New sheriff will be coming to Chester County

WEST CHESTER >> Whatever their political differences might be, there is something the two candidates running in Tuesday’s election for Chester County Sheriff agree on: There is a change coming.

Change not only because either Democrat Fredda Maddox or Republican James Fitzgerald will end up succeeding longtime officeholder Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh, who decided last year that she would not see a sixth term, but also changes in the way the Sheriff’s Office operates.

Both acknowledged that the controversies that have swirled around Welsh last year and this year involving allegations of improper use of her office for private fundraising activities; accusations of nepotism involving her live-in boyfriend, Lt. Harry McKinney; and charges of inflated overtime payments to McKinney for the grooming of K-9 officers he owns, had cast a shadow that they would see to address.

“Were there mistakes made?” Said Fitzgerald in a recent interview, promising a “top to bottom” review in office personnel and policies. “I am absolutely certain of that. And if they haven’t already been corrected, they will be.”

“I want a change in the era of nepotism that has occurred in the sheriff’s office (under Welsh),” said Maddox in an interview. “I want to make sure there is a change in that environment. The stain at the top has affected morale.”

Both, however, expressed praise for the men and women who serve in the office as sheriff’s deputies, agreeing that whatever taint may have befallen the office over the past few years, it had not extended to the work done by those in uniform.

“I totally believe the sheriff’s deputies do a great job,” said Maddox. “They really do.” She said she had witnessed their professionalism first-hand, having worked with them in the county courthouse for many years in her capacity as a domestic violence victim advocate.

“I plan to personally interview all of the (people) who work in the office,” said Fitzgerald. “I want to get to know them. They are the experts in that office on what is wrong and how do we fix it.”

Beyond those similar approaches to the job, there are other similarities between the two, starting with their backgrounds in law enforcement.

Fitzgerald, 60, of West Goshen is a retired special agent with the FBI, having served for 26 years, most of that time in the agency’s Philadelphia office. He is also a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

Maddox, 59, of Birmingham, is a former Pennsylvania State Police trooper and member of the state Attorney General’s Office Drug Strike Task Force. She served in those positions from 1982 to 2000, before attending Widener University School of Law. She now works as an attorney in private practice in West Chester.

Neither has ever served as an elected official. It is Fitzgerald’s first run for office; Maddox ran unsuccessfully for Common Pleas Court Judge in 2011.

In an interview, Fitzgerald said he decided to see the position of sheriff as a way of continuing his public service, understanding that what a county sheriff does in Pennsylvania is not crime fighting or investigative, but an arm of the Common Pleas Court.

“This is a leadership job,” he said. “And one thing that sets me apart from my opponent is my leadership experience.” He said that during his tenure in the military and FBI, he worked with large numbers of team members and drew upon a degree in management. “I coordinated and led a large number of people” and worked with a multitude of local police departments in the county.

“I’m not a politician,” he stressed. “And I’m not aspiring to be a politician.”

Maddox said her law enforcement background would come in handy, but that her knowledge of the Sheriff’s Office, the county judges, and the courthouse environment that she had gained in her years as a practicing attorney were just as important.

“It’s not just about criminal law, it’s about civil procedure,” Maddox said. “I know about that balance. I’m at the courthouse every day, and I am familiar with what goes on there. I know what the job entails.

“What the office needs is integrity, transparency, and accountability,” she said.

In addition to sheriff, county voters will cast ballots Nov. 5 for county Prothonotary, Register of Deeds, and Recorder of Wills.

Each party is fielding a full slate of candidates for those offices. Incumbent Prothonotary Matt Holliday of West Chester, a Republican, is facing Democrat Debbie Bookman of Coatesville, while fellow incumbent Register of Wills Terri Clarke of West Goshen, another Republican, is facing Democrat Michelle Vaughn of East Whiteland. Democrat Chris Pielli of West Goshen is running against Republican Amber LittleTurner of Coatesville.

Each office has a term of four years.