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Dear readers,
It is an honor to share with you what I know of Chief Deputy, Mark Warden, who as you know, is running for sheriff! The following will give insight as to why I believe he will be a great sheriff for Washington County.
First, I would like to start off by introducing myself. My name is Lindsey Smith. I am 29 years old, a mother of six, Vice-President of the Criminal Justice Club, and a current student at Washington State Community College. About a year ago, I decided I was ready to take my career to the next step and started taking classes at Washington State Community College.
At this point you could be wondering how I know Mark Warden and why I think so highly of him. Well, thinking back, I can remember receiving an email, right after I had started school, about how second year students were presented with the opportunity to get their foot in the door with the new cadet program. Washington County Sheriff's Office had offered the Cadet program in partnership with WSCC. I quickly emailed Professor Harlow back, asking about the program and showing my interest. It was not until I had the privilege to meet Mark Warden, personally in class, that I could not be more excited and knew I wanted to be a part of this program so badly. Professor Harlow extended the application for the WCSO and encouraged me to apply. Needless to say, she put in a good word for me. I was then interviewed by Chief
Warden and if I could just express my gratitude, I would by saying, "Thank you, Warden, for believing in me, pushing me outside my comfort zone, better preparing me for my career. This whole experience has been some of the best of my life." Chief Deputy Mark Warden had made such a substantial impact on me just by meeting him one time that I can now say I am now officially the second female and second cadet in general to be a part of the Special Deputy Reserve Unit at Washington County Sheriff's Office.
I have a lot of respect for this particular individual, just by some of the stories he has shared with my class, working with him personally, seeing him engage with the citizens of the county, attending a reserve meeting with him, listening to his goals and plans, and by the positive outlets he strongly encourages you to take. He wants everyone to lead a good life. A pure example of a good role model our community desperately needs. You can just meet him one time and genuinely know, he is very charismatic and has a heart of gold. You can tell by looking at him, through his expressions and mannerisms, he is good at what he does and passionate about his job! He gives great advice and truly believes in each of us. He will be the first to tell you to never let anyone tell you that you can't, or that you are not able, because he believes we can! If I could summarize in a few words the kind of person he is, I would say very morally driven, with some of the best ethical standards plausible. He is not afraid to tell you he has God on his side! A firm believer and someone who wants to see change for the better good in our county.
With the cadet program he designed, the experience you gain and opportunity to learn, you can obtain more and be a step ahead than just starting out in the field. Reason being, you have that time you set apart to job shadow, rather than being depended on, it allows you to experience each division and how they operate to get a better feel for what department might be more of an interest when you graduate and start your career path. I have all my thanks to give to Mark Warden! Seriously what an honor it has been, but also, I am learning so much! This is just one of his many ideas to reach out to all those that have the potential to prove you are ready to be a part of something larger than imaginable.
I want to conclude by thanking those reading this and I am excited to see what our county's future here has in store. It has been an overall wonderful experience. That is how I know I made the right choice decision in trusting Warden's dream goal. This is his calling; it is up to us to decide if we believe to put him in the spotlight. To show us what those goals are and how they will encourage the change we want to see. I say, if you vote for Mark Warden, he will not disappoint.
Thank you,