August 28, 2007
Former Police Chief Carlos Leon will make another run for El Paso County Sheriff, a position held for many years by Sheriff Leo Samaniego, who is on medical leave.
Leon, who retired as El Paso chief of police in 2003, ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary against Samaniego in 2004.
"I'm hoping to make it to the front of the line this time," Leon said. "I'm very excited about the campaign."
Leon served as chief for four and a half years of his 29 years in law enforcement.
Samaniego has been on medical leave for some time, and it is unclear when or whether he will return.
Sheriff's spokesman Rick Glancey said Samaniego would not be available to comment on his plans or his challengers.
"When he gets back from medical leave he'll address all the questions," Glancey said.
Leon said his plans were irrespective of whether Samaniego runs again.
"Whether or not Sheriff Samaniego chooses to run is up to him, that's none of my business. I can only speak on my plan, my goals," Leon said. "I'm going to be doing the formal announcement tomorrow, so that's when you'll hear most of my platform."
Leon plans a news conference for 9 a.m. Wednesday at Tom Lea Park to formally announce his candidacy. He also will appear on Paul Strelzin's radio show, "El Paso On the Move," on KHRO-1650 AM at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Leon said generally, he is "pro-community policing -- the Sheriff's Department is part of the community, the community Is part of the Sheriff's Department. It can be no other way."
According to a news release sent out by the campaign, Leon will "address gang activity and drug enforcement with innovative approaches, and will involve the community through the development of advisory boards and community policing concepts to develop long-term strategies."
As chief, the release states, "Carlos’s efforts at combating drug trafficking and drug abuse resulted in the implementation of the highly successful Stash House Unit, a nationally acclaimed program aimed at stopping drugs where they are stored in preparation for delivery.
"He and the County Attorney developed and aggressive and highly successful anti-gang initiative that was aimed at eliminating gang activity in Central El Paso with the filing of civil actions against known gang members. He embraced Community Policing concepts by developing citizen’s advisory boards and assigning a myriad of officers to the cities neighborhoods."
Carlos Leon is the father of Rene Leon, assistant editor at Newspaper Tree. Rene Leon will not be part of his father's campaign, nor will he be involved in coverage of the campaign.
Carlos Leon said that he currently is employed as director of support services for University Behaviorial Health of El Paso, a new mental health services company expecting to open in El Paso this fall. He said he also is employed as a consultant for the Missing and Exploited Children's Center in Washington, D.C.
Leon also works as a consultant with NCED, where he previously worked from 2004 to 2006. He said he left during the downsizing that resulted from the loss of federal contracts to make military uniforms. The company lost contracts when oversight officials found it was not employing the number of disabled workers required by the federal contracts.
He said he returned in February 2007 to help with security.
"I had no part in the investigation. My responsibility was to safeguard the assets of the company, the military uniforms, which I did, and the safety of the employees, which I did," Leon said. "I'm glad to be part of the rebuilding team."