SHERIFF'S RACE - WHAT DID YOU LEARN AT THE MAY 19 DEBATE?

More than 150 people including the Hill Spirit turned out Monday night to hear candidates for local, state and national offices answer questions at a public forum in Athens.

The forum, held at Athens State University’s McCandless Hall, was a way for us to learn more about the local and state candidates running in the June 3 primary election. Moderator Adam Smith, former managing editor of The News Courier, asked relevant questions of each candidate.  This forum wasn't a debate but a lightening round (30 second answers) format that provided sound bites.

SHERIFF - GOP PRIMARY CANDIDATES

Brad Pullum
Home: Athens
Age: 44
 
Family: He and wife Tonia have three daughters and a grandchild.
 
Career: Real estate appraisal and broker, Pullum Realty and Appraisals. Singer/songwriter and owner of a music publishing company. Worked almost nine years as a deputy and investigator in the Limestone County Sheriff's Department.
Education: Graduated from West Limestone High School in 1987. Earned an associate degree in criminal justice and political science from Calhoun Community College.

Political experience: Ran unsuccessfully for Limestone County sheriff in 1998. 

Highlight Answers:
*Department should add satellite substations throughout the county. "The nearest deputy is often 15 to 20 minutes away," Pullum said. "If there's a harassment call or a domestic issue, a resident shouldn't have to wait that long."
*Critical of department's Cessna Seneca airplane
*Sheriff's Department is "way too top heavy" with administrative staff and needs more deputies.
"There are too many people maintaining a website, running around taking pictures for the rodeo and doing PR for the sheriff."

Eric Redd

Home: Elkmont
Age: 33
 

Family: He and wife Miranda have three children

Career: Instrument controls design engineer, Redd Line Inc.; U.S. Army, 2001-05
 
Education: 2000 Athens High School graduate.
 
Political experience: None 
Answer Highlights:
*will focus on reducing the department's budget, which he said is 62 percent of the County Commission's budget."The Sheriff's Department takes up 32 to 35 percent of other counties' budgets," Redd said. "I would start with an inventory and audit to look at where we can reduce costs." Constitutional candidate; oathkeeper (for those who don't know what a oathkeeper is.... Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, reserves, National Guard, veterans, Peace Officers, and Fire Fighters who will fulfill the Oath we swore, with the support of like minded citizens who take an Oath to stand with us, to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God. Our Oath is to the Constitution)

Eric Smith

Home: Athens
Age: 37
 

Family: He and wife Adria have three children.

Career: Alabama State Trooper for 18 years
 
Education: 1995 Athens High School graduate. Graduated from Alabama State Trooper Academy in Selma.
 
Political Experience: None

Highlight Answers:
* critical of Cessna Seneca airplane; the department should sell the plane and buy a drug dog instead. "We need to cut back on wasteful spending. And there's better use of our money than owning an airplane."

Hot topic: Is law enforcement experience needed for the office of sheriff?

Candidates Thoughts:

Brad Pullum:
A deputy and investigator for 10 years, Pullum said he's the only Republican candidate with experience in the Sheriff's Department."I am the only one on the Republican ticket who is qualified to run for sheriff." Pullum said a sheriff does need management and budgeting skills, but he also needs law enforcement experience and training.
"He needs experience in dealing with the public and the criminal elements of society," Pullum said. "Anyone can read the code, but do they know the difference in burglary and robbery? You've got to know the law to be able to teach the people you're leading."


Eric Redd's Thoughts:  
Law enforcement experience shouldn't matter. The Sheriff's Department needs a chief executive officer who can run a large corporation with a big budget."The Sheriff's Department needs someone to be a real CEO," Redd said. "Being a cop on the street doesn't qualify you to be the CEO of a $10 million company." Redd, who manages project budgets as an instrument controls design engineer, said it's a common misconception that a sheriff has to be a certified law officer. "Giving people tickets for 10 years doesn't make them qualified. The military has the best leadership training in the world, I've commanded troops and I take issue that my military service doesn't qualify me to lead."

Eric Smith:
With 18 years as a trooper, Smith said he is the only certified officer who is active in law enforcement. He pointed out that Blakely was a trooper before he became sheriff. "Pullum's experience is 15 to 20 years ago," said Smith, who was a reserve deputy.


LINKS TO ELKMONT BLOG POSTS ABOUT 2ND AMENDMENT:
What Do They Think About Loaded Pistols in Car?
Where Do They Stand On the Second Amendment? 

Transcript of Questions:

Question: Two-part question: What is your understanding of the administrative role of the county sheriff? Also, please give a brief overview of how your background makes you the ideal candidate to assume the responsibilities of the day-to-day operations of this critical county department.

Redd: I thinks it's important to remember that the sheriff ... we all have an image of him as the top cop. He is, for the most part, but he does not run around writing tickets. The sheriff is a project manager overseeing an almost $9 million corporation and up to 150 personnel. Project managers need people skills and the ability to lead, in my opinion, soldiers. That is the best way to approach that issue.

