Rock Rapids, Iowa — The Sheriff of Lyon County would like to continue in that position. Stewart Vander Stoep faces a challenge from Steve Michael of Larchwood for the Republican nomination to the position on June 2nd.
We had a chance to speak with Vander Stoep, and he gives us his background.
(as said:) “I started way back in 1984 with the Sioux Center Police Department when I was going to college at Western Iowa Tech. When I graduated from college, I got hired here in Rock Rapids for a full-time position on The Rock Rapids Police Department in 1985. I stayed there for four years and in 1989 I was hired on to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department, when I moved to Doon, and I’ve been on the Sheriff’s Office ever since. I became the Chief Deputy back in 2001, when Blythe Bloemendaal became sheriff, and then I became sheriff in 2012. I also teach the DARE program here in Lyon County since 1995, and I’ve been doing that ever since.“
(DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education and is taught in the Lyon County schools.)
He tells us what makes him want to continue as sheriff.
(as said:) “One thing about being in this position is, you know, every day is different. It’s not the same thing over and over again. There’s always new challenges and there’s always new things to be looking at and it’s kind of fun just to keep up with what’s going on, and facing those challenges. I’ve always enjoyed working with people and helping people in their time of need and it’s just always… It’s a joy most days to come to work“
We asked Vander Stoep what uniquely qualifies him for the job.
(as said:) “I’ve been in law enforcement since I was a young man, I started in Sioux Center when I was 20 years old and I’ve been doing law enforcement my whole life. It’s just something that when I was a young man, that was my desire to get into law enforcement and I’ve been doing it for a long long time… have lots of experience with it.”
Sheriff Vander Stoep says despite the hard times that they’ve had to deal with over the years, he’s eager to continue to serve the people of Lyon County.
(as said:) “I’ve really enjoyed being the sheriff and yes, we’ve had some hard times here through the years — the flood of 2014 was very trying. The train incident down by Doon two years ago — that was a very trying incident and we learned a lot about how to deal with things there. I learned a lot of experience from that train wreck. And then yeah last year going through what our office did with the loss of the Deputy… I hope no department ever has to go through that again because that was the low point of my entire career a year ago going through that. But again with that you gain experience and you and you learn from that and so you’re more prepared for the next time when something happens. Like with the train we learned so much more about what to do if we would have another major oil spill like we did this past year — or two years ago. It’s just it’s a constant learning and with that comes experience, and I do believe experience counts.”
The primary election is coming up on June 2nd. But according to the Lyon County Auditor’s office, due to COVID-19, there will only be one polling location for all of Lyon County — at the Forster Community Center in Rock Rapids. You can still vote absentee at the auditor’s office up until the day of the election, but the deadline has passed to request a ballot be mailed to you.
