Tim Allen is Democrats' pick to run for Roanoke sheriff
The career corrections officer defeated opponent Joe Bush by more than 1,500 votes in Tuesday's primary.
Travis Akins
Octavia Johnson
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
A career corrections officer won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night for November’s Roanoke sheriff’s election.
Tim Allen, a former city sheriff’s office employee who most recently worked in the administration of the Western Virginia Regional Jail, defeated former probation and parole officer Joe Bush.
With 31 of the 32 precincts reporting, Allen logged 1,917 votes compared to Bush’s 292. Allen’s home precinct, Peters Creek, drew more voters than any other polling place in the city.
Allen said his campaign focused on meeting Roanoke voters and explaining his experience in corrections, which he said made him the better candidate for the Democratic nomination.
“I wanted to show them the difference,” he said. “I’ve been in the back of the jail. I’ve been on the ground floor.”
He also pointed to the position he retired from in February to pursue the sheriff’s position. He said he supervised more than 100 employees at the Western Virginia Regional Jail.
Allen will challenge incumbent Republican Sheriff Octavia Johnson during the Nov. 5 general election. Another challenger, Roanoke police O fficer Travis Akins, has filed to appear in the race as an independent.
Johnson is completing her second term as sheriff. She was elected in 2005, then held on to the position by a narrow margin in 2009 — emerging victorious by less than 1 percent of the vote. She later dismissed her challenger, Frank Garrett, from his position in the sheriff’s office.
Looking toward November, Allen said he believes he can elevate the sheriff’s office.
“My primary reason for wanting to run is to better the agency,” he said. “I want to raise the morale.”
He said many sheriff’s office employees currently lack a voice in the operation of the agency. One of his goals, he said, is to create an employee advisory committee to generate and evaluate ideas for the office.
Allen said his run would be aimed at raising the standards of the agency. He plans to advocate for more programs and an expanded work crew program that allows non violent offenders to perform work outside the jail.
Allen spent 21 years with the sheriff’s office beginning in 1987, including work in the court services division and the DARE program. After rising to the rank of lieutenant, he left in 2008 to become a captain at the Western Virginia Regional Jail. He was a member of the transition team responsible for opening the jail’s new facility. Allen retired from his position there in February to pursue the Roanoke sheriff position.
Bush, a former Roanoke probation and parole officer, also sought the Democratic nomination for sheriff in 2009, but lost to Garrett. That primary drew 3,751 voters, but the ballot included a three-way race for the governor nomination.
He said Tuesday night he ran again after seeing little change over the past four years. During the 2009 campaign, he voiced concerns about Johnson’s administration at the sheriff’s office. And he said those concerns brought him back to this year’s race.
Bush also pointed to employee morale as a weakness of the sheriff’s office. His plans would have included a test to assign promotions based on skill and merit.
In his second attempt at the nomination, Bush said he kicked off his campaign earlier, in August 2012. But he came up short again.
Still, he said, he will be supporting Allen as he challenges the current sheriff.
“We both ran a clean campaign,” Bush said. “I believe I’m a true Democrat, and I’ll support the candidate as well as the party.”
The sheriff’s office secures the Roanoke City Jail and Roanoke City Courthouse, employing 243 people.
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THE ROANOKE TIMES
