DFS Herald Sheriff's poll. Who has your vote?

[ShallowsNole]

I am looking for specifics, such as; College Degree (what, where), years of Law Enforcement Experience, other professional experience, other organizational memberships or activities, any additional law enforcement accreditation or training (specialized, not standards or updated certifications). This is the information people need to know to make the best decision.

Watcher, when I say this, I am not speaking for or against any particular candidate, now or in the future. It is a pet peeve of mine when folks look for a college degree for a candidate for Sheriff. While they are nice to have, and I do have one, most of the people who have years of experience, know the people of this county, and would be an excellent leader in the office of Sheriff do not. It's important to have common sense (many folks with degrees do not ), understand budgeting and managing by being a leader, but those qualities aren't taught in school. Personality and people skills are FAR more important.

Also, realize that it has only been within the last 10 - 15 years that a employee of our Sheriff's office could request a specific shift in order to schedule college classes, and that is if you were on the road. Prior to that, all deputies rotated working days, evenings, and midnights. If you were in investigations or administration, you had a better chance BUT if a case required it, you stayed on the job instead of going to school.

Don't mean to go off on you, but this is a pet peeve of mine, and there are reasons. ;-)

 

[Alicia Leonard]

This site will hopefully give you some perspective on the candidates as they emerge. You are very correct that DFS and Freeport are familiar with most of the candidates, which is part of the problem. The South Walton Vote will be a deciding factor in this election, we need to vote with knowledge, which is easier said then done.

The candidate (ex) that you refer to was Bill Imfeld, not Infinger. He had a website as he had garnered tremendous support and funding (he still has it too). He also has/had his finger on the pulse of every community in the county and he was smart enough and had a strong enough campaign to create a web site to educate the voter. HINT ALERT: Get a website, it is 2008, if you want to get elected, tell us (the voter) about your qualifications, how will you change the face of law enforcement, who are you?

A great idea would be to hold a town hall meeting or debate, maybe three; one in SoWal, one in Freeport and one in DFS (Ralph will need one in Alabama as well). Anyone think this would work?

Watcher, I spoke with my editor about the idea of a town forum with a set selection of voter questions and then maybe a debate between the last men left standing. He like the idea.
I am concerned as well about the time to do something like this as one poster mentioned prior and turnout, but it is something we might be able to put together if enough people work on it.

So, the seed has been planted and we will have to wait and continue to work on it if we want it to come to fruition.

 

[wrobert]

The Watcher, maybe WaltonGOP is just pointing out that most people in Walton County, don't seem to have an interest in local politics. For example, Tuesday night, the Board of County Commissioners had four people of the public at the meeting when they were approving developments. I think that says much about the interest of the public. Try getting the public to show up at one debate would likely be a challenge, and trying to have a civil debate amongst people who have never ran for a public office might not show the candidates in their best light.

Thanks. I am certainly not trying to be negative about this. But these sort of events have been tried in the past to no avail. You hold the events, but people just do not seem to show up. Two years ago I put together a fish fry and band in the lakeyard in DeFuniak. Jeff Miller came, was able to get a lot of representation from the candidates running in the State races as well as locally. Had about 300 people come through the event that day, maybe 150 totally independent of any candidate that was making an appearance. I lot of work, a lot of fun, but not sure how effective.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

Thanks. I am certainly not trying to be negative about this. But these sort of events have been tried in the past to no avail. You hold the events, but people just do not seem to show up. Two years ago I put together a fish fry and band in the lakeyard in DeFuniak. Jeff Miller came, was able to get a lot of representation from the candidates running in the State races as well as locally. Had about 300 people come through the event that day, maybe 150 totally independent of any candidate that was making an appearance. I lot of work, a lot of fun, but not sure how effective.

I really appreciate your experience on this thread. I am also concerned about turnout and public interest. All good points.


Needs more pondering......:scratch:

 

[FactsB4Fiction]

I have a question. I totally agree with the issue that so many people are joining in the Sheriff?s race that the vote is going to be split. I think, (and this is just my personal opinion, not meant to hurt anyone?s feelings) that the race, no matter who is running will be between Ralph Johnson, Mike Adkinson, Josh Sconiers, and Bill Imfield (when/if) they come out to run. I could be totally wrong, but that is just my feeling. How can someone that is running or planning to run drop out and support another candidate when there is no one they agree with? Like I said in a previous posting of mine, most of these candidates are running for the wrong reasons. They either want the power, the money, or the Quinn McMillian administration people back into office. I thought that the citizens were tired of that phase is the reason he was voted out and replaced by Ralph Johnson. I believe there are two candidates who are running just because they are ticked off at the current Sheriff. That is not a reason to run. Of course they will never tell you that, they would be stupid to so I guess we will never know. My two favorite people so far in this race are Josh Sconiers and Jimmy Macon. I do believe these two are/will be running with heart. Someone posted saying it doesn?t matter if a Sheriff has a college degree or not. I totally agree with you, I know, at least where I work, it seems the higher the degree, the dumber they are. I know this is not true to all people but it is just a piece of paper. Until you get out there, work the job and have hands on experience that a degree doesn?t do a bit of good. Thank you for giving me Brown?s information. I?m sure I will be seeing and hearing him when he starts getting out and talking. Watcher was asking me questions about Sconiers training, qualifications, etc. Lord willing, when he comes out, all of this will be in his campaign and he?d be happy to talk to anyone about it. I just don?t feel comfortable speaking for him about that. That?s something he wants to tell and he will when he is able to begin.

 

[The Watcher]

Absolutely true. Would not surprise me if more were 'placed' into the race to insure that this happens. An unintended consequence of eliminating the second primary. And several who have spoken of running have not even been mentioned yet.

