Endorsements: Zaruba for DuPage County sheriff

Republican DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba, celebrating 30 years in the department and seeking his fifth term in office, is endorsed for re-election, but not without reservations.

Zaruba has all the advantages of incumbency, having built a long list of achievements through the years in education related to his office, honors received from various law enforcement groups and civic involvement in causes related and distinct from his office.

He still needs, though, to be more responsive to questions about and criticisms of his office, as even members of his own party, including county board Chairman Dan Cronin, suggest.

In one example, Zaruba has had little to say about lawsuits by eight deputies accusing him of retaliation for union activities and failing to contribute to his campaign funds or about a $1 million federal verdict against his office in 2013 on behalf of a female deputy who was denied a promotion.

While Zaruba brushes off the former as without merit and the latter as a case that the county should have won, Cronin called them a "black eye" and said he was "shocked and outraged."

Democratic challenger Mike Quiroz, a former deputy who ran unsuccessfully against Zaruba in the GOP primary four years ago, cites the suits as one piece of evidence that it's time for a change, but when pushed for specifics, he fails to make a compelling case either in support of his complaints about Zaruba or for his own ability to make the changes he proposes.

Quiroz also says he would do a better job of going after heroin dealers, working with state police with whom Zaruba has had a falling out. But Zaruba's office has taken assertive steps to address the heroin epidemic, including beginning early to train officers in use of Naloxone to save lives of overdose victims, allowing parents to test substances anonymously to determine if they are dangerous drugs, and offering addiction treatment in the jail.

Overall, his comments indicate understanding of the intractable nature of the drug problem and the need for a multipronged approach to fighting it. He's realistic and forward-looking, predicting the state allowing medical marijuana is just the first step toward further drug challenges. "The next thing is going to be recreational marijuana, which is going to be here in three years," he says.

Zaruba, while not ideal, is the better choice.