McHenry sheriff candidates don't see eye-to-eye on spending, experience

It's only natural that candidates facing off in a heated election campaign develop some level of animosity toward one another as

Election Day nears.

But in the case of McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren and Zane Seipler, his opponent in next month's Republican primary, the hostility was there long before either man announced his candidacy.

Nygren, the three-term Republican sheriff, fired Seipler in November 2008, ending - at least temporarily - the deputy's four-year tenure with the department. Now Seipler, seeking his first elected office, is hoping GOP voters return the favor on his behalf and, in the process, make him their nominee for the November general election.

Seipler, 37, of Woodstock, and Nygren, 63, of Hebron, don't agree on much, and their campaign rhetoric has displayed little but contempt for one another.

The challenger has lobbed attack after attack at his former boss, accusing the sheriff of spending too much time on vacation, too much money on unneeded luxuries, allowing racial profiling from deputies and a host of campaign-related violations.

Nygren has brushed aside the claims, saying Seipler is not fit to be a police officer, much less a sheriff, because of the incidents that led to his firing.

There are several key issues on which they differ. Perhaps most prominent are their takes on of what kind of experience it takes to run a sheriff's department.

Nygren has more than four decades experience in law enforcement, including a run as Crystal Lake police chief and his 12-year tenure as sheriff. He said putting someone as inexperienced as Seipler into the sheriff's office would be "dangerous."

Seipler, who has been a law enforcement officer for eight years, does not see it that way. He says voters should be more concerned about what a candidate has done or will do in office than in how long he or she has been there.

Another area of contention between the candidates is the need for a county public safety building to house the sheriff's department. Nygren said the building is necessary to accommodate the growth in the county's justice system. Seipler has questioned its necessity while accusing Nygren of being wasteful with county tax dollars.

Seipler also has been critical of the department's efforts to earn accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, saying it is costly and unneeded. Nygren said the program helps the department establish solid procedures and management decisions and assists in providing accountability with the public.