If time machines really existed, I wonder how much money Ronnie Strength would pay to buy one?
The race to replace the retiring Richmond County sheriff has turned into one gigantic cluster muck. A disaster of Biblical proportions. All that is missing are frogs and locusts, and maybe the Savannah River turning into blood.
With five declared candidates, and more possibly on the way, we are just one Gary Coleman short of a California gubernatorial contest.
All of this could have been avoided, or at least most of it could have been avoided, if the retiring lawman had held a press conference back in November, with the following statement (as you read this, hear it in the voice of Ronnie Strength):
“Fellow Augustans, I come to you in this season of both Halloween and Thanksgiving to both scare you and thank you. I thank you for all the faith you have had in me and this department for all the years I have served you. It has been an honor. As I formally enter my last year as your sheriff, let me now tell you that we live in dangerous times. While we do not have a foreign enemy that we fight within our national borders, we have an internal criminal problem which, despite the best efforts of law enforcement nationwide, threatens every city and state from coast to coast. It is a battle we wage here in the city of Augusta every single day. We cannot fight this battle successfully without the best-trained and most-experienced men and women in charge.
I have to leave you as sheriff only because my aging body demands a rest, but I will continue to be with you in the spirit and the physical efforts of a young man that I have known literally since the day he was born. Truth be told, I love him like a son of my own… and I know his late father looks down on him right now as proud as he can be. He began his work here as a street deputy, and has worked his way into the position of one of our leading criminal investigators and department veterans.
I have many trusted and valued colleagues in this office, brothers who have been engaged in this ongoing war on crime since we were all boys ourselves. If Ken Autry, Gary Powell or Sid Hatfield were 20 years younger, no doubt I would be looking to one of them to take the reins as I step away. But alas, the calendar and the clock have done us all in at about the same rate. I know that soon, each will be joining me at the retirement table, for what I hope will be many, many years of reflection and leisure.
Like me, they say there is one man that is best suited in this department, this city and this county to continue Richmond County’s fight against the criminal element. Best suited because he knows the community as his own, he knows this battle as his own and he brings to the fight new ideas and new inspiration that is only possible with the passing of another generation.
Let me say now, loudly and clearly, I intend to spend my last year in office continuing to lead and guide our officers in the fight, and in November I will ask city voters to validate my service, and the prospect for even greater success in the future, by voting for the man that all the individuals in my inner circle of trusted officers and colleagues agree is the best candidate to lead this office in the never-ending war on crime: Captain Scott Peebles.
He has my vote, he has the respect and support of my lead team, and there is no individual whose leadership qualities or qualifications compare.
I end with this: A vote against Scott is a vote against me. Make no mistake, the office of sheriff is not inherited, nor is it bequeathed, but you have asked me to tell you the truth and if I could stay forever and fight, I would. Scott Peebles is the best way to keep my fight going. One year from now, join me and vote for Scott Peebles.”
The sheriff did not make that speech, but he now wishes he had.
The latest in the mix is “the guy” I suggested had to stand on the Republican side to ensure the office was not won or lost in a Democratic primary. To keep department continuity, “the guy” needed to be a close Strength ally, and he most certainly is.
I had no idea “the guy” was going to be former cop, now attorney, Freddie Sanders. I suspect this run has as much to do with establishing the GOP credentials he needs to become a Superior Court judge, as it does with continuing the Strength Legacy. He has been rejected twice for judge by the governor, only because he lacked the Republican pedigree.
Mission accomplished.
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Race for Sheriff Looking Like the Cannonball Run
by Austin Rhodes
If time machines really existed, I wonder how much money Ronnie Strength would pay to buy one?
The race to replace the retiring Richmond County sheriff has turned into one gigantic cluster muck. A disaster of Biblical proportions. All that is missing are frogs and locusts, and maybe the Savannah River turning into blood.
With five declared candidates, and more possibly on the way, we are just one Gary Coleman short of a California gubernatorial contest.
All of this could have been avoided, or at least most of it could have been avoided, if the retiring lawman had held a press conference back in November, with the following statement (as you read this, hear it in the voice of Ronnie Strength):
“Fellow Augustans, I come to you in this season of both Halloween and Thanksgiving to both scare you and thank you. I thank you for all the faith you have had in me and this department for all the years I have served you. It has been an honor. As I formally enter my last year as your sheriff, let me now tell you that we live in dangerous times. While we do not have a foreign enemy that we fight within our national borders, we have an internal criminal problem which, despite the best efforts of law enforcement nationwide, threatens every city and state from coast to coast. It is a battle we wage here in the city of Augusta every single day. We cannot fight this battle successfully without the best-trained and most-experienced men and women in charge.
I have to leave you as sheriff only because my aging body demands a rest, but I will continue to be with you in the spirit and the physical efforts of a young man that I have known literally since the day he was born. Truth be told, I love him like a son of my own… and I know his late father looks down on him right now as proud as he can be. He began his work here as a street deputy, and has worked his way into the position of one of our leading criminal investigators and department veterans.
I have many trusted and valued colleagues in this office, brothers who have been engaged in this ongoing war on crime since we were all boys ourselves. If Ken Autry, Gary Powell or Sid Hatfield were 20 years younger, no doubt I would be looking to one of them to take the reins as I step away. But alas, the calendar and the clock have done us all in at about the same rate. I know that soon, each will be joining me at the retirement table, for what I hope will be many, many years of reflection and leisure.
