To the Editor:
I first met John Ball when I served as Public Safety Commissioner for the City of Oneida in 2014 and 2015. John was appointed as Madison County undersheriff by Sheriff Allen Riley in 2010. I had worked with Allen Riley for 27 years with the New York State Police and knew Allen to be a professional police officer with great integrity and judgment.
I think Sheriff Riley’s appointment of Undersheriff John Ball was his most important and best decision as a newly elected sheriff. I believe John Ball’s performance as Undersheriff and more recently as our acting Sheriff has confirmed my opinion.
The Madison County Sheriff must perform many duties as the administrator of a police agency with an annual budget of more than $11 million. John Ball has demonstrated his ability to be an accomplished administrator and Madison County’s “top cop.” One of the most important aspects of the job is the ability to work with other police agencies in the county, and I know John has worked closely with the New York State Police, along with federal and local police agencies in Madison County.
Because of limited resources and the nature of complex and sometimes dangerous police investigations, the ability to work together is critically important to protect the public and other public safety officers. In
addition to the Criminal Division, the Sheriff is tasked with the responsibility of managing the county jail. This challenging function calls for careful fiscal management and John has demonstrated his ability to manage this important obligation. He has also lead the effort to maintain agency accreditation for the jail.
John’s other accomplishments include an emphasis on community policing, which is simply promoting the presence of the MCSO throughout the county to serve our residents and visitors in areas like traffic safety, school safety, victim advocacy and crime prevention. John, working with former Sheriff Riley, has also been successful in obtaining grant funding for various programs and services.
Experience is critically important in law enforcement and John Ball has more experience than any recent candidate for Sheriff in Madison County. I encourage you to vote for John Ball and keep his experience working for all of us.
Mike Kaiser, Oneida