Lake sheriff shelters behind his badge for now
NWI Times
Nov 21, 2016
CROWN POINT — John Buncich remained Lake County’s top cop and Democratic party boss Monday as rumors about whether he would resign swirled around his office in the wake of his Friday bribery indictment.
Mark Back, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, denied a report early Monday that the sheriff was planning a news conference. He stated, “There have been no changes to Sheriff’s Department administration.”
Party officials said Monday Buncich hasn’t indicated he would step down as chairman before a previously scheduled caucus in early March to elect the next county chairman.
Buncich didn’t return calls seeking comment.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said, “Should he step down as sheriff? Yes, but being realistic, this is his job and how he pays his bills. I don’t understand why (Buncich) would want to be chairman, anymore.”
“John has ruined the Lake County Democratic party. We were improving our reputation statewide, and this has set it back a decade. This guy can’t do his job as chairman, but will he resign? I’m not sure,” McDermott said.
Buncich has been the county’s highest elected law enforcement official from 1994 to 2002, and again from 2010 to the present. He has been party chairman June 2014.
Buncich, 70, and Timothy Downs, 65, Buncich’s handpicked chief of police, are accused of wire fraud. Buncich is additionally charged with receiving bribes.
U.S. Attorney David Capp and federal investigators allege Buncich received more than $30,000 in bribes between February 2014 and last month from towing companies wanting the sheriff’s permission to remove cars from public streets. The sheriff receives an annual salary of $143,926.32.
Both were arrested and released on bond Friday after entering not guilty pleas. Their trial is tentatively scheduled to begin Jan. 17 and could last for up to three weeks.
McDermott Jr., who clashed earlier this year with Buncich over party matters, said he has spoken with the Democratic state chairman and local elected officials about handing party affairs over to the party’s vice chairwoman, Lake County Treasurer Peggy Katona.
Lake County election officials said that if Buncich resigned as sheriff, state election laws would require a caucus of more than 1,000 Democratic precinct committee members to meet within 30 days to elect the next sheriff to serve the remainder of Buncich’s term.
Lake Elections Director Michelle Fajman and Jim Wieser, an attorney for the county elections board, said judicial vacancies are filled by a governor’s appointment, but sheriff is considered a local office to be filled by the party of the departed officeholder.
Lake Councilman Dan Dernulc, the Lake County Republican chairman, said Monday, “We are held to higher standards, and we should be, by people. When that trust is broken, it really puts a taint on all politicians. I’m not trying to say the sheriff is guilty. I don’t know, but this is another slap in the face for Lake County.”
Lake Auditor John Petalas, a longtime supporter of Buncich, said, “The vultures started circling the building minutes after that FBI raid (Nov. 10), which came out of left field. John has been a policeman for 45 years and done a lot of good things. Everybody who knows him is holding back to see what has really happened.”
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