Hanging curveball

Traditionally, I find that I don't pay much attention to many of the local elections. There are exceptions, naturally, mostly when I happen to know something about a particular candidate or actually am a friend. But for the most part, it's often a case of "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" when filling out the ballot.

The Erie County Sheriff race certainly qualifies. People in my generation only cared about this race once. Way back in the 1970's, Mike Amico was the sheriff. Whenever there was a rock concert in Rich Stadium, Amico seemed to devote every resource in the department toward making arrests of concert-goers. That technique was at least subject to debate, but I swear he had a news release issue about the number of arrests before the parking lots were clear. When he ran for election, everyone in my age group headed to the polls to cast a ballot for Ken Braun, who won in fine style.

It looks like it's time for another exception.

When I scanned the newspapers after returning from vacation, I discovered a surprising front-page article about the current Sheriff, Timothy Howard. He said that he doesn't support New York State's new gun control law, which is his right as a citizen.

However, he said about the law, "I won't enforce it." He thinks it's unconstitutional and thus will be overturned by the courts.

Funny - I don't remember Sheriff Howard's appointment to the Supreme Court. I thought he was elected to enforce all the laws, and not pick and choose the ones he likes. His opinion just doesn't matter.

Luckily, it's an election year, so this year's Sheriff's race will be the equivalent of a hanging curveball - an easy choice to swat out of the park. The incumbent definitely is an "eeny" this year, and the other major candidate is a "moe."

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