Testy turns in Sheriff's debate last night at Political Forum
I have no doubt that both people running for Sheriff in Oconee County are good people and fine law enforcement officers. There were a few sparks last night at the North Oconee County High School Fine Arts forum that really left me wondering who is going to win the race. It also kind of made me sad about the schism that is so evidently present between these two candidates and their followers and wonder about what will happen in Oconee County, Georgia after July 31, 2012.
There are deep wounds inflicted on both sides of this contested race, and many things more than mere campaign signs have been slashed. I think this race will be extremely tight and could go either way. One candidate did themselves a favor last night in my opinion, and another candidate seemed to strike a much more strident tone and may have inflicted damage to their once viable campaign.
Before last night my supposedly conventional wisdom would have predicted that Sheriff Berry would win in a narrow victory and Harvey O. "Trey" Downs would probably become Sheriff in four years or whenever Berry decides to retire. Now after listening to the debate last night, I am not so sure I want Trey to ever be the head of my local Sheriff's Department. Perhaps it was the general tenor of the exchanges about sizes of their respective patrol areas, or the snippy exchange about working in patrol cars or death penalty experience.
Let me state for the record right now in case no one has ever read it before in my blog, I despise whisper campaigns and scurrilous innuendo, but I also realize that is part and parcel of any political contest from elementary school to President of the United States. I respect Trey Downs for taking the time away from his family to run for office, but I do take issue with the manner in which he is attempting his coup d'etat with tactics that make me ponder his effectiveness as a leader of a county Sheriff's Department.
Now Downs could win the Primary July 31 and be the greatest Sheriff in the history of mankind, and I do not know what awaits him in the city of Snellville or elsewhere in his law enforcement career. But I would not be doing my job if I were to not comment on some of his scorched earth policy when it comes to reaching out to the those who do not support him.Perhaps if everyone who has ever attended the Downs daycare place and their parents vote for him in unanimity and acclaim he could win in a landslide, but I just don't see that coming.
I know that being Sheriff for as long as Scott Berry and doing your job both engenders and enrages a certain segment of the society. Fortunately for all us, most of those who do not like the job Scott has done are behind jail and have lost their voting rights.
However Trey Downs has tapped into something visceral and real, an anger and reaction against the Berry method and manner of which I am not at all privy to. I wonder how long the political gashes will take to heal despite all the gnashing of teeth, rhetoric and venom. There were a lot of whooping and hollering to go with the applause last night.
I want to thank all candidates for having the courage and fortitude for running for public office. I know they would much rather spend time with their families instead of trying to convince people their ideas are better than the other. I would again pass this bit of sage wisdom onto challengers attempting a palace uprising:
Stick to the issues like the Georgia State Patrol writing traffic accident reports, and quit with trying to paint the current Sheriff as some sort of ne'er do well who has somehow alienated everyone who matters in this county. I think we will all be better off for it.
And whatever idiots are trashing and slashing signs on either side, stop it, you are making us all look like buffoons.
There are deep wounds inflicted on both sides of this contested race, and many things more than mere campaign signs have been slashed. I think this race will be extremely tight and could go either way. One candidate did themselves a favor last night in my opinion, and another candidate seemed to strike a much more strident tone and may have inflicted damage to their once viable campaign.
Before last night my supposedly conventional wisdom would have predicted that Sheriff Berry would win in a narrow victory and Harvey O. "Trey" Downs would probably become Sheriff in four years or whenever Berry decides to retire. Now after listening to the debate last night, I am not so sure I want Trey to ever be the head of my local Sheriff's Department. Perhaps it was the general tenor of the exchanges about sizes of their respective patrol areas, or the snippy exchange about working in patrol cars or death penalty experience.
Let me state for the record right now in case no one has ever read it before in my blog, I despise whisper campaigns and scurrilous innuendo, but I also realize that is part and parcel of any political contest from elementary school to President of the United States. I respect Trey Downs for taking the time away from his family to run for office, but I do take issue with the manner in which he is attempting his coup d'etat with tactics that make me ponder his effectiveness as a leader of a county Sheriff's Department.
Now Downs could win the Primary July 31 and be the greatest Sheriff in the history of mankind, and I do not know what awaits him in the city of Snellville or elsewhere in his law enforcement career. But I would not be doing my job if I were to not comment on some of his scorched earth policy when it comes to reaching out to the those who do not support him.Perhaps if everyone who has ever attended the Downs daycare place and their parents vote for him in unanimity and acclaim he could win in a landslide, but I just don't see that coming.
I know that being Sheriff for as long as Scott Berry and doing your job both engenders and enrages a certain segment of the society. Fortunately for all us, most of those who do not like the job Scott has done are behind jail and have lost their voting rights.
However Trey Downs has tapped into something visceral and real, an anger and reaction against the Berry method and manner of which I am not at all privy to. I wonder how long the political gashes will take to heal despite all the gnashing of teeth, rhetoric and venom. There were a lot of whooping and hollering to go with the applause last night.
I want to thank all candidates for having the courage and fortitude for running for public office. I know they would much rather spend time with their families instead of trying to convince people their ideas are better than the other. I would again pass this bit of sage wisdom onto challengers attempting a palace uprising:
Stick to the issues like the Georgia State Patrol writing traffic accident reports, and quit with trying to paint the current Sheriff as some sort of ne'er do well who has somehow alienated everyone who matters in this county. I think we will all be better off for it.
And whatever idiots are trashing and slashing signs on either side, stop it, you are making us all look like buffoons.
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