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Steele County Sheriff’s Race 2022

Sheriff's election, owatonna, steele county, lon thiele, helget
SCSO candidates talk about learning from failure
By
Kay Fate, Staff Writer

In an effort to keep our readers as informed as possible about the upcoming election and the choices they are offered, we are asking the candidates of several races to weigh in on the issues.

That includes the race for Steele County Sheriff. Incumbent Sheriff Lon Thiele is facing challenger Darrin Helget, who is currently a deputy sheriff for the SCSO.

Every week through Nov. 2, we will publish the answer to a weekly question, designed just for the sheriff candidates. There will be a word limit; the only editing we’ll do is if the answer is too long.

We sincerely hope this is beneficial to you, our reader, about the issues affecting Steele County, where the candidates stand and how they may address those concerns.

Here's this week's question:

Time to be humble. What is your greatest failure – and most importantly, what did you learn?

Answers were limited to 300 words.

 

Steele County Deputy Darrin Helget: “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”- Abraham Lincoln

Failures are inevitable. How and what we learn from them is what defines you.

In 2018, I ran for Steele County Sheriff. I had many supporters, none bigger than my family. My wife Mary was by my side through it all. While I truly was not sure what the outcome would be, we worked hard each day to spread our message. My message is similar today. In the end, the election was a loss, as I was not elected as your sheriff.

It allowed me an opportunity to reflect and grow as a person, continue to develop myself by attending courses and training to improve. My candidacy in 2018 peeked people’s interests. Since then, citizens of Steele County have been seeking answers, asking me questions, engaging. I have been listening.

I learned that my desire to see things change and develop into brighter and better will not be stifled by one setback. Gaining insight, additional information, and other perspectives helped me to renew my passion to run for office. As your sheriff, I can make a bigger impact on public safety. My goal is to reduce turnover, increase training and development, and strengthen relationships with surrounding agencies. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

In the last four years I have also gained encouragement and support from my coworkers. Their vision also saw that I could make a bigger impact in the role of sheriff, and that I should try again.

 

Steele County Sheriff Lon Thiele: First, failure is not always a bad thing. Failure could lead to discovery and can be the best learning tool of all.

Throughout my career in law enforcement, I’ve faced a variety of obstacles. There was a time when I began my career, I worked too quickly and didn’t focus on the end game and producing quality results. Because of my misunderstanding, I didn’t see or recognize the big picture.

For example, all through college, and at my first job, I was taught and trained to write citations on almost every traffic stop. I didn’t question anything. I thought to myself, I have professionals teaching a rookie what needs to be completed, so they must know what they’re doing. I needed to focus on separating the “letter of the Law” and the “spirit of the law.”

At that time, I felt like I failed myself and my employer by not educating hard enough and not focusing on quality. Because of this oversight on my part, the educational aspect was missed. It’s not always about a citation. Teaching and educating, especially young drivers, shouldn’t be overlooked.

With self-awareness, I realized the goals I should have been achieving as a public servant. I continue with that today. I’m glad I realized how important it is to give public safety full attention and strive to educate only the best every day. I have owned my mistakes and have learned from them.

This has been carried over to my administration as Sheriff. I teach and lead by example. I can proudly say that my failure at the start of my career has made me the diligent and thorough professional that I am today. Although going through the failure situation was not easy, I am appreciative of the fact that I learned extensively from it.

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