Donald Kramer: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: GenevaWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Kane County Sheriff Age: 59Family: Wife, 26 years, Kelly Shannon Kramer (School Teacher, 35 years). Son, 25 years old, Colin Kramer (Police officers, 1 year). Daughter, 23 years old, Amanda Kramer (Speech Language Pathologist, 1 year). Daughter, 17 years old, Holly Kramer (junior high school student).Occupation: Sheriff of Kane County (police officer)Education: Masters Degree, Chicago State University, Public Administration and Criminal Justice Studies Bachelors Degree, Aurora University, Criminal Justice Major Associates Degree, Waubonsee Community College, Criminal Justice Waubonsee Community College, Business Administration Northwestern University, Center for Public Safety, School of Police Staff and Command (certificate) Learning Tree International, Windows 2000 Advanced Administration (IT certificate) State of Illinois, Teen Drivers Education Instructor (recently expired) National Safe Kids, Child Safety Seat Instructor (recently expired) Illinois State Police, Breath Analyzer Examiner (expired) North East Multi-Regional Training Board (NEMRT), 2000+ hours of advance police training courses.Civic involvement: Rotary International District 6440, District Vocational Service Chair Rotary Club of Geneva, past president 2003 Tri-City Exchange Club, prevention of child abuse Suicide Prevention Service of Batavia, past board member Geneva Academic Foundation, past board member Moose International, Batavia Lodge 682, St. Charles Lodge 1368, Moose Legionnaire Elgin United Civic Association Kane County Safety Coalition.Elected offices held: Sheriff of Kane County Geneva Committeemen, Precinct 12Questions Answers Are sheriff deputies and jail employees competitively compensated?Unfortunately, Kane County ranks as one of the lowest paying Sheriff's Offices (and police departments) in the Metropolitan Chicago Area. Because compensation is not competitive, the Sheriff's Office is losing highly qualified and trained officers to other local police departments. The effect to the Sheriff's Office is the continued loss of qualified employees that have received academy training, as well as field training, which can take up to 6 months. This is a financial loss (training is over $3,000 and uniforms allowances are over $1,500) in addition to open vacancies which can take up to three months to fill off repetitive hiring lists. The public may not know this, but all unions within Kane County government are up for union negotiations this year. The County has made it know that there is no money available to negotiate a salary increase. This position will only protract a long and hostile arbitration process, unless the County agrees to pay increases that are close to comparable counties.Is the current level of jail and patrol staff adequate to ensure the safety of the public and security of the jail?As Sheriff of Kane County, I have the responsibility to the citizens of Kane County to provide adequate public safety services to the patrol division and the correctional center. While the Sheriff's Office is authorized to have a set number of deputies and correctional officers, the daily average employees working in those division are not always adequate to perform the required functions. The main reason for a lack of personnel is Workmans Compensation injuries that officers receive in the line of duty. When the work force is reduced because of these type of injuries, which is inherent in police work, the remaining work force is at-risk for further dangers because of a lack of adequate manpower. It is necessary to build in a buffer of manpower to account for injuries, which have been steady at ten percent of the work force. Secondarily, manpower levels are not adequate because newly hired employees are leaving for higher paying jobs in other jurisdictions, causing continual vacancies in the patrol division and corrections division. Often, the Sheriff's Office is investing thousands of dollars in new employees only to lose them to other agencies right next door. Currently, the Sheriff's Office operates at the bare minimum manpower levels in the patrol division and corrections division. The bare minimum is only possible with mandated overtime of officers at a cost of nearly one million dollars a year.What do you see as the biggest gap in solving the opioid crisis in your county? What can the sheriff's office do to help close the gap?I recently attended a drug education forum at Geneva High School, which addressed the use of opioids and other recreational drugs. Unfortunately, I don't foresee SOLVING the opioid crisis, but there are efforts that will help address and reduce the number of people dying of opioid overdoses. The biggest gap in addressing the opioid crisis is education. Parents, youth, the community, and even the police don't understand the severity of the this crisis. In my opinion, heroin is a death sentence to the majority of individuals who decide to use heroin, or even other opioids. All of our community must come together to partner in the effort to combat drug use, and particularly opioid use. The discussion must be in your home, in your church, in your school, and all other forums in the community. One thing that was quite apparent at the high school presentation: anyone can die from a opioid overdose, even in Geneva, Illinois. The Sheriff's Office is involved in a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement initiative to combat the heroin highway. We can't arrest our way out of the opioid crisis, but we can identify and interrupt the supply of illegal drugs, while trying to provide alternative sentencing options to offenders. Our local drug specialty courts