Sheriff candidate forum scheduled for Oct. 21

ALBION – Two local groups have organized a candidate forum with the three people seeking to be the next sheriff of Orleans County.

Don Organisciak, Randy Bower and Tom Drennan are all scheduled to be at an Oct. 21 candidate forum. They will have an opportunity to give opening and closing statements, and respond to questions from the public.

“We want educated voters,” said Mattie Zarpentine, one of the forum organizers. “That’s our goal.”

Zarpentine, a Holley resident, is regional director for New York Revolution. She worked with David Thom, chairman of Orleans County SCOPE (Shooters Committee On Political Education), to set up the forum.

The three candidates are all vying to replace Scott Hess, who is retiring from the job on Dec. 31. Zarpentine said it has been a heated campaign that has generated lots of public interest.

Organisciak is a retired Medina police investigator who is running with the Democratic Party line. Bower, a public safety dispatcher, won the Republican primary over Drennan. Bower also has the Conservative Party line.

Drennan, chief deputy for the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, has the Independence and Reform party lines.

“I would like people to go to the polls and know their candidates,” Zarpentine said. “It’s different when you get to see them face to face. You really get to know them which is important because one of them will be your sheriff.”

The forum will be Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Albion Elks Lodge in Albion at 428 West State St. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

The election is Nov. 3.