A 17 year veteran worker at the county jail wants to be Sheriff.

Joseph Buckley, a lifelong resident of Racine, is a county employee in the county jail, says he want to be Racine next Sheriff.

Buckley, a 1980 graduate of Park High School, has worked as a Correction Officer for the County Jail for 17 years. He says he is tired of seeing jobs leave Racine County for other community, and what has prompted him to run for the sheriff’s position.

He wants to replace Sheriff Bob Carlson, who will not be running for re-election in November 2010. Carlson has been sheriff since 2003 when Gov. Jim Doyle appointed him.

Buckley served in the U.S. Army after high school until 1983. Buckley says, “It’s time for change!”

Buckley does not hold back his disappointment for jobs leaving Racine because of the present Sheriff privatization action. A candidate that has worked for unions in the past, said recently 16 jobs have been cut and sent to other communities. He said recently that two positions that transported inmates to other facilities in the state have been out sourced to a firm in another part of the state. The firm is based out of Green Bay, Wisconsin. “We should strive to put Racine’s residents first by hiring our own,” said Buckley. He added, “I do not feel our tax payers want their dollars going to other cities when we are facing hard times ourselves. I think the time is now to stop Privatization and keep our jobs in Racine.”

With the growth of terrorists in our country, Buckley wants to create a Racine County Bomb Squad for more effective rapid response. “My idea would be to create additional jobs and if there was an emergency, the squad would be available and ready to go into action.”

If there’s one thing that Buckley knows for certainly is the internal working system of Racine County Jail. Buckley is proposing to introduce a mentoring program that would assign inmates with mentors from churches and other community based organization to reduce or eliminate the path that lead many inmates back to jail. He said, there are lots of careers in law-enforcement entity and he wants to encourage and steer young people in the right direction in the early stages of their lives.

As a minister for 30 years, Buckley wants to get the churches involved with the young population in the community. Buckley says, “We must be very pro-active if want to make a change.” Lastly he believes that intergovernmental corporation is one of the keys to improving the Sheriff Department success. Buckley becomes the fifth person to announce their candidacy and he remains the only African American candidate.