Pete Meyers, the Tompkins County Green party candidate for sheriff, held a press conference to publicly announce his candidacy and platform on Wednesday July 31 at 2:00 pm outside of the Community Justice Center on the corners of Court and North Cayuga Streets.
In his platform, Pete emphasizes public safety, restorative justice programs which include increased Sheriff support and funding for Alternatives to Incarceration programs as an alternative to building or expanding the County Jail, a victim’s rights program operated through the Sheriff's Department, and ending racial and class bias in law enforcement. This includes issues such as unfair enforcement of laws like the Rockefeller drug laws, improving county jail conditions and reinstating a Civilian Review Board in the county. "After 10 years of experience as a social worker, I believe that we must find ways to balance the need to keep our most dangerous criminals off the streets with the importance of restoring people who have committed crimes back into the community in a healthy way. This, I believe, is the way to lower recidivism rates and keep our streets safe. I would thus work to create a seamless web between the County Jail, transitional programs between the Jail and community, as well as building upon our Alternatives to Incarceration programs already in place."
"As Sheriff I will work to insure that everyone, regardless of economic class or race, will be afforded equal treatment under my command. Law enforcement issues inevitably bring up issues of poverty and I will work to create a jail and road patrol that treats all people with respect and dignity."
Contact: Pete Meyers 256-9733, Linda Holzbaur 277-6300
