The Field For Pasco's Top Cop Widens

Candidates from Pasco and Hillsborough counties are coming out of the woodwork for a chance to be Pasco's top cop. 

Sheriff is preparing to retire on April 30, and the pool of applicants has ballooned to 12, according to the governor’s press office.

Gov. Rick Scott is expected to appoint a new sheriff to finish White’s third four-year term before he officially vacates the seat.

The following have applied for the job in recent weeks: 

- A self-described lifelong Republican, Daniel McDonald, 45, has been a Tampa Police officer since 1998 when he made the move over from the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office, where he had been a detention deputy for about a year. Prior to that, he served from 1990 to 1995 as a detention deputy for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office in Portland, Maine.

He recently graduated with a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of South Florida, where he ranked third in a class of about 150 students, according to his application. In a letter to the governor included in his application package, McDonald wrote that his vision for the sheriff’s office includes a better fiscal plan, improving the agency's workforce and morale, and reducing crime by using successful strategies used in New York City and Tampa.

 -Frank E. Baker Jr., 48, also a Republican, is captain at the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office, where he began his career as a community service officer in 1981. Baker had a one-year break away from the agency in 1986 when he worked for a year as a Tampa firefighter. He has also operated a lawn-care service in Pasco since February.

Among his major qualifications, he cites 27 years of “progressive” law enforcement experience, including overseeing a $641,000 district budget; being a key player for creating statewide policy for officers dealing with mentally ill patients; managing a patrol district of 218 sworn deputies; and being a commander for events hosting tens of thousands of people for the NFL and University of South Florida at Raymond James Stadium, 1-800-Ask Gary Amphitheater, and at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

 -George Edmund “Ed” Day III, 63, a Democrat, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1968 to 1972 and began his law enforcement career in 1980 as an officer for the Pinellas Park Police where he worked until becoming a Pasco Sheriff’s deputy in 2007. He has been assigned to police the Town of St. Leo and city of San Antonio, under their contracts to the sheriff’s office.

“A good leader does not need to be a micromanager but needs to be able to delegate his authority to capable persons under him in order to fulfill his commitment to the citizens,” he wrote in his application.

 -Gerard De Canio, 57, a Republican, has been a private investigator since 2006 and a Port Richey Police detective since January. He was a detective for the New York Police Department for 20 years, and was a New York State Park Police officer for two years. He also has been a volunteer firefighter in New York and Florida for a total of 40 years.

“I believe that Pasco County has the same criminal problems and criminal elements as in New York City. The only difference is the volume,” he said.

De Canio said during his tenure in New York he did everything from investigating homicides to helping protect presidents and the pope during their visits to the city. None of the applicants can beat his “overwhelming experience,” he said.

“They cannot compete with my experience. It’s plain and simple. I think the experience I gained in New York City would be an asset to the community of Pasco County,” De Canio said. 

 -Jeff Deremer, 40, a Democrat and a senior Probation and Parole officer for the Florida Department of Corrections since 1993, is a one-time sheriff’s office candidate. He ran on a back-to-the basics of law enforcement platform during the 2008 race but suffered a landslide loss to opponent Kim Bogart, who garnered nearly 74 percent of the vote during the Democratic primary.

In his position, he acts as a liaison between probation and parole and the sheriff’s office. During his campaign for sheriff three years ago, he proposed creative financing for the 40 new deputies he wanted to put on the streets each year. He wanted to lobby county commissioners to pass an ordinance that would fine DUI offenders and those convicted of violation of probation charges. He wanted funds from those tiered fines to go directly into the sheriff’s budget. He also said at the time, he would donate a portion of his salary into the budget. He is part owner and vice president of Custom Builders of Tampa Bay. 

-Wayne Daniel “Dan” Chaffin, 47, a Republican, has been a Tampa Police officer since 1996. Prior to moving to Florida in 1992 to take a ministerial position  and later becoming the senior pastor at a local church, he was a police officer for more than four years in the metro Atlanta area. He got back into law enforcement in Florida in 1996 but continued his ministry for seven more years before he resigned as pastor.

Chaffin has also been an owner of a local vending machine business, Hits-The-Spot Vending, since 2006. 

-The only woman to apply for the job is Kerry A. O’Connor, a 47-year-old Republican, a local lawyer and one-time Pasco Sheriff’s deputy. O’Connor served in the U.S. Air Force for four years beginning in 1985 before becoming a deputy in 1990, rising to the rank of sergeant and leaving in 2003 after she received her Juris Doctorate from Stetson University College of Law.

She has had a local law practice with her sister and has defended several law enforcement officers in labor-related disputes and other cases. She also holds a Masters in Business Administration.

“Above all, I bring an ongoing commitment to the members of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office,” she wrote in her application.

applied for the job shortly after White announced he is resigning last month.  

Republicans include: Pasco Sheriff’s Maj. Chris Nocco, who oversees the agency’s criminal investigations; Pasco Sheriff’s Maj. Brian Head, who runs the county jail; retired Pasco Deputy Roger Fortney, who has filed to run for sheriff during the 2012 election; and Retired Hillsborough Sheriff’s Deputy Mike “XX” Foxx, who has also filed to run in 2012. Kim Bogart, a one-time captain for the Pasco Sheriff’s Officer, and current executive director of the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission, is one of three Democrats to apply. He is also running for sheriff in 2012.