The Johnson County League of Women Voters is holding a virtual forum on Wednesday afternoon, featuring Brad Kunkel and Al Fear, the two candidates for Johnson County Sheriff who will appear on the June 2 primary ballot.
It’s the second in a series of three forums featuring Johnson County candidates that will be live-streamed on the League’s Facebook page. A video of the event will be available for viewing on the Facebook page for those can’t watch it live. The non-partisan group has moved its forum to online platforms in response to COVID-19.
Al Fear is a sergeant in the patrol division of the Cedar Rapids Police Department. Fear, a longtime resident of Johnson County, has been a member of the CRPD since 1999. Prior to that he served in the Coralville Police Department. He has a total of 25 years of law enforcement experience.
Fear lists the top three issues he’d address as sheriff as substance abuse, mental health and human trafficking. He also said he wants to create greater involvement in the sheriff’s community policing initiative.
Brad Kunkel is a lifelong resident of Johnson County and has been a deputy in the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office since 2001. He has worked in a variety of positions in the department from the jail and patrol division to serving as the sheriff’s office’s public information officer.
Kunkel says working collaboratively with the community, addressing domestic violence and enhancing the department’s ability to investigate and prevent computer crimes are his key issues.
Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said in May 2019 he would not be seeking another term as sheriff. Earlier this year, Pulkrabek announced he was running for the Iowa House of Representatives in District 73, which covers eastern Johnson County and all of Cedar County.
Pulkrabek has endorsed Kunkel in the upcoming election.
In addition to being live-streamed on Facebook starting at 4 p.m., the forum will also be rebroadcast later on Iowa City Channel 4, Coralvision and North Liberty TV.