Pullum: You need to be able to deal precisely and directly with each situation and deal with people. You have to be a people person. Understand the laws, yes, Title 32 or Title 13, but it's very important that a sheriff be able to not only read what's in the law books and make sure you are able to process a crime scene and that sort of thing but you also have to lead a group of people with an $8.6 million, around there, budget right now for the sheriff's office and the jail. A whole lot of it is being a manager.

Smith: A sheriff is an administrator. He oversees his employees — making sure he surrounds himself with qualified candidates — qualified people to help him run the sheriff's office; making sure he has the people's best interests at hand; making sure he has the voice of the people. He needs to have an open-door policy so people can voice their concerns that they have in their neighborhoods and their communities. I am an Alabama state trooper and I have a great working relationship with the current people who work with the sheriff's departments and also surrounding agencies. I work with the volunteer fire departments and emergency personnel. I believe that gives me an advantage over the others.

Question: The Sheriff's Department budget for fiscal 2013-14 was approximately $4.37 million, not including $3.6 million for the jail, $219,000 for courthouse security and $399,000 for the school resource officers. Do you believe this is an appropriate funding level for the sheriff's office? Why or why not?

Smith: I can't sit up here and tell you that we need to cut this, this and that. I need to be in that position to make those decisions. I would hope that the county commission would let the upcoming sheriff look and see where he can trim. I know personally that there are some issues with one of the airplanes. Limestone County doesn't need an airplane. I don't know if you knew they had one, but they've got one. That's a waste of money. Limestone County is not big enough for that. A canine program — a drug dog program. I used to be a canine handler with the state. The current administration bought a drug dog and gave it away after having it just 1 1/2, two years. There are issues with some of the people — some of the employees — driving county vehicles who are not certified personnel. I have no issues with those people operating the county vehicles during the performance of their duties during the day. However, there is room to trim — a little here, a little there makes a big difference.

Redd: I would say no. This is based on other counties of comparable size and population that have about 35 percent of their (general fund) budget going to their sheriff's departments, where we have about 62 percent. They want to argue about how well our sheriff's rodeo does and how much revenue it creates. If this is a fact that the sheriff's rodeo produces so much revenue, then why are we allowing our sheriff's department to get 62 percent out of the county (general fund) budget? This is not just irresponsible but this is stuff we need to address. I propose that there needs to be an audit and inventory done in order to get toward something that can be manageable. Obviously it's too high ... these are high numbers.

Pullum: To be re-certified as a police officer, it would take me two weeks to go back to school. (Pullum said this in response to Smith saying in his opening statement he was the only candidate on the panel who is a certified law enforcement officer.) I think it would be foolish, I think it would be a little fool-hearted, a little naive to go into an office and, right from the get-go, say I'm gonna go in and I want less money than what this department already has and I'm gonna make it better with less money. I do believe that there are much better ways to manage the current resources — the dollars that are available in the budget as well as the manpower, especially the manpower. But, all the resources within the sheriff's office could definitely be used to better serve the people of Limestone County.

Question for Redd: The office of sheriff has long been held by a Democrat, and an active member of the local Democratic Party. In your opinion, how does political affiliation shape and guide the daily duties of a sheriff? How would a Republican sheriff's approach to the daily duties differ from a Democratic sheriff?

Redd: I think that a lot of times we believe there is not much difference on a local level. I think, in some cases, there isn't much of a difference. It's local and people tend to, here in the South, be conservative. At the same time, I believe there is a defining issue between Blakely and myself — where he has advocated against our Second Amendment rights,  I have been a staunch Second Amendment supporter. I've gone to rallies and down to Montgomery to argue and defend our Second Amendment rights, where he has argued opposite that — that we need registration and we need gun control, and I disagree wholeheartedly. I think that is one of the more important issues. I am the oath keeper, and I define someone who goes in violation of their oath to uphold and defend the Constitution as an oath breaker. I believe anyone like that should be removed from office.

Question for Pullum: Despite laws passed at the state level cracking down on the sale of critical ingredients used in the making of methamphetamine, the drug continues to be prevalent in Limestone County and across North Alabama. What steps would you take to increase crackdowns on methamphetamine manufacturers and on meth-related crimes?

Pullum: I've found, personally, as the only person up here who has been a sheriff's deputy and the only person that has been a deputy out there for 680 square miles of coverage that it is easy for people to hide and do the things they shouldn't be doing. Having said that, I, personally, believe we should absolutely have substations in all four districts, and it could be done with a very, very little amount of money. Because, if you'll notice, if there is a police car or a patrol car sitting around close, very few people are going to be as inclined to do illegal or unlawful things because they really don't want to go to jail. Even those people making meth.

Question for Smith: According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 111 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in 2013, including three in Alabama. What steps would you take to ensure the safety of your deputies not only on the road but also when responding to dangerous situations?

Smith: Training is crucial. There needs to be more training. There are grants available to provide funding for those people to have training. We need to work closely with the surrounding agencies — Huntsville Police Department. They are Huntsville city but they have annexed into Limestone County and, to my knowledge, the county sheriff's department does not train at all with Huntsville Police Department. In the event something happens to where there is going to be a joint effort to respond to something, we need to know what they are going to do. We need to know how they react, how they train. That is crucial.

 Source: Athens News Courier 

Source:  Decatur Daily