By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer
Sheriff Ronald Gagnon and Guy Desjardins vie for the Democratic nomination

Two longtime police officers – friends for decades – have become political rivals.

Ronald Gagnon, Androscoggin County’s sheriff for 21 years, will face off in the June 13 primary against his former chief deputy, Guy Desjardins.

The pair had worked side by side for 11 years, ending on Jan. 6 with Desjardins’ abrupt departure from the department.

“I’ve been working on this (campaign) since Jan. 7,” Desjardins said. The 52-year-old Sabattus man said he had grown frustrated with Gagnon’s leadership style.

“A sheriff is elected,” he said. “That makes him a politician.” Whoever has the job ought to be establishing policy.

“The days of driving around in the cruiser are over,” Desjardins said.

However, Gagnon believes he has plenty more days ahead.

Even after two decades on the job, Gagnon arrives at work at 6:30 each morning, he said.

Much of the job of sheriff is managing a staff that has grown during his tenure from 29 full-time people to 85.

The money has grown, too.

When he started as sheriff in 1985, initially appointed by Gov. Joseph Brennan, Gagnon oversaw a budget of $580,000, he said. That budget is now approaching $6 million. Most of it goes to the county jail.

“It’s a big concern. I do my best to hold the budget line,” Gagnon said. “I’ve always returned budgets in the black.”

Gagnon said he enjoys working with people and they seek him out. When severe crimes happen, sometimes in the middle of the night, he gets the call.

“I’m on call 24 hours a day,” he said.

That, too, is part of the job he aims to keep. He’s not ready to stop.

“I’m only 59,” he said.

Gagnon declined to talk about Desjardins, saying he’d rather talk about some of the programs that were started during his watch, such as the DARE program for school children and the OUI Offenders program, in which people with first-time drunk-driving convictions perform labor at out-of-session schools in lieu of jail time.

Desjardins described Gagnon as “a friend for 30 years.”

The competition has led to lots of talk inside the department, say deputies. However, the talk is staying private.

Shortly after Desjardins announced his intention to run, county commissioners issued a policy regulating the political activities of county staffers.

Partly as a result of the policy, the department’s union plans to endorse no candidate, said Deputy Sgt. David Trafford, the union president.

Capt. John Lebel, the administrator of the Androscoggin County Jail, also plans to keep out of the politics. Lebel worked with both men for years.

“I’ll work for whoever sits in the sheriff’s seat,” he said.

If elected, Desjardins aims to make the seat bigger, carrying more of a visible role in the community, he said.

The owner of a limousine company, Desjardins said he’d likely hire a manager to run the business so he could devote all his time to being sheriff.

He wants the sheriff to take a role in lobbying the state for reform in how counties pay for the jails – the biggest single item in every county’s budget.

“The issue can’t wait another four years,” he said.

Gagnon believes he’s been a leader.

He has helped the department assemble an emergency response team and a K-9 program and is working on a proposal to reach out to private investigators to better catch criminals.

During his tenure, the county also built its jail, which opened in 1990.