By TIM UNRUH
Salina Journal
GOODLAND -- Being nearly 7,000 miles from home, Frank Tabor hasn't shaken many hands or knocked on doors in his campaign for Sherman County Sheriff.
His only public speech, at a forum late last month, was presented by proxy.
Tabor, 32, has answered a few e-mails from Tikrit, Iraq, where he works for DynCorp, a company that contracts with the federal government to train Iraqi police.
He's hopeful that family and friends have hung enough posters, passed out enough brochures in Sherman County and spread the word that he'll prevail in today's Republican primary against incumbent Kevin Butts.
Through his campaigners, which include wife, Misty, and brother-in-law Jimmy Gillespie, a Goodland police officer, Frank Tabor is promising to improve relations with the city police and extend the sheriff's department's coverage of the county.
"Everybody knows they don't work after 2 a.m. That's when I'm going to commit a crime, if I'm going to commit one," Tabor said Monday afternoon in a phone interview (12:30 a.m. in Tikrit).
"The citizens deserve a better form of representation in that county than what they're currently getting," Frank Tabor said.
Not a viable opponent
Butts, 43, who is seeking re-election after four years in office, disputes Tabor's claims and doesn't consider him a viable opponent.
"For somebody who hasn't lived here for two years, he has no idea what he is talking about. If he wanted to run for sheriff, he would want to be here," Butts said. "It irritates me that he's making these comments from over (6,800) miles away."
Butts said he's worked with the Sherman County Sheriff's Department since 1994, rising to undersheriff in 2001 and being elected sheriff in 2004.
Butts said Tabor has visited with him three times about working for the sheriff's department, but never officially applied. Butts doubts that he would have hired Tabor.
"I just don't think he's law enforcement material," Butts said.
While he's "not concerned at all" about today's primary vote, Butts wonders if the novelty of Tabor's candidacy might sway some voters.
"I hope that sympathy would not play a part. Let's not forget this gentleman is not in the military," Butts said.
Saying he worked in law enforcement for eight years -- five in Texas and three in Kansas -- and was trained at the West Central Texas Police Academy, Abilene, Texas, Tabor said he would establish coverage around the clock in Sherman County.
Tabor said he has spent most of the past two years working for DynCorp in Iraq, training police.
"I train the Iraqi police on how to be administrators. I train them all the way down to the low man on the totem pole, on investigations and paperwork," Tabor said. "It can be dangerous work. It can get rough."
Approached about running
His last tour in Iraq began in December 2007. While home for a visit in June, Tabor said he was approached.
"I had people come to my door and talk about issues going on with the sheriff's office, things they wanted changed," Tabor said.
Having worked for the Goodland police, Tabor decided he would make a run for sheriff. He filed for office and then returned to Iraq.
"People came to him, asking him to run. It was like a last-minute decision thing," said Misty Tabor.
Campaign by proxy
In his absence, Tabor said he has relied on family and friends, and advertising in the newspaper and television to win votes. Some voters in Sherman County have e-mailed questions and encouragement to him in Tikrit.
"I've put signs up and had positive feedback," said Misty Tabor. "I've had a lot of people say how great is that I'm doing this."
The speech was read in late July at public forum in Goodland, "but he wasn't here to answer all their questions and stuff," Misty said.
Frank Tabor's job may win him some votes, Misty said.
"Him not being home might hurt him, too. I think we both are ready to get it done and see how it goes."
She's also ready for her husband to return home for good. Win or lose, Frank Tabor is leaving Iraq in December and doesn't plan to return.
"I feel for military wives. It's not fun. The only positive I can come up with is the money is very nice," Misty Tabor said. "He's always wanted to be like a chief of police or sheriff."
Butts said his department works with the Goodland Police daily and he enjoys a good relationship.
"There's no basis or foundation for those comments. We work together constantly," Butts said.
Tabor suggested that he would extend the coverage by correcting the work schedule and finding ways to increase the department's budget.
Butts said it's true that the work schedule goes to 2 a.m., but his deputies often work later.
"All of this information is coming from somebody who wants to make all these changes, but he has yet, to date, ever asked to see a copy of the sheriff's department budget," Butts said.
He said it takes $3,000 just to equip a deputy, and the salary and fuel for another patrol car is on top of that.
n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.
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