News

McDonald touts crime reduction, community engagement

Sheriff Charlie McDonald makes a point during the kickoff of his re-election campaign.

By Bill Moss, Published: October 6, 2017

Sheriff Charlie McDonald kicked off his re-election campaign before about 100 supporters, casting himself as a leader of ongoing change that has improved his agency.

“Why do I want to be here another four years? Either I’m crazy or I have a sense of mission and purpose,” he told the gathering at the Boyd Chevrolet showroom on Sept. 14. “It’s probably both. I really believe if we can stay here another four years we will have firmly turned that aircraft carrier when it comes to how we provide service but also how we train and educate and promote and attract the right kind of people in law enforcement.”
A reluctant and inexperienced candidate four years ago, McDonald has over his first term managed to attract support from across the county and throughout the Republican Party. He has a $100-a-head fundraiser scheduled next month at the Hendersonville Country Club with U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows and state Sen. Chuck Edwards as special guests.
Appointed in early 2012 after the resignation of Rick Davis the previous November, McDonald has said he faced a major management task in rebuilding training, ethics and morale.
“We’ve got professional standards that we’ve never had before,” he said. “We look at our folks not as expendable commodities despite what you may have heard. We do hold folks to a high level of accountability but we invest in them. We invest in them for your sake and we invest in them for their sake because we want that guy who comes in and wants to serve their community 30 years later as they’re retiring.
“If morale and work ethic is any indication of how things are going I think we’ve got a tremendously successful sheriff’s office,” he continued. “Why? I’ve got a lot of support from the community. I’m going to need a lot of support from the community as we go forward once we win this election. But don’t ever forget it’s the men and women that do the job, day in and day out, who make me look good and make me proud.”
McDonald also pointed to an aggressive outreach campaign and attempts to enlist neighbors and organizations in crime prevention programs and said that targeted enforcement approaches had reduced house burglaries and other crime.
“One of our emphasis in the last five years has been, No. 1 return the sheriff’s office back to the community, engage with the community for the safety of itself and be able to work in partnership with the community to be able to enhance our way of life to provide better security and better interaction with law enforcement and the folks who elected us to serve them,” he said.
“In the last five years we’ve reduced by four years straight we’ve reduced breaking and enterings and property crimes and Part 1 (violent) crimes by a significant amount,” he said. “If we stay on the track we’re on right now breaking and entering and property crimes has been reduced by 49 percent since we started keeping those records in 2012.
“We’re an agency that’s come through a tremendous amount of cultural change. … I can tell you the Henderson County sheriff’s office, five years later, has gone through an awful lot, has endured a lot, is hands down one of the best, brightest and motivated sheriff’s office anywhere in the state of North Carolina.”
He said when he encounters peers in law enforcement, they usually praise Henderson County’s sheriff’s office.
“We really are the agency that most are measured by,” he said. “We’re just as committed now as we were five years ago when we started to continue to grow, to be responsive to the community, to be able always ensure that you get the professional level of service and courtesy from our folks. I’m amazed day in and day out by the calls and emails and just talking to people in the community who want to talk about and brag on what they see from our personnel.”

SHIRTTAIL
Sheriff McDonald is holding a fundraiser at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Hendersonville Country Club. Tickets are $100 per person or $175 per couple. For information or to buy tickets call Doris Hawkins 828.691.9700 or email hawkinsg@bellsouth.net.

Lowell Griffin challenges

McDonald on crime stats

Lowell Griffin, who is running for the Republican nomination for sheriff, rebutted some of Sheriff Charlie McDonald’s claims about crime reduction and questioned the need for a $20 million indoor training center.
“The incredible number that stands out is either 42 or 47 percent depending on the meeting you have attended,” Griffin said in a statement. “Any reduction in crime that dramatic would have law enforcement agency heads from across the country visiting to learn how this was accomplished. A reduction in this type of crime would mean the caseload for investigations would be reduced nearly the same 50 percent. Sounds like he could have reassigned detectives if this was actually the case instead of asking for additional personnel.”
Griffin, a captain in the Polk County sheriff’s office, said that as a law enforcement instructor, “I completely understand the need for training and more training.” The proposed training center, he added, “is a facility for marksmanship training that offers little to nothing in the way of training for real world encounters. There is no provision for training in the elements, moving and shooting in multiple directions, practicing proper cover and concealment techniques on a tactical approach, etc. As a matter of fact, it offers no more than the current indoor range at the Western North Carolina Justice Academy offers other than longer shooting lanes. This proposal comes with an extravagant price tag and will not meet the needs of the officers.”
Griffin, one of about eight officers that McDonald sacked after his election in November 2014, vowed to shield deputies from campaign politics.
“I have a plan that I will reveal that will provide increased job security for the employees,” he said. “Henderson County deserves officers that are not afraid to do their job for fear of political reprisal. I envision officers’ productivity increasing as officers feel secure in their careers as they no longer are forced to combine the stresses of the job with political pressures from within.”

Head shot of
Miller

Miller holding campaign
kickoff Thursday at SAB
First-term Hendersonville City Council member Jeff Miller will hold a campaign kickoff celebration from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Southern Appalachian Brewery, 822 Locust St.
“I want to invite everyone to come by and visit for a while and have a bite to eat. We promise there won’t be any long speeches or anyone asking for contributions,” Miller said. “This is a time to celebrate the things we’ve accomplished over the past few years and to create some enthusiasm for all we have to look forward to here in Hendersonville.”
Miller, who has served on City Council since 2013, decided to run because he felt it was important for there to be a member on the Council who had owned and operated a business in the city.
“I never felt as though the Council was anti-business, but I did believe that a majority of its members did not completely understand the ramifications of some of the ordinances they passed,” he said in a news release. “I bring to the table the ability to explain things from the business side as well as understanding, from a resident’s point of view, the impact of Council’s decisions.”
He added that his decisions are based on a common sense approach and always built around civil discussion with other Council members and the public.
Key objectives Miller wants to pursue in a second term include balancing healthy and planned growth while maintaining Hendersonville’s “small town feel” along with water and sewer capacity/quality, road maintenance and expansion of the Oklawaha Greenway.
“I am running for a second term because I would like to continue working with council and staff — there’s still so much to do,” Miller said.

Head shot of
McGrady

Cities honor McGrady
for sinking billboard law

State Rep. Chuck McGrady was recognized Friday as one of two recipients of the N.C. League of Municipalities’ Community Champion Award. State Sen. Paul Newton was also honored with the award.
The award was presented to each legislator for dedicated support of North Carolina cities and towns during the 2017 legislative session. The presentations took place at CityVision 2017, NCLM’s annual conference held this week in Greenville.
Representative McGrady is serving his fourth term in the N.C. House, representing Hendersonville and portions of Henderson County. A co-chair of the House Appropriations Committee, he was a key advocate for the defeat of harmful billboard legislation that the League actively opposed.
“I so much appreciate this recognition from my kindred souls in local government,” said McGrady, a former Flat Rock Village Council member and Henderson County commissioner.
Outgoing League President Bob Matheny, mayor of Zebulon, praised both Newton and McGrady for their willingness to listen to and consider the concerns of municipal officials.
“We truly appreciate your work at the General Assembly and that you are willing to make the sacrifice to serve in Raleigh,” Matheny said.