have been successful at deferring prosecution of hundreds of drug offenders that successfully complete treatment programming and remain clean at a rate of over 90 percent for over five years.What is the best process for ensuring the department has operational and efficient patrol vehicles?The safety of patrol officers is multi-faceted. The vehicles they drive are only one of many components that I address as sheriff. In addition to a safe vehicle, they need excellent communication equipment (a vehicle radio, a portable radio, and a computer), as well as defensive equipment on their person. Currently, the Sheriff's Office has a five-year vehicle replacement plan. I am pleased that the County Board authorized 15 new vehicles this past year (2017), which retired ALL of the Ford Crown Victoria squads. The Crown Vics had the same technology for the past 20 years, and while some say they were great, I believe the new Ford Interceptors are far more efficient and safe. The new vehicles we purchased in 2017 are Ford Explorers. The Explorers provide a little more ground clearance, which is greatly helpful in the Winter months when snow drifts in the rural areas are sometimes over three feet high. The Explorer also provide more storage space for equipment. One factor that I decided was also crucial to purchasing the Explorers was the comfort factor for older deputies getting in and out of a vehicle that was higher off the ground. In effect, there is less physical stress on the knees, as well as a lower chance of slipping and falling while getting out of the vehicle. I am hopeful that the County Board will authorize the replacement of the Interceptors we have that will have over 100,000 miles by the end of this year.If the department is called upon to make more budget cuts, what cuts would you suggest to the board?The County Board authorized an outside vendor to conduct a mandate study in 2017 to determine any function of a department/office that was not require by law. In the case of the Sheriff's Office, the examiner could not find any function performed by the Sheriff's Office that was not a requirement of State law. When I became County Sheriff, I eliminated all expenditures that were not required by our State Constitution or State law (approximately $27,500). Literally, everything the Sheriff's Office does is required by law. First, you should know that the Sheriff's Office is NOT a department of the County Board, but an independently held office of an elected official. By State law, an elected official of an office, has internal control of the office and must perform the functions of the office according to State law. So even if the sheriff wanted to eliminate a function, like serving warrants, that would violate the oath of office. The County Board places a very heavy burden on an office holder by placing financial restrictions on the budget of the office holder. In the case of the Kane County Board, they are essentially requesting office holders to reduce their staff to meet budget requirements they determined. In any case, to meet the demands of the County Board, office holders will begin to eliminate mandated functions to stay within budget. I have openly refused to cut manpower levels, which is the only way that I can conceivably reduce the Sheriff's Office budget.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I have served the citizens of Kane County for over 30 years in the capacity of deputy sheriff and now sheriff. There is no more important purpose for me to be sheriff than to train and prepare the next generation of officers to be exceptional servants of the public and to perform the duties and responsibilities of deputy sheriff. I have given the sworn oath to over 50 officers in the past three years (about 20 percent of employees), and believe that I have provided the Sheriff's Office with the best possible employees. Good (or even great) employees result in exceptional performance to the citizens of Kane County. If re-elected, I will continue to develop quality officers with the professional development program I have implemented and prepare all members of the Kane County Sheriff's Office with the equipment and training necessary to perform their duties and responsibilities to the highest possible standards. In addition, I will cooperate with the County Board to the best of my ability to stay within my budget. The Sheriff's Office budget has saved taxpayers over $500,000 in the last three years, and I have returned approximately one percent of my budget back to the County Board in the last two years. As sheriff, I have been financially responsible, developed the labor force to be efficient and productive, and provided strong leadership to all office members. If re-elected, I have the opportunity to continue professional development and ensure that the community has exceptionally qualified public servants.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.I won't disclose the person's name, but I know a school administrator that is the best person alive. God bless our teachers!What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I grew up with seven brothers and sisters. You had to learn how to share and cooperate, or you would be isolated and alone.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I have had a great life. The only thing I would do differently is have a better diet and treat my body better.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I took a speech class in college and learned that it was difficult to speak in front of people. It's still difficult, but I've learned!If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?I only give my children one piece of advice...Love! Sharing your heart will reap great rewards. Hate destroys your soul!