Cal, your Jan. 25, 2006 editorial addressing the problems between the Sheriff and Board of Commissioners is disappointing at best. A writer with your considerable skills, and the means to inform the public, could have and should have taken this opportunity to find and tell the truth about this controversy. Instead you chose to trivialize, make assumptions, insult, attribute negative motives and thereby misinform your readers.

You know I understand and fully support the critical role of the “fourth estate” in our republic. I also firmly believe that this awesome power must be accompanied with a concomitant passionate dedication to the truth.

Your editorial attempts to take two of “your children” to task for some senseless silly fighting. Rather than searching for the truth, you simply chastise, demean and threaten punishment if we don’t behave.

Cal, there is absolutely nothing silly at issue here. It is all about good government, visibility of spending taxpayers’ money and accountability of the property paid for by those taxpayers. It is about whether or not all elected officials must comply with federal, state and local laws. It is also about whether or not those charged with the responsibility of enforcing our laws must themselves obey them.

Those are issues the “fourth estate” is normally passionate about. Why haven’t you investigated and objectively reported the issues? Why do you trivialize the improper arrest and detention, the threats of incarceration, the hours of interrogation and the intimidation and humiliation of three American citizens who did nothing wrong except incur the wrath of the Sheriff for doing their job? Is the best you can do to say the Sheriff looked “foolish”?

I was amazed to have you tell us to “take it private.” You have consistently demanded that elected officials do everything openly, even when the law allows some exceptions. Do you really want us to retire to the proverbial “smoke-filled room” and cut a deal? Is the law only important when you say it is?

You are trying to convince the public that the Commissioners have some hidden motives. You are trying to make the public distrust us. If we did something wrong, or even want to, what is it? Are you going to continue to believe everything you are told by Bruce Jordan? Do you believe all the trash in the “Free Speech” section? Is that the extent of your research?

Your comment about me wanting to run for Sheriff is just as absurd as the other two references to the same thing you have published. If you or anyone thinks I want to be Sheriff, why not ask me? Apparently you are among the few people in the county who doesn’t know I am running for reelection in July.

You allege that I manufactured the controversy. If you had taken the time to follow the issues you would recall that the Sheriff refused to incarcerate an offender arrested by a county police officer (marshal) even though the law clearly required him to do so. He had been doing so for many years and then, without warning, placed our officers and the public in jeopardy in the middle of the night. Unable to convince the Sheriff that he was violating state law, the Board of Commissioners asked the court to settle it. The court did. He must incarcerate those offenders. We have additional issues involving accountability of funds and property still to be litigated in the lawsuit initiated by the Sheriff. Should we have let violations of the state law continue rather than incur the wrath of the Sheriff? Is that what you want from your elected officials?

Many people (including you) say they want elected officials to do what they believe is right despite the potential personal and political impacts. Do you still feel that way? The Board of commissioners understands all to well that we may be hurt politically by insisting that all elected officials, including our popular Sheriff, be equally accountable to our citizens. We chose to act anyway.

The Board of Commissioners understands the role of this Sheriff and our Board. Our budget reinforces the priority we place on public safety. We don’t tell the Sheriff how to use his 214 people and don’t want to. We don’t want the money he receives from drug arrests and of course the law doesn’t allow us to take it if we did. By failing to research and report the facts your paper has contributed to the misunderstanding of some of our citizens. And your solution is to “take it private.”

Cal this is not about some silly power struggle between the Board of commissioners and the Sheriff. It is not about some ridiculous war of egos between Greg Dunn and Randall Johnson. Believe it or not, it is not about you, either.

It is about the future of the best community in Georgia. It is about avoiding the pitfalls and decline of so many other Georgia communities when the rule of law became an annoying inconvenience to be ignored and/or rationalized away. If we are to continue to prosper, the rule of law must remain an absolute for all to follow, most importantly, our elected officials.

Greg Dunn
Chairman
Fayette County Board of Commissioners