Democratic candidates for Portage County sheriff discuss overdose deaths, mental health, jail overcrowding
Portage County Sheriff Mike Lukas will face challenger Florian Chojnacki Jr. Aug. 9 in the Democratic primary election for sheriff.
The winner will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot against Republican Scott Nobel.
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The Stevens Point Journal asked each of the candidates to address important issues in the county and why they believe they are the best candidate for the position.
Here are the candidates and their responses:
Florian Chojnacki Jr.
Age: 45
Occupation: Deputy sheriff
Highest education level: Bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Campaign website: https://www.chojnackiforsheriff.com/
Mike Lukas
Age: 54
Occupation: Sheriff of Portage County
Highest education level: Bachelor's degree from UW-Eau Claire
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/mike.lukas.338
Why are you running for office?
Chojnacki: A main focus throughout my law enforcement career has been serving and protecting the community in which I grew up. I want to continue a strong tradition of quality law enforcement in Portage County. My philosophy has always been to serve others over self. I want to create a working environment where staff feel supported and all employees are accountable for their actions.
There are many businesses and organizations in the community with resources available for the Sheriff’s Office. I want to collaborate with these businesses and organizations to better serve the community.
Lukas: I am running for office because I love the community in which I live and serve, and I want to keep moving Portage County forward. There are still many things I want to accomplish and numerous projects I am in the middle of completing. There will be new body and car cameras for the entire office. I applied for a grant and was awarded $616,000 to help in funding. I’m working to get another supervisor into the communications center. That’s important because it will allow us to have 24-hour supervision in the center. We’re also completing studies to determine the needs, in terms of space, for both the Sheriff’s Office and the Courthouse.
What makes you the better candidate in this race?
Chojnacki: I am the better candidate because of the strengths that I bring to the Sheriff’s Office. I bring leadership, dependability, integrity, teamwork, motivation to learn new things and the ability to delegate. As a leader, I’m able to listen, develop solutions and inspire performance. Those with whom I interact are able to rely upon me. I am honest and dependable. I have the ability to bring people together to work as a team, while providing encouragement and collaboration. I recognize and promote learning as a lifelong process.
Lukas: I have eight years of experience as Portage County sheriff, and I know what the job requires. I have shown that the citizens of Portage County, our county board members, other elected officials and my staff respect me – and we’ve been able to work together to accomplish many goals. I’ve worked hard to build and maintain strong relationships within the community, and I pride myself on always being available. I’m also the only candidate who has both supervisory and budget experience. Being responsible for a staff of over 100 and a $15+ million budget are things that I take quite seriously.
What are residents telling you are their most important issues, and how would you address them?
Chojnacki: Many citizens I have spoken with told me they have noticed we are experiencing a mental health pandemic. As sheriff, I will address the issue by making sure all communication technicians, correctional officers and deputies are trained and have continuing education in crisis intervention. The safety of our children is another issue. Many school districts within the state are forming partnerships with law enforcement to fund school resource officers. I will work diligently with school districts in the county to move toward having a dedicated school resource officer in every high school in the county.
Lukas: Drugs and personal safety. Dealing with the drug problem throughout Portage County and across the state is imperative. We have a central Wisconsin drug task force along with drug officers in each municipal law enforcement department. I am a strong believer in early education, and I support prevention programs in our schools. I also recognize the need for more treatment facilities being available in central Wisconsin. That is something I am working with the state to help implement.
In addressing personal safety concerns, I was able to add an additional community officer position in 2022. We now have two deputies dedicated to doing presentations on personal safety, setting up neighborhood watches and running citizen academies.
What can be done to educate the public about the dangers of fentanyl and reduce overdose deaths in Portage County?
Chojnacki: We have families in our community who are losing sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and friends to overdoses. As sheriff, I will air public service announcements explaining the dangers of fentanyl and the risk and consequences of mixing these drugs. I will also focus on reducing the stigma of drug use as a means to support treatment and recovery. I will make every effort to educate and offer treatment for inmates, while working diligently to strengthen the Adult Drug Treatment Court program so rehabilitative needs of individuals can be successfully met.
Lukas: I believe Portage County and the Sheriff’s Office have both been very proactive in this area. The education aspect is important at all levels and starts in the younger years of school. I am on the board for the Portage County Coalition for Alcohol and other Drug Abuse Prevention. Their focus is on awareness, education and advocacy.
We have a full-time social worker and jail nurse in our jail facility. This allows for mental health evaluations and for scheduling appointments for drug and alcohol treatments. We have all our deputies now carrying Narcan to assist in case of an overdose. I also have requested to add more drug officers to our staff.
How should the county handle the overcrowded jail situation?
Chojnacki: The jail has been overcrowded for many years. The current space doesn’t offer room for storage or proper treatment programs. The design of the current jail brings about challenges related to safety issues. As sheriff, my focus will be on alternatives to incarceration, full utilization of the home detention program and creating programs to reduce recidivism. However, the numbers will still be higher than capacity requiring out-of-county inmate housing. Additionally, inmates housed out of county may not receive the same services as those in county. Therefore, I believe we need to build a new jail to address overcrowding.
Lukas: When I took over eight years ago, we thought we might be able to remodel the current jail. After extensive research, we found the cost would be $26 million to bring the jail up to code. Simply remodeling would not increase the size of the jail, and we would still have a linear type of jail that is staff prohibitive. Since then, as facilities have degenerated, maintenance has been done through a patchwork process. We are now to the point that our HVAC system is not working, we have plumbing backups and closets are being used for offices. It is time for a real solution. I understand the costs associated with building, but we need to act now for not only staff safety, but for inmate safety.
This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Portage County sheriff: Democratic candidates for August primary
