Is he demonizing the homeless for future electoral advantage?
For an outgoing Spokane County Sheriff, Ozzie Knezovich has been acting the part of a political attack dog. He’s been strutting and puffing and making local, regional, and national news with his threat to “clear” Camp Hope. He even had a spot on “Fox and Friends” where Ozzie, sporting his uniform, paints a picture of a whole neighborhood cowering in fear around Camp Hope. Without evidence he accuses “Democrat activists” of lining their pockets with money coming from the state. Welcome to Republican attack dog tactics: lie, stoke fear, point fingers, and shift blame. Collaboration? Not publicly; collaboration doesn’t stir the base. Confrontation? You bet.
Ozzie refuses an invitation to visit Camp Hope, the camp he threatens to forcibly dismantle, but he makes news taking a walk in a non-existent homeless camp along the Spokane River in Spokane Valley to make a political point against the candidate challenging Ozzie’s anointed successor as sheriff.
I am so far unable to verify it, but, according to a post on Nextdoor, Ozzie plans to make more political hay by speaking at (outside?) City Hall at 4PM today (Monday, October 3) in advance of the 6PM City Council meeting. If he appears, you can bet he will have alerted the media to cover it—and the some local media will step right up and report his drama, bluster, and unsubstantiated accusations with eye-catching headlines.
Sheriff Knezovich announced in 2019 that he would not run for another term. Instead, KXLY reported “Sheriff Knezovich says plans to go back to school for his master’s and eventually pursue a career teaching college students”. Ozzie is only 59. He had a small heart attack and a stent placed early in 2022, but he says he’s not planning to retire, he’s just “shifting gears”. More recently, he said he would be moving to Wyoming to be near family, including children and grandchildren (he grew up Rock Springs and Superior, Wyoming).
It was no surprise in early July 2022 there were multiple media reports that “the Republican candidate for Sheriff [Dwane Pacheco] of Sweetwater County in Wyoming [the county that includes Rock Springs] announced Knezovich would serve as his Undersheriff if he wins.” (The italics are mine.) In the Wyoming Primary Election held August 16, two Republicans, Ozzie’s friend, Mr. Pacheco, and Mr. Grossnickle ran. Mr. Pacheco lost badly with 2456 to Grossnickle’s 6905 votes. Since no Democrat ran in that race, I presume (but find it is devilishly difficult to nail this down), that only Mr. Grossnickle will appear on the General Election ballot on November 8—and Ozzie’s friend, Mr. Pacheco, is out of the running.
One wonders if Ozzie Knezovich’s plans for 2023 were unsettled by Pacheco’s electoral loss. Is Knezovich using his remaining three months in office as Spokane County Sheriff as an issue platform from which to stake out a position (tough guy, law-and-order, Democrats are evil grifters) on which to run for a local office in the 2023 municipal elections? Knezovich is a politician. Arguably, part of what has kept him in office in the past has been a willingness to engage Democrats with some respect—but, now, like other local Republicans, Ozzie is in low-fact political attack mode—and I, for one, have lost most of the respect for him that I once harbored. May he go quietly into the Wyoming sunset—but don’t bet on it.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry
P.S. I do have to give Knezovich credit for this: he personally endorsed Vicky Dalton (D) to continue as Spokane County Auditor over Bob McCaslin Jr. (R). Even as he fumes about “progressives”, Democrats, and “antifa” he also has taken a stand against the Matt Shea contingent of the local Republican Party—which includes Dalton’s election denying challenger. Knezovich’s presentation,“The Threats We Face”, in October 2019 still stands as a rare example of a local Republican standing up to the militant right wing of the Republican Party.
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