By Steve Davidson
Contributing Writer

There is about to be a new sheriff in town and if Precinct 4 Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson has his way, the new sheriff will be in-step with the concerns of all Bexar County residents.

Having Woodlake Hills Middle School serve as the backdrop for his Sept. 30 “Crime Issues” town hall meeting, Adkisson introduced residents filling the school’s cafeteria to the two candidates seeking election Nov. 4 as the next Bexar County Sheriff.

In an open forum format, Adkisson presided over candidates Dennis McKnight and Amadeo Ortiz, as the two sheriff hopefuls fielded questions randomly selected from the audience.

“The drive behind the forum is to make sure that the unincorporated parts of Bexar County and Precinct Four have a direct link to the sheriff and come to bear on the candidates for sheriff those issues that are most pressing,” Adkisson said. “I think we have two good, competent law enforcement officers available to the public.

“McKnight and Ortiz know the scene. They know what to do. I think we’re fortunate to have them in this race,” he added.

For Mike Arno, a Crown-wood Subdivision resident and Citizens On Patrol member, the rising crime rate has become the issue he and his wife would like the newly elected sheriff to address.

“My wife’s not here attending tonight’s meeting with me because she felt that she ought to be at our home in order to protect it from possible burglary,” said a frustrated Arno. “We need to get this crime rate thing straightened out. I like the direction Tommy Adkisson is going with this.”

Issues pertaining to the development of a northeast substation, increased jail population, teen curfews, drug problems, demographic factors, the reinstating of the Bexar County Gang Unit and matters involving increased traffic flow into neighborhoods were posed to the two candidates during the one-hour forum.

McKnight, a lawyer and reserve police officer with the city of Windcrest, took a no-nonsense approach to the questions he fielded. Refer-encing a Sept. 29 homicide that took place in Windcrest, the first homicide for the city in over a decade, McKnight said, “Nobody is immune to crime. We need to increase public safety in Bexar County. We don’t need to waste any more of the tax payer’s dollars. The sheriff’s office needs to become more efficient.

Ortiz, a veteran police officer with both the San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, appeared just as determined to express his plans for office.

Referencing his experience in law enforcement, and his interactions with the Commis-sioners Court, Ortiz said, “It takes all of us working together to get things done.” Referring to the matter of drugs, he added, “We’ve been in the war a long time. We haven’t won the war.”

For Jimmy and Diane Samuels, residents of The Greens Subdivision, issues pertaining to demographics, graffiti and increased traffic flow throughout their subdivision were the concerns they brought with them.

“Our neighbor directly across the street from us had their house broken into in the middle of the day,” Diane Samuels said. “What’s happening here tonight at this forum is very necessary. This helps put a face with the candidates.”

According to Adkisson, the forum was successful in creating a more informed, better-educated community, one he hopes to see have a “greater bond” with the sheriff’s office.

“The sheriff is elected by the people of Bexar County,” Adkisson said. “The people need to bear on the sheriff. They need to make him aware of what they like and don’t like. The question becomes, how do we go about achieving this? That’s what this forum is all about.”