screen employees.

Altiere also has two relatives working for him at the sheriff’s office — his daughter-in-law and his daughter-in-law’s mother. Altiere has said he hired his daughter-in-law before she married his son.

Though Phillips has consistently said he would “restore honesty, integrity and professionalism” to the sheriff’s office in his YouTube videos, advertisements and personal statements, he declined to be specific when asked to explain what honesty and integrity issues he has with Altiere. “I worked my way up to an administrative position by leading by example, and that is one of the primary qualifications I hold, the ability to lead with honesty, integrity and professionalism,” Phillips said.

Altiere, a Brookfield High School graduate who has been in law enforcement 38 years, was a deputy sheriff from 1974 to 1984 and Howland police chief from 1984 to 1992.

In interviews and questionnaires, Altiere said he has “worked very hard to bring law enforcement together and share services.” He cited the work of the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force, which conducts drug investigations through the work of employees from the sheriff’s office and several other police departments.

Altiere said a priority for his next four years would be to “continue to work together with all law-enforcement agencies and to consolidate as many services as possible to save taxpayers money.”