OK, WGOP, after a brief spat, we are back on the same page. Your comment about "placed" is very good and potentially very, very true. I do not think a lot of the readers understand this part, I certainly do. Thanks for your insight.

 

[The Watcher]

The Watcher, maybe WaltonGOP is just pointing out that most people in Walton County, don't seem to have an interest in local politics. For example, Tuesday night, the Board of County Commissioners had four people of the public at the meeting when they were approving developments. I think that says much about the interest of the public. Try getting the public to show up at one debate would likely be a challenge, and trying to have a civil debate amongst people who have never ran for a public office might not show the candidates in their best light.

Well put. I agree, but it doesn't hurt to try...

 

[The Watcher]

Watcher, when I say this, I am not speaking for or against any particular candidate, now or in the future. It is a pet peeve of mine when folks look for a college degree for a candidate for Sheriff. While they are nice to have, and I do have one, most of the people who have years of experience, know the people of this county, and would be an excellent leader in the office of Sheriff do not. It's important to have common sense (many folks with degrees do not ), understand budgeting and managing by being a leader, but those qualities aren't taught in school. Personality and people skills are FAR more important.

Also, realize that it has only been within the last 10 - 15 years that a employee of our Sheriff's office could request a specific shift in order to schedule college classes, and that is if you were on the road. Prior to that, all deputies rotated working days, evenings, and midnights. If you were in investigations or administration, you had a better chance BUT if a case required it, you stayed on the job instead of going to school.

Don't mean to go off on you, but this is a pet peeve of mine, and there are reasons. ;-)

Not a problem with your response. At this point I disagree on the College Education part, although I do see your point of view. We can just disagree on that for now. With that aside, how about the other qualifications like other professional experience, extra certifications or training and years spent in the profession?

I think it is unfortunate that officers are not incentified to obtain their degrees, I do know that other departments in the state to offer classes for degree credit and really push the higher education. I would like to see this type of program implemented here. You are right that there is no exception to common sense.

 

[The Watcher]

Watcher, I spoke with my editor about the idea of a town forum with a set selection of voter questions and then maybe a debate between the last men left standing. He like the idea.
I am concerned as well about the time to do something like this as one poster mentioned prior and turnout, but it is something we might be able to put together if enough people work on it.

So, the seed has been planted and we will have to wait and continue to work on it if we want it to come to fruition.

Great work on moving the ball forward. I would hope the candidates would respond and make themselves available. You can count Ralph out right away, he doesn't even talk to the papers. I bet you could get Wise (don't let him do a book signing...), you could get Sconiers, you could get Rick Brown, (you'd get Imfeld if he was still running). Hey three would not be half bad. At least it would start some education process. Those that don't participate, miss out.

 

[The Watcher]

I have a question. I totally agree with the issue that so many people are joining in the Sheriff?s race that the vote is going to be split. I think, (and this is just my personal opinion, not meant to hurt anyone?s feelings) that the race, no matter who is running will be between Ralph Johnson, Mike Adkinson, Josh Sconiers, and Bill Imfield (when/if) they come out to run. I could be totally wrong, but that is just my feeling. How can someone that is running or planning to run drop out and support another candidate when there is no one they agree with? Like I said in a previous posting of mine, most of these candidates are running for the wrong reasons. They either want the power, the money, or the Quinn McMillian administration people back into office. I thought that the citizens were tired of that phase is the reason he was voted out and replaced by Ralph Johnson. I believe there are two candidates who are running just because they are ticked off at the current Sheriff. That is not a reason to run. Of course they will never tell you that, they would be stupid to so I guess we will never know. My two favorite people so far in this race are Josh Sconiers and Jimmy Macon. I do believe these two are/will be running with heart. Someone posted saying it doesn?t matter if a Sheriff has a college degree or not. I totally agree with you, I know, at least where I work, it seems the higher the degree, the dumber they are. I know this is not true to all people but it is just a piece of paper. Until you get out there, work the job and have hands on experience that a degree doesn?t do a bit of good. Thank you for giving me Brown?s information. I?m sure I will be seeing and hearing him when he starts getting out and talking. Watcher was asking me questions about Sconiers training, qualifications, etc. Lord willing, when he comes out, all of this will be in his campaign and he?d be happy to talk to anyone about it. I just don?t feel comfortable speaking for him about that. That?s something he wants to tell and he will when he is able to begin.

OK, now we are all getting somewhere. You post was great and I agree with you on the first half. I think you need to leave out Adkinson as there is so so much baggage there. I think everyone should be ticked off at the current sheriff. Have you ever seen such a farce of an administration? I still can't get over the two pregnant officers being fired! This is so silly. Add to that the financial woes and the additional excitement that will come, (it will be here soon) and you have a real great reason to be ticked off. How about the way the deputies and investigators have to hold their tongues, they are filled with vast knowledge of Ralph and his Captain and the goings on. It is a very sad state of affairs when officers are so job scared that they will not speak out to verify information. Now, I am aware that some do (one for sure on this post) and kudos to them for stepping up.

As I stated in a prior response, I respectfully disagree with you on the college degree. If you look at trends in law enforcement and other professional vocations, college degrees are preferred and sometime required. Go to any job listing post and you will find your options severely diminished. Is it not fair to set the bar high when we look to elect the #1 law enforcement officer in the county? Like the other post, we'll just have to disagree on this.

I respect your stance on not speaking for J. Sconiers as it relates to his qualifications. However, that does not get you off the hook, I will look for him to provide his resume so that question will be answered, fair enough?