A Challenge to Maintain Respect for All Candidates

SEELEY LAKE - Dr. Stephen Covey, author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," accurately stated about the profession of law enforcement, "Service, justice and fundamental fairness - these are the foundational principles in which every police action must be grounded."

I attended a recent forum in Seeley with my two opponents. When I arrived, signs posted on the outside of the Community Hall building greeted us. I later learned that similar signs had also been posted near the main route into Seeley Lake. It is my understanding that the secondary signs were posted on private property outside of town, without the consent or knowledge of the property owner.

Fundamental fairness, as expressed by Covey, means that every person is provided equal access and equal assurances for safety, service and justice when encountering any level of the law enforcement profession. These assurances should not be beholden to politics and due process should be the primary focus of any criminal justice agency.

These signs show how truly eroded the standard of fundamental fairness has become in our sheriff's office. This is true not only with the encounters employees of the sheriff's office have with each other and with the administration behind closed doors but the encounters that are had in public places with the citizens of our communities.

I have pledged to maintain a respectable campaign supported by my fundamental fairness, honesty and integrity and my qualifications and service to become the next sheriff of Missoula County. It sickens me that supporters of Sheriff TJ McDermott can place these signs attacking his opponents without any thought to how truly ridiculous and desperate these measures appear to be, even if the sheriff claims no personal knowledge of the act.

These acts will have a ripple effect on the public faith and trust in our agency, afforded by the communities we took an oath to serve, that will further undermine the good work our men and women in law enforcement do every day as the public trust and faith in our agency is called into question.

I will always maintain integrity, honesty and fundamental fairness in my personal and professional life, on my campaign path over the coming months leading up to Election Day in November, and for the duration of my career as a public servant.

I signed on as a candidate to make positive changes that I believe will have far-reaching benefits, not just internally for employees of the sheriff's office, but in the communities served by all of Missoula County government. I will continue to maintain my moral compass to accomplish these goals and I hope this will be the last statement I will need to provide about such unnecessary behavior.

This is a challenge to my two opponents and their supporters: Please maintain a high degree of respect in the political institution and afford the same respect to me that I am pledging to give to each of you today, tomorrow on Election Day and long after the election has been decided. We owe it to those we serve and to those we work alongside.

Travis Wafstet

Independent Candidate for Missoula County Sheriff/Coroner

Missoula, Mont.