WHITESTOWN — Oneida County Sheriff candidate Jim Scarchilli said it is “unacceptable” that the Sheriff’s Office Road Patrol union voted “no confidence” in Sheriff Robert Maciol.

Earlier this month, the Oneida County Police Benevolent Association announced that, back in January, they voted “no confidence” in the leadership of current and longtime Oneida County Sheriff Robert M. Maciol.

The union cited a lack of a new contract, along with a changing climate in law enforcement, was contributing to low staffing and morale in the department, and that they did not believe Sheriff Maciol was handling the situation to their satisfaction.

In response, Maciol said the union was using his reelection campaign to play “politics” in an attempt to gain leverage in the contract negotiations. Maciol said he will continue to work hard to reach an agreement that both sides can accept.

Candidate Scarchilli, who is running on the We The People line in the upcoming election, held a press conference on Tuesday siding with the union.

“This vote was not a close one. Out of 83 PBA members who voted, 72 of them voted they had no confidence in the Sheriff. The PBA noted the two issues impacting their vote were staffing and morale. I have heard since before I even decided to run that these issues were significant and not being addressed, causing a number of great deputies to leave for neighboring municipalities.” Scarchilli said during the press conference.

“Worse yet, the PBA stated that they felt the current issues surrounding the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department have the potential to compromise public safety. Let me reiterate that — the deputies feel that poor leadership from Sheriff Maciol has placed them in an increased amount of danger while they are on patrol. This is simply unacceptable.” 

Maciol is running on the Democratic and Conservative party lines in the general election to take place on Tuesday, Nov. 8.