News

POLITICS BRIEFS: Training center, lunch & learn, Democratic convention

Commissioner Grady Hawkins (second from left) suggested cutting the cost of the law enforcement training center in half and focusing on school security. Sheriff Charlie McDonald said that's OK with him because he never asked for an indoor shooting range.

By Bill Moss, Published: March 23, 2018

Did Grady Hawkins just offer Sheriff Charlie McDonald cover to recast the purpose (and slash the cost) of a controversial training center?

It would appear so.

Flanked by commissioners, school board members and parents, McDonald announced last week that he is sending armed guards into all county schools right away at random times and, with the support of the Board of Commissioners, will deploy them full-time next school year.
When he stepped up to the microphone, Commissioner Hawkins brought up the $22 million training center. Commissioners authorized construction of a facility at Blue Ridge Community College 18 months ago but the plan has stalled amid strong opposition to a shooting range on what has since become a high school and college campus.
Because the Board of Commissioners has already dedicated 1-cent of the property tax levy to a law enforcement training center, the county should look at a way to build a center tailored in part to school security, Hawkins said. He also suggested cutting the cost in half, to around $10 million.
Asked whether he supported a scaled-down center, McDonald seized the “glad you asked that” moment in a room full of reporters and television news cameras.
“The indoor shooting range was never my idea,” he said. “I was asking for $3 million for some property in the Green River area.” When it became an indoor facility, the cost skyrocketed to $22 million. “It’s always been my intention to spend as little as we possibly can to get the most, pardon the pun, bang for the buck.”
By taking a $22 million training center off the table, McDonald could undercut his opponent’s argument that the facility amounts to wasteful spending. Lowell Griffin, who is challenging the incumbent in the May 8 Republican primary, made that point just hours before McDonald’s announcement on school safety.
“In my opinion, the money that has been earmarked for the proposed facility could be used in a more beneficial way for Henderson County,” Griffin said in a statement. “One consideration for this funding is strengthening school security. Additional school resource officers, re-engineering existing facilities to maximize security needs, and adding or updating camera systems are just a few ideas that could be realized. This is money that the taxpayers are already paying, so its use would not increase current taxes on you, the taxpayer.”
Hawkins, a career Air Force officer and veteran of dozens of combat air missions in Vietnam, said he had learned in the military that “we fight like we train.”
“We have to make a judgment on that to get the best facility that we can think of,” he said. At Parkland, “those officers were not trained. Standing behind the door and waiting for something to happen and the shooter gets out of the building and has to be apprehended in another jurisdiction. We can do a whole lot better than that.”

 Lunch & Learn on school issues

The League of Women Voters Henderson County will host a Lunch and Learn program focusing on public school issues, including class size, teacher and principal recruitment and greater transparency and accountability for school choice at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 29, at the Hendersonville Community Co-op, 60 S. Charleston Lane.
The discussion will be led by Dr. Jan King, assistant superintendent for instructional services for Henderson County Public Schools and Rick Wood, vice chair of the Henderson County School Board. The program is free and open to the public.
For questions or further information, about the League of Women Voters go to www.lwvhcnc.org or email communications.lwvhc.com@gmail.com.

McDonald to speak 
at GOP Men’s Club


Sheriff Charles McDonald will be the guest speaker at the Henderson County Republican Men’s Club breakfast meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, the Dixie Diner in Laurel Park.
 
McDonald recently was invited to the White House to a forum on Gun Control and Mental Illness. He was the only sheriff in the country to be invited.
 
The Henderson County Republican Men’s Club meets the fourth Wednesday of each month. For more information call 828-329-4971 or e mail noirs@aol.com

Democratic Convention
 scheduled for March 31

Henderson County Democratic Party will hold its annual convention on Saturday, March 31, at West Henderson High School. Registration will be from 9-10am with convention from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. State Supreme Court Judge Michael Morgan will speak on the importance of voter participation. Democratic candidates in local races will also speak. For more information call 828-692-6424 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Saturday.