OWL HEAD – There were two nominations. One to the Governor to nominate a Knox County Sheriff for the temporary vacancy. The second to the Secretary of State to place the political party’s candidate on the November ballot.
Paperwork, signatures, background checks. They all took time, but there has been no time available. A month ago, then Deputy Chief Patrick Polky was years away from thinking about running for sheriff.
“I’ve had a very operational mindset, not a very political one,” he said. “And maybe more so because we had kind of a succession planning idea with Tim at the helm.”
The plan was for former Knox County Sheriff Tim Carroll to run unopposed this year and serve at the helm for another four to eight years. Then, and only then, would Polky consider his own promotion.
The destinations had different ideas.
On Monday, August 1, 2022, Polky was sworn in as Knox County Sheriff. He has been unofficially covering the duties for the past few weeks while Carroll is stepping down after accepting the Rockland Police Department’s hiring committee’s offer to be Rockland’s next chief.
Carroll was among co-workers and family who witnessed the brief ceremony Monday morning, in a garage on the Knox Regional Airport campus, as Heidi Norweg, Dedimus Justice and a Knox County Jail worker, recited to Polky the promise of the bailiffs of Maine. County Commissioners Dorothy Meriwether and Sharyn Pohlman also witnessed the exchange of Polky’s uniform pins by Polky’s wife, Stephanie.
Because sheriffs are elected officials, Polky’s Aug. 1 ceremony recognizes Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ July 28 appointment to serve for the four months between now and November. At this point, Polky is expected to run unopposed in November to officially become Maine’s 23rd Knox County Sheriff.
“I was definitely surprised,” he said. “I didn’t realize the amount of support I would have [from the Democratic party].
But now Polky must catch up in an election year when candidates typically start building their support systems in April. Now, he balances both his old and new job titles as he continues to consider options for a new running mate, aka Deputy Chief.
As a running mate from the previous campaign, Polky has held the Deputy Chief position since 2019. Along with his regular duties, he settled into side projects, which paved the way for his wishes for the future.
In the future, Polky hopes the Knox County Recovery Collaborative network will be more public about its resources, whether as a guide for someone who wants to help or as links for someone who is hurting a bit.
This future goal builds on the parallel projects that are already underway:
• Works with Jason Trundy of Waldo County on restorative justice and similar programs.
• Spend time with the Knox County Recovery Collaborative, a joint venture created by Carroll and Polky as their way to bring together resources, skill sets, ideas, and partners in Knox County.
“One of the things I’ve personally been pushing for over the last year is the mental health aspect,” he said.
Many people experience some kind of mental health crisis, whether it’s a true chemical imbalance with a disorder like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder; be it Covid fatigue and not being able to socialize, or even the mental health response to how society has changed since the pandemic began.
“For me, it’s a very big problem, but I don’t think it’s unattainable,” he said. “I think a lot of the work that we’ve been doing with substance use really reflects that mental health in that you have to identify the problem and work with the causation of it, and then work with them to build coping skills, be resilient. Sometimes maybe it’s just being in a room with other people with similar issues, just having the ability to talk to people going through the same experiences.”
Contact Sarah Thompson at [email protected]
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