DRUG POLICIES DRAW DEBATE AMONG SHERIFF CANDIDATES

Pitkin County Undersheriff Joe DiSalvo, who is running for sheriff,
said Wednesday night the last time he did illegal drugs was in 1984.

That drew an incredulous response from one of his opponents in the
race, Rick Magnuson, who is a 14-year veteran of the Aspen Police
Department, which shares the basement of the county courthouse with
the sheriff's office.

"You've never done drugs, since 1984?" Magnuson asked
DiSalvo.

"I didn't say never," DiSalvo said. "I said the last time I did drugs
was 1984. My answer was 1984."

"All right, all right," Magnuson said. "I had this question about four
years ago with Bob [Braudis] and I was astounded by his answer, and
I'm just, I'm not sure if, you know ... if that's your answer, that's
your answer."

Magnuson said that he smoked pot six years ago in Amsterdam but that
he is "not interested in taking drugs."

The third candidate, Rick Leonard, said, "I can't recall the last time
I did illegal drugs."

The question about doing drugs came during the last round of questions
during "Squirm Night," a political tradition where local newspaper
editors ask tough questions of candidates.

In addition to being asked the last time they did illegal drugs, the
candidates were asked if they had a medical marijuana card. All three
said they did not.

They also were asked if they had ever been arrested.

Magnuson said he had never been arrested.

DiSalvo said he was arrested the night in 2004 when he punched a man
in Jimmy's bar in Aspen. He also pointed out that since the
third-degree assault charge was dropped after a settlement agreement,
the arrest had technically been erased.

"So technically no, I've never been arrested, but honestly, yes I
was," DiSalvo said.

Leonard said he was arrested in either 1980 or 1981 for driving under
the influence, and then pleaded no contest and paid a fine in Georgia.

"I learned a very important lesson," Leonard said. "It didn't involve
an accident or anything of that nature."

The candidates also were asked, "If you are out for a hike, and you
see someone smoking a joint, what are you going to do to this person?"

"Nothing," answered Magnuson. "Maybe talk to them, but there is no way
I'm going to arrest someone for smoking a joint. Marijuana is
essentially legalized here."

Magnuson said he had a "very liberal policy" when it came to soft
drugs, especially marijuana, which he said he was "easily available
and legal in many cases."

But he said when it came to cocaine or heroin, "that's
different."

"I would follow that to the full end of the investigation," he
said.

"Mr. Leonard, what would you do if you saw someone smoking pot?" asked
Aspen Times Editor Rick Carroll, who was asking questions along with
Aspen Daily News Editor Carolyn Sackariason.

"If it was a young person, I would make a point of getting in touch
with their parent or guardian and let them know about it," Leonard
said. "If they were truant, I deal with the truancy. If it was someone
camping out, and they were older, it's a non-issue for me."

Sackariason was about to move on to the next question when DiSalvo
asked, "How come you didn't ask me that question?"

"I think we know the answer," Sackariason said.

Drug enforcement issues came up frequently during the grilling of the
candidates, including how each of them felt about undercover drug
investigations.

Leonard said no law enforcement agency head liked to do undercover
work because it was expensive, complicated and dangerous, but said it
he viewed it as a legitimate "last resort" to root out a drug problem.

He added that it can come down to the question of "am I going to
conduct an undercover investigation or am I going to do nothing?"

"I do not support undercover work in Pitkin County," DiSalvo said
after Leonard's comments. "I do think it violates public trust in a
small community."

DiSalvo added that "we are not at a last-resort level on the war on
drugs in Aspen yet." DiSalvo later said that he felt strongly that
anyone under the age of 18 or 19 should not do any drugs.

"The reality is that there is undercover work going on in the county
- -- it is farmed out to the DEA and TRIDENT," Magnuson said, referring
to the Drug Enforcement Agency and a regional drug task force. "I'm
not going to farm it out to them, I want to be involved in these
decisions and know what is going on."

He concluded that "I think we should do some" undercover
work.

Other issues raised during the evening included the expertise in the
sheriff's department in regard to handling crime scenes.

Leonard called the investigation into 2008's accidental carbon
monoxide poisoning of a Denver family "a mess and a shame," and said
sheriff's investigators should be sent to an urban area to gain more
experience in handling serious crime.

DiSalvo responded that the sheriff's office gets consistently high
marks and reviews from judges and prosecutors on their work.

"I'm proud of the work that our investigators do," DiSalvo
said.

Magnuson also defended the quality of the work in the sheriff's
office, noting that the two detectives on the carbon monoxide case are
"exceptional."

Leonard, who has extensive experience as a police officer in Florida
and New York, answered a question from the audience about why he felt
after living in the valley for only four years that he would be an
effective sheriff.

"I don't really find this place to be so unique, to tell you the
truth," Leonard said. "Policing is policing and I have more experience
than either of the other two candidates. I don't think you really need
to live here for 10 years in order to be the sheriff."

In response to questions, DiSalvo said he has never asked anyone who
works for him to campaign for him, and that he considered the efforts
of his deputies on his behalf -- such as a float in the Fourth of July
parade -- as a "gift."

He also said he had banked over 300 hours of vacation time in
anticipation of campaigning and that if he ever talks about his
campaign on the job, he deducts it from his vacation hours.

"I've been very careful," DiSalvo said, adding, "I haven't been on
vacation in a long time."

"How can you, Bob's always gone," quipped Leonard, referring to the
extensive amount of time that Braudis has been out of Aspen in the
last year, in large part for health reasons.

The quip did not draw a smile from DiSalvo.