Incumbent sheriff stresses transparency, community outreach; opponent eyes changes to staffing, interagency cooperation

LACONIA — The race for Belknap County Sheriff has just two contenders. Incumbent and first-term sheriff Bill Wright is defending his office against Mike MacFadzen, the current head of the county’s restorative justice program. Both are Republicans with long careers in local law enforcement, and both say they are seeking change within the department.

Wright stated in an interview he’s wanted to be sheriff since 2016, when he made his first run for office. Before winning the position in 2020, Wright worked as a detective, deputy, and sergeant in the sheriff's department for 17 years. Transparency, efficiency and community outreach are his key platforms.

“I want to concentrate on being efficient and effective,” Wright said. “I think those two things are very important for the office in order to reduce redundancies and to actually make a meaningful impact in the community, keeping in mind the taxpayer’s money. Our people are paid very well and I want to make sure that we’re doing exactly what we’re supposed to be doing for the taxpayers.

“At some point during my career at the sheriff’s office, I remember being told we were the best kept secret,” Wright recalled. “I thought to myself, why are we a secret? We’re one of the most public offices out there. The sheriff’s offices have been established since biblical times. It’s an elected position that’s in the public figure for law enforcement. I couldn’t understand why we were a secret, so I wanted to open the office up, and say, ‘I want you to question what we’re doing, I want you to see how we’re doing it and why,’” Wright continued. “We need to have these open conversations, especially in the way that the world is turning.”

In an effort to increase transparency and community outreach, Wright stated he encourages deputies to walk the streets more often, and provide increased support to smaller-staffed agencies around the region.

“Since I’ve been sheriff and encouraged our people to get out on the streets, I continuously get phone calls, messages, indicating that ‘hey I saw your car out there and that’s awesome, it’s like the first time I’ve seen your deputies making car stops and walking the streets,’” Wright said. “Again, it builds that community connection.”

Both before and during Wright’s tenure, the department has faced budget cuts, and staffing issues, especially within the dispatch department. After his election in 2020, Wright said the department suffered a 10% cut from the previous budget, which Wright categorized as already being “bare bones.”

COVID-19 also exacerbated staffing and outreach problems, but to challenger MacFadzen, the current culture of the department lies at the center of staffing and interagency cooperation.

“I’ve dedicated my life to law enforcement, and being in the restorative justice program for the last eight years, I have contacts within law enforcement,” MacFadzen, who has nearly 25 years of law enforcement experience, said in an interview. “I've seen in the last 18 months, a teardown of law enforcement in the county internally of the deputies and, and outside the department, with the relationships between the sheriff's department and local agencies, and I just can't stand by and watch that happen.”

MacFadzen emphasized the concerns of smaller communities such as Center Harbor and Tilton, and their reliance on the county to provide extra law enforcement support. “They rely on us for dispatch services,” MacFadzen said. “We are drastically lacking in that right now, and that’s an internal problem that needs to be corrected with a more healthy work environment."

“The smaller agencies have had some struggles,” Wright said. “We don’t want to take over anything, but we can definitely help them out. When they have one officer on duty, and have a car wreck, there’s no reason that one of our deputies cannot go down and help out with traffic or take the investigation.”

The county dispatch has struggled to retain staff since before the pandemic.

However, MacFadzen said that the department needs a better work environment and a more formalized training program.

“This lack of staffing is unprecedented, it’s very easy to blame it on COVID, it’s very easy to blame it on money because you can always produce evidence that says that’s true,” MacFadzen said. “But when you talk to the people that left those positions, you find out it was about culture and work environment. We’ve lost a lot of talent, quality people and a lot of money walking out the door because it’s not cheap to train people. Retention is always cheaper than recruitment.”

Wright sees himself as a reformer working to shape up the department and remove redundancies, something that isn’t always popular.

MacFadzen said the sheriff's department is less efficient and effective due to the alleged breakdown in relationship between itself and surrounding law enforcement agencies.

“This country needs to be safe and secure. And, I think I can do a better job,” said MacFadzen. “As a result of my campaign, I’ve had an opportunity to speak with the [local)] chiefs, and I am extremely confident in the fact that I will be able to have an extremely positive relationship with all of them.”

The state primary is Sept. 13 and the general election is Nov. 8.