www.benjohnsonforsheriff.com

cynritchey@cfl.rr.com

Ben F. Johnson, a DeLand native and a lifelong Volusia County resident, lives in Glenwood. Several members of Johnson's family live in Volusia County, including his daughter, mother and two brothers in DeLand, and a brother in New Smyrna Beach.

Johnson was elected sheriff of Volusia County in 2000, and was re-elected without opposition in 2004. He worked for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office 1971-98, and retired as a lieutenant.

During his career with the Sheriff's Office, he worked in all areas of the agency, including road patrol, motors, SWAT, Judicial Services, investigations, records, warrants, offense reports and extraditions, and he served as an assistant district commander and district commander.

Johnson graduated from DeLand High School, received an associate degree in criminal justice from Daytona Beach Community College and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Rollins College, and graduated from the FBI National Academy.

He is involved with many community organizations, including the DeLand Rotary Club and the West Volusia Police Athletic League, both of which he has served as a member of the board of directors.

He is also involved with One Voice for Volusia, the Boys and Girls Club of Volusia/Flagler, and the Emergency Medical Foundation. He is a past director of Habitat for Humanity and the Rape Crisis Center, a member of the board of trustees of Florida Partners in Crisis, co-chairman of the Central Florida Domestic Security Task Force, a charter member of the Volusia Committee of 100, treasurer of the Florida Sheriffs Association, and a member the American Cancer Society and past honorary chairman for the Volusia County Relay for Life, a member of the American Heart Association and past vice chairman and co-chairman of the 1998 Heart Walk, and a member of the Florida Violent Crime and Drug Council, to which he was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist.

Choose whether you agree or disagree on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being "Strongly Agree" and 1 being "Strongly Disagree." Add a 1 sentence comment to clarify your stance with the readers.

A countywide police agency would be more efficient than the Sheriff's Office and individual city forces.

4 — Comment: While I believe that combining/consolidating public safety services would very likely result in more effective and cost-efficient use of resources, this is a political decision best left to the residents and elected officials of each jurisdiction to determine the most appropriate method for delivering services to their communities.

Nothing more can be done by the Sheriff's Office to reduce youth drug use and crime.

3 — Comment: While more can always be done, the primary concern in my view is that juvenile crime and drug use are societal issues that require a collaborative approach to solutions, yet budget constraints and cost-cutting initiatives such as Amendment 1 are resulting in severe cuts and in some cases the elimination of crucial social services, treatment programs and juvenile justice facilities, all of which serve to aggravate juvenile problems and make things harder on law enforcement.

Large increases in the Sheriff's Office budget over the past several years have been necessary.

3 — Comment: The reality is that after contracted services (which come with the revenue to pay for them), statutorily-required public safety programs, unfunded mandates passed down from the state, and costs that are virtually impossible to control, such as salaries, fuel and insurance, the remainder of the budget is the discretionary spending, and that has gone up very little during my nearly eight years in office.

Accomplishment of which you are most proud: The three accomplishments of which I'm most proud are: No. 1 the reduction in the crime rate during my tenure as Sheriff; No. 2 the improved speed and efficiency of emergency response through a major consolidation of public safety dispatch services; and No. 3 improved employee morale and communications within the Sheriff's Office.

Public-service goal you have yet to achieve: The public-service goal that I have been unable to achieve while in office is the assignment of School resource Deputies in elementary schools. I continue to support this idea, as I believe that providing positive role models and reaching school-age children at the earliest possible age represents our best hop of reducing juvenile crime, delinquency and the number of school drop outs. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, the funding required to pursue this goal has not been available.

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