JasonPye.com: Forum for Sheriff Candidates

Last night the Henry GOP sponsored a forum for candidates for Sheriff. As expected, Keith McBrayer and Jim Cox proved themselves as legitimate candidates. William "Bo" Moss, on the other hand appeared to have recently arrived on the Pluto Express. One observer said, "Jim and Keith represented themselves well, but Moss is from another planet.

True to his campaign line, McBrayer is resting on his 32 years in the Henry Sheriff's Office. Immediately after high school he joined the SO and has been there ever since. McBrayer has served as Major for the last eighteen years. He did not bring new ideas or proposed changes in operations. His website provides his credentials, affiliations and accomplishments.

Jim Cox brought ideas and operational changes to the fore. Cox's website provides further information and a discussion of the ideas. He promises to

* Develop a partnership with the Police Department in identifying and eliminating gangs
* Double School Resource Officers to include Middle School coverage
* Work to bring a much needed Juvenile Detention Center to Henry County
* Create a Fugitive Task Force
* Make essential training for deputies a priority

McBrayer opposes the idea of a Youth Detention Center saying he prefers to educate instead of incarcerate.

Counseling services and suffering the added expense of using out-of-county facilities appears a great way to dodge the issue.

Cox says

Of all metro area counties that handle over 1,000 Juvenile cases per year, Henry is the only one that does not have a Juvenile Detention Center. Currently, when a juvenile is taken into custody, he is transported to Spalding County. Half of the juveniles at the Spalding Detention Center are from Henry County creating a huge liability and expense for Henry citizens.

According to a Henry County’s Juvenile Judge and the State Juvenile Justice Department, there are no plans to build a Juvenile Detention Center in Henry County. However, the state will lease and operate a facility if we provide it. I have identified a potential facility for this purpose. Opening our own Juvenile Detention Center will lessen our liability in transporting juveniles across county lines, and at the same time create additional funds for the county.

My assessment of the forum participants is this: McBrayer has served the county well for many years. He gained endorsement from the outgoing Sheriff. Yet, after 18 years as Major McBrayer was not selected as Chief Deputy - the best position for a rising star to be groomed by the outgoing Sheriff. As such Chief Deputy McCart operates and manages the jail, a primary job function of the SO. Since the curernt Sheriff spends as much time in Florida as Henry County, Chief Deputy McCart is the de-facto Sheriff - not McBrayer. Questions also arise about security details organized by McBrayer for Atlanta Motor Speedway. These details are assigned and performed at McBrayer's discretion, creating private cash flow and influence that does not benefit the county or its citizens.

Jim Cox has served Henry County as well as having gained experience in a variety of positions. Jim Cox presents new ideas and direction that will allow growth and improvement for the Sheriff's Office. Jim has served the people of Henry County for fourteen years, eleven in the Police Reserves, and three years as a fulltime Officer.

Prior to joining the Henry County Police Department fulltime, Jim served in supervisory roles for 17 years in the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections, retiring with the title Facility Operations Manager and Member of the Department Management Team.

Jim has extensive training in Jail Construction and Operations and when he retired from that Department, Jim had accumulated more POST Certified training hours than any other employee. In 1996, Jim received a commendation for his efforts in helping to plan and implement the construction and operation of the $56 million City Detention Center.

There are three places you can stand: Growing, Stagnated or Declining. It is time for a change. Jim Cox – Uniquely Qualified to Lead for Henry County’s Future.

Comments

You neglected to mention that Jim Cox very accurately observed that when one has been with an organization for as long as McBrayer, habit and famililarity often lead to lack of innovation. McBrayer is a good man. Jim Cox is better for Henry County.

Posted by: Classical Jazz | June 4, 2008 05:26 PM

This commercial for Jim Cox is over the top, but if Jason wants to let his blog be used for that, that's up to him.
Saying that the current Sheriff spends more time in Florida than Henry County is an outright lie. I'm also virtually certain that you knew it was a lie and you decided to write it anyway, because you thought it would help your candidate. That makes everything else you write suspect.
Cox hasn't brought forth any new ideas. The Fugitive Task force is an idea he got from the village idiot over in Clayton County. Doubling the SROs to include Middle Schools is a dumb waste of money and will only happen if the BoE agrees to pay for it like they do the existing SROs. Cox wants more, more and more, which isn't needed and is only going to cost more, more and more. He ought to be over on the Democrat side fighting it out with Eckler (although he'd lose over there too).
Cox played police officer and thought that would be enough to fool people into electing him when he's run before. It didn't work, so he tried actually doing some real police work for a few years. Well, that doesn't compare well to McBrayer's experience (or Eckler's for that matter).
And to make an issue of the fact that McBrayer was not made the Chief Deputy shows a level of mindlessness that I cannot comprehend. For the record, McCart is not running. If he were, it might be an issue. It has been common knowledge for many months that McBrayer was going to be running when Chaffin retired. He could have promoted McBrayer, knowing that he would be taking a leave of absence. Instead, he promoted the guy who will almost certainly be in that position after the election.

Posted by: Dutch | June 4, 2008 07:51 PM

This commercial for Jim Cox is over the top, but if Jason wants to let his blog be used for that, that's up to him.

There is a McBrayer supporter that posts here, let him speak up.

If you have something you'd like to be on the frontpage, send it along.