The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Dear Editor,

An advertisement for the Stroe candidacy appeared in the Union-Bulletin on Sept. 17. This announcement touted the many volunteer hours Mr. Stroe has put into the community, his time at the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office, and his current position as Director of Security at Whitman College. The ad then stated, “The most powerful person elected is a Sheriff – you should know the person you are voting for!” The implication being that the voters of this county don’t know who Mr. Stroe’s opponent is. I find this puzzling, because 49.25% of the voters in the primary chose Undersheriff Mark Crider, so I guess he’s well known.

The voters appreciate and honor Mark Crider’s 10 years of honorable service in the U.S. Navy as an F-14 Tomcat Radar Intercept Operator (RIO). Having firsthand knowledge about the difficulties of obtaining the coveted wings of a Naval Flight Officer, I can say the accomplishments Mark Crider made in the U.S. Navy as a RIO, programs and budget manager, and Naval Officer, are nothing to dismiss with a simple “Who?” as is portrayed in Mr. Stroe’s advertisement.

The voters recognize Mark’s impressive 22-year career with the FBI; not as a D.C. bureaucrat but as a down-in-the-trenches field agent who served with distinction in the Milwaukee and Spokane Field Offices. It was in the Milwaukee Field Office where Mark was ordered by his chief to perjure himself in a case involving a disabled combat veteran who was dismissed from becoming a Special Agent due to the loss of a hand in a training accident. As a firearms instructor, Mark had personally witnessed this veteran perform all handgun functions necessary to become a Special Agent. Instead of bowing to the demand of his chief, Mark sided with the veteran. That man is now an FBI Special Agent and Mark was honored by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association for his courage. In a campaign where claims of integrity have been thrown about by so many, Mark Crider has demonstrated it in spades.

Mark Crider has all the relevant law enforcement experience to be Sheriff. That is why the Walla Walla Commissioned Deputies Association and International Association of Firefighters Local 404 have endorsed him. He is already at the Sheriff’s Office helping forge a successful path forward. Let’s make him Sheriff and keep rollin’!

Christopher Johnson, Corporal

Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office