Voters to consider coroner candidates' divergent skills

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Both of the candidates for Yakima County Coroner say their background makes them best suited to lead the smallest department in county government.

And both have ideas about strengthening the service the office provides.

Current Coroner Jack Hawkins argues investigative techniques he learned during a 30-year career in law enforcement gives him the edge in death investi-gation.

Melinda Shoop, a small-business owner with nursing training and experience, contends her skills are more helpful in sorting out cause of death and in dealing with grieving families.

Voters will have a chance Nov. 3 to decide between the two.

The coroner has jurisdiction over the bodies of those who died suddenly and without a member of the medical community present, including those who die by unlawful and unusual means, or where suspicious circumstances are involved.

Hawkins, a Republican, certainly has the edge in fundraising. Counting a $1,500 personal loan, the former sheriff's deputy and Yakima police officer has accumulated more than $10,000 in contributions.

The figure includes more than $1,000 from Valley funeral homes. He's also received $500 from the Yakima County Republican Party and $200 from Yakima city firefighters.

Shoop, the Democratic candidate, has used mostly her own funds -- less than $1,000 -- for her campaign. She said the county Democratic Party has provided her with a voter database and mailing envelopes.

Hawkins, a Yakima native, is seeking to complete the final year of his predecessor Maury Rice's four-year term. He was the deputy coroner from 2006 until May of this year, when county commissioners appointed him to succeed the retired Rice.

The coroner's salary is $67,400 per year.

The coroner's office operates on a budget of $307,000 this year. The budget is likely to be cut for 2010 because of the county's financial woes. Hawkins said if elected, he will cover the loss in funding by reducing the hours of his deputy coroner.

This has been a busy year for the coroner. The office has conducted 70 autopsies so far in 2009, which is about 15 more than in any prior year.

The uptick in autopsies is attributed to the fact that more people have died alone from natural causes or suicide. The 19 homicides so far this year is one more than all of 2008.

The coroner does not perform autopsies. Those are conducted by physicians with the coroner's assistance. Hawkins said each autopsy costs about $1,400.

"I enjoy working with the families, the hospitals, the doctors and law enforcement," Hawkins said. "It is something I have been doing for so many years that it all falls into place."

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Shoop was born in Alabama, but her father's career in veterinary medicine with the U.S. Department of Agriculture took them to several states. She spent her high school years in North Dakota.

She has worked in a variety of venues, from intensive care and critical care to general medical care in state prisons, including the Ahtanum View Corrections Center in west Yakima, and nursing homes in her 26 years as a nurse. She spent her working career in Montana, California and Washington state.

During the last six years, she has operated the Little Red Hen Yarn Shop.

Shoop, who has had a long-term interest in forensics, said she believes her training qualifies her to be the coroner because nurses are trained to be observant and can do a thorough examination of a body.

"I bring medical skills. Nurses learn a large set of skills that apply to the coroner," she said.

If elected, she wants to focus on helping families deal with the often untimely death of a family member, something that Hawkins also lists as a priority.

Shoop said she would like to add more investigation of sexual assaults that may occur in the course of a homicide. One of her first priorities would be to receive training in identifying sexual assaults.

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For his part, Hawkins said he wants to do more to encourage organ donation and on suicide prevention. Three suicide cases this year prompted him to begin looking for ways to work with social service agencies to help prevent suicides.

Hawkins began his career in law enforcement. He was credited with helping start the canine unit in the Yakima County Sheriff's Office, but was fired 25 years ago during an investigation involving $700 in department funds for a trip to a canine training academy in Bakersfield, Calif., in 1982. Hawkins was reimbursed for the trip without receipts to support the expenditures.

The investigation occurred two years after the trip.

Hawkins ultimately withdrew an appeal of the dismissal by then Sheriff Dick Nesary and agreed to pay $200 to settle the matter.

Hawkins said the firing was political payback for his support of Nesary's opponent in the 1984 campaign for sheriff.

Prior to the termination, he was accused of unethical conduct for testifying for the defense in a negligent homicide case involving a family member of a fellow deputy.

The Washington State Patrol and then-prosecutor Jeff Sullivan criticized Hawkins' actions, something he now says he probably shouldn't have done.

Hawkins later was hired as an officer by the Toppenish Police Department and subsequently joined the Yakima Police Department, where he spent 15 years before retiring in 2000. Hawkins worked as a federal security guard at the William O. Douglas federal building in Yakima for six years before becoming Rice's deputy coroner.

Shoop declined to comment on her opponent's past.

Unlike other races, these two candidates haven't sparred at debates. The coroner's race is so low on the political radar, they haven't been invited.

Hawkins has concentrated his spending on print advertising in the Yakima Herald-Republic and the Sunnyside Daily Sun News and on yard signs. Shoop, who is likely to be outspent 10-1, is focusing on yard signs.

Jack Hawkins

Age: 60

Occupation: Yakima County coroner.

Previously held elected office: Appointed county coroner in May.

Education: Graduate of Davis High School. Certificates for an accident reconstruction course, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. Attended The Evergreen State College, Olympia.

Melinda Shoop

Age: 60

Occupation: Owner of Little Red Hen Yarn Shop.

Previously held elected office: None.

Education: Bachelor's degree in French and English literature, the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D.; nursing degree, the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, S.D.