Mike Brasfield on Wednesday began thinking about assuming the Jefferson County sheriff’s position as he continued to hold a solid election lead over Kristen Anderson-Post.
From his Port Ludlow home Wednesday, Brasfield said he is enthusiastic about working with Anderson-Post, the Port Townsend police chief, in the future.
“If I am still in the lead at the final count, I look forward to working with her,” he said.
His top priority, he added, is working with retiring Sheriff Pete Piccini to hire a new jail superintendent.
Carla Schuck, the current superintendent, is leaving, he said.
The county is currently facing an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit over alleged substandard jail conditions.
“(Jail superintendent is) probably the most important of the positions appointed by the sheriff that needs to be dealt with right now,” Brasfield said.
His other top priorities as sheriff include resolving perceptions of inadequate patrols in south Jefferson County, budget issues, and planning for a new sheriff’s annex building in Port Hadlock, he said.
In initial results from Tuesday’s balloting, Democrat Brasfield — a former police chief in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and assistant chief in Seattle — leads with 5,296 votes, or 52 percent, to Republican Anderson-Post’s 4,912 votes, or 48 percent.
“I’m guardedly optimistic,” Brasfield said. “It appears the narrow margin I have is consistent across the board.”
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office received about 2,400 additional absentee ballots Wednesday that will be counted on Friday along with 366 received late Tuesday.
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The rest of the story appears in the Thursday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE, above, to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.
