CANTON ‒ There’s a new sheriff in town. Literally. And throughout all of Stark County, in every city, village and township ― even those with their own police departments.
Republican Eric Weisburn begins a four-year term today as sheriff as the result of winning the office in the Nov. 5 general election from Democrat George T. Maier, who has been the county’s chief law enforcement officer since 2013.
“I’m just excited about getting started; I really am,” said Weisburn, who has over 31 years of experience in the department he is preparing to lead. “I know the place inside and out.”
Weisburn sat down to talk with The Repository about what employees and the public can expect to see when he takes office. Here’s what he said:
Eric Weisburn talks about what he expects to do when he takes office as Stark County sheriff. His first day in office is today.
What can the Stark County Sheriff’s Office staff expect?
“I want to make it a better environment for them,” Weisburn said. “I want them to feel valued and trusted and respected. That’s going to start on day one. That starts from me all the way down.”
New leadership team at the Stark County Sheriff’s Office
“I am just thrilled of the staff I am bringing with me, my command staff,” he said. “We have about a century of experience of workers, of employees, who worked at the Stark County Sheriff’s Office, and who have left, have agreed to come back and work for me … because we share the same mission of making the Stark County Sheriff’s Office a better place to work and serve the community.”
They are: Mark Maskaluk, who will be chief deputy, who worked 31 years at the sheriff’s office; Rick Stauffer, who worked 32 years in law enforcement; Eric Changet, who worked 28 years at the sheriff’s office; and Shadi Smiley, a former sheriff’s employee who left to work at the Canton Police Department, who will be chief financial officer.
Eric Weisburn talks about what he expects to do when he takes office as Stark County sheriff. His first day in office is today.
What should the public expect?
Weisburn said he plans to continue the Citizens Academy, a 12-week course designed to provide community members with a deeper understanding of the functions of the sheriff’s office.
He previously served as the program’s commandant.
“I developed a lot of the lesson plans that they’re still using today,” Weisburn said during the interview at his Plain Township home. “I was one of the initial instructors in that.”
Eric Weisburn says that after he takes office as Stark County sheriff, he will replace signs and other materials displaying the name of current Sheriff George Maier with generic versions that refer only to the office, and not himself.
Name will be removed, replaced with generic logo
Maier’s name appears on cruisers, trucks, stationery and signs at the sheriff’s office and elsewhere.
“There is branding on everything. We need to pull decals off of things,” Weisburn said.
Although cruisers, letterhead and business cards will bear Weisburn’s name, some other logos will be replaced with graphics featuring the star-shaped sheriff’s badge without his name. They will carry the phrase “First to serve,” a reference to Col. Ebenezer Sproat, the first person to serve as a county sheriff in Ohio.
Name change: Maier’s name erased from Stark sheriff’s office
“So that way, four years, eight years, 12 years, whenever someone comes in after me, they won’t be forced to change all the signage,” Weisburn said.
He said he does not have a cost estimate for the work.
Eric Weisburn talks about what he expects to do when he takes office as Stark County sheriff. His first day in office is today.
Communities contract with sheriff’s office for extra service
Weisburn has met with Plain Township trustees, who contract with the department for extra services, but not Lexington Township trustees, who have a similar arrangement. He said he has meetings planned with key figures in the community, such as the superintendent of the Stark County Educational Service Center, Joe Chaddock.
Artificial intelligence gun detection
Weisburn said he plans to move forward with plans, initiated by Maier, to use artificial intelligence to detect guns in public spaces such as schools and other public buildings where security cameras are already installed.
On the horizon: A new jail?
Weisburn looks for the county to replace the existing jail, parts of which date to 1960.
“It’s the infrastructure, the design. It was never set up for the mental health needs that we have today,” Weisburn said. “So plumbing, the electrical, all that is 60 years old. It never was built for today’s needs.”
The design of the cellblocks, arranged in straight lines, is less safe for staff and inmates than pod-style designs with cells arrayed around a central observation point.
How will he get a new jail built?
“That’s for the (county) commissioners to decide,” Weisburn said.
2024 Election: Voters pick Eric Weisburn as Stark County’s next sheriff
Rick Stauffer, who will hold the rank of major in Weisburn’s top management team, said he is looking forward to Weisburn’s leadership.
He sees Weisburn focusing on protecting Stark County’s vulnerable population, and children, in particular. He also believes the new sheriff will improve employee detention.
“He’s going to focus on the citizens of Stark County,” Stauffer said.
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Eric Weisburn looks to respect staff, replace jail