Tim Ryan, tryan@shawanoleader.com
Shawano police officer Adam Bieber said Thursday he is not taking his chances of being Shawano County’s next sheriff for granted despite his Republican primary win over incumbent Randy Wright on Tuesday.
Bieber faces Independent challenger Lucas Christenson in the Nov. 4 general election.
“Anybody who’s on the ballot, I’m going to take seriously,” Bieber said. “I’m not going to be so arrogant as to think this is a gimme.”
Bieber won 52 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, defeating Wright 2,687-2,459, according to the unofficial tally, which still needs to be certified by the Board of Canvass.
Bieber said he was very happy with the results.
“A lot of work went into campaigning, going door-to-door, parades, meetings, and it paid off,” he said.
Bieber attributed the results to people wanting a change.
“I think people believed in the different ideas I had,” he said. “They weren’t happy with the direction the Sheriff’s Department was going and they wanted a different direction.”
Wright has been sheriff since 2007 and was seeking another four-year term. Prior to that, he had been with the Shawano Police Department for 25 years.
He worked with Bieber at the department for several years before running for sheriff.
“I want to thank Randy for all the years of service he provided,” Bieber said. “I enjoyed working with him and I respect him a lot. I wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Christenson, who works in the parts department at American Marine & Motorsports in Shawano, said he is running because he wanted to give people a choice that wasn’t necessarily a Republican or Democrat.
“I wanted to enlighten people to the fact that an ordinary person who can meet the requirements can run for an elected office and win and make a difference,” he said.
No law enforcement experience is required to be elected sheriff. The only requirements are that a candidate be over 18 and not a felon.
“I want to try and make people aware that they don’t always have to be complacent,” Christenson said. “Instead of just saying things, they can do things and make a difference.”
Christenson’s mother-in-law is District 1 County Supervisor Deb Noffke, but, Christenson said, that relationship played no part in his decision to run.
He said Noffke wasn’t aware he had taken out nomination papers until after she was circulating papers for Bieber.
Christenson said the relationship wouldn’t influence him if elected.
“You’re there to accomplish things for the community, not play nice for family members,” he said.
Christenson said his goals as sheriff would be brought out during the campaign, using his Facebook page as his main forum. He said, however, finding new ways to combat the area’s drug problem is a priority.
Bieber said his main priority remains fully funding the department’s K-9 unit.
During the campaign, Bieber raised the possibility of reducing the number of take-home squads to accomplish that.
He also said during the campaign that he would like to see more deputies working with juveniles in the schools.
However, whoever takes over as sheriff in January will have a couple of practical considerations to keep in mind.
The Sheriff’s Department’s budget for next year will already have been adopted. Also, a new two-year contract with sheriff’s deputies, currently being negotiated, is expected to be in place. The contract expires Dec. 31.
Bieber said he doesn’t expect either of those things to be problem, though the budget could delay his K-9 plans.
“That might have to wait a year, for the next budget,” he said. “But we’ll work with what we have.”