Like me, they say there is one man that is best suited in this department, this city and this county to continue Richmond County’s fight against the criminal element. Best suited because he knows the community as his own, he knows this battle as his own and he brings to the fight new ideas and new inspiration that is only possible with the passing of another generation.
Let me say now, loudly and clearly, I intend to spend my last year in office continuing to lead and guide our officers in the fight, and in November I will ask city voters to validate my service, and the prospect for even greater success in the future, by voting for the man that all the individuals in my inner circle of trusted officers and colleagues agree is the best candidate to lead this office in the never-ending war on crime: Captain Scott Peebles.
He has my vote, he has the respect and support of my lead team, and there is no individual whose leadership qualities or qualifications compare.
I end with this: A vote against Scott is a vote against me. Make no mistake, the office of sheriff is not inherited, nor is it bequeathed, but you have asked me to tell you the truth and if I could stay forever and fight, I would. Scott Peebles is the best way to keep my fight going. One year from now, join me and vote for Scott Peebles.”
The sheriff did not make that speech, but he now wishes he had.
The latest in the mix is “the guy” I suggested had to stand on the Republican side to ensure the office was not won or lost in a Democratic primary. To keep department continuity, “the guy” needed to be a close Strength ally, and he most certainly is.
I had no idea “the guy” was going to be former cop, now attorney, Freddie Sanders. I suspect this run has as much to do with establishing the GOP credentials he needs to become a Superior Court judge, as it does with continuing the Strength Legacy. He has been rejected twice for judge by the governor, only because he lacked the Republican pedigree.
Mission accomplished.
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If time machines really existed, I wonder how much money Ronnie Strength would pay to buy one?
The race to replace the retiring Richmond County sheriff has turned into one gigantic cluster muck. A disaster of Biblical proportions. All that is missing are frogs and locusts, and maybe the Savannah River turning into blood.
With five declared candidates, and more possibly on the way, we are just one Gary Coleman short of a California gubernatorial contest.
All of this could have been avoided, or at least most of it could have been avoided, if the retiring lawman had held a press conference back in November, with the following statement (as you read this, hear it in the voice of Ronnie Strength):
“Fellow Augustans, I come to you in this season of both Halloween and Thanksgiving to both scare you and thank you. I thank you for all the faith you have had in me and this department for all the years I have served you. It has been an honor. As I formally enter my last year as your sheriff, let me now tell you that we live in dangerous times. While we do not have a foreign enemy that we fight within our national borders, we have an internal criminal problem which, despite the best efforts of law enforcement nationwide, threatens every city and state from coast to coast. It is a battle we wage here in the city of Augusta every single day. We cannot fight this battle successfully without the best-trained and most-experienced men and women in charge.
I have to leave you as sheriff only because my aging body demands a rest, but I will continue to be with you in the spirit and the physical efforts of a young man that I have known literally since the day he was born. Truth be told, I love him like a son of my own… and I know his late father looks down on him right now as proud as he can be. He began his work here as a street deputy, and has worked his way into the position of one of our leading criminal investigators and department veterans.
I have many trusted and valued colleagues in this office, brothers who have been engaged in this ongoing war on crime since we were all boys ourselves. If Ken Autry, Gary Powell or Sid Hatfield were 20 years younger, no doubt I would be looking to one of them to take the reins as I step away. But alas, the calendar and the clock have done us all in at about the same rate. I know that soon, each will be joining me at the retirement table, for what I hope will be many, many years of reflection and leisure.
Like me, they say there is one man that is best suited in this department, this city and this county to continue Richmond County’s fight against the criminal element. Best suited because he knows the community as his own, he knows this battle as his own and he brings to the fight new ideas and new inspiration that is only possible with the passing of another generation.
Let me say now, loudly and clearly, I intend to spend my last year in office continuing to lead and guide our officers in the fight, and in November I will ask city voters to validate my service, and the prospect for even greater success in the future, by voting for the man that all the individuals in my inner circle of trusted officers and colleagues agree is the best candidate to lead this office in the never-ending war on crime: Captain Scott Peebles.
He has my vote, he has the respect and support of my lead team, and there is no individual whose leadership qualities or qualifications compare.
I end with this: A vote against Scott is a vote against me. Make no mistake, the office of sheriff is not inherited, nor is it bequeathed, but you have asked me to tell you the truth and if I could stay forever and fight, I would. Scott Peebles is the best way to keep my fight going. One year from now, join me and vote for Scott Peebles.”
The sheriff did not make that speech, but he now wishes he had.
The latest in the mix is “the guy” I suggested had to stand on the Republican side to ensure the office was not won or lost in a Democratic primary. To keep department continuity, “the guy” needed to be a close Strength ally, and he most certainly is.
I had no idea “the guy” was going to be former cop, now attorney, Freddie Sanders. I suspect this run has as much to do with establishing the GOP credentials he needs to become a Superior Court judge, as it does with continuing the Strength Legacy. He has been rejected twice for judge by the governor, only because he lacked the Republican pedigree.
Mission accomplished.
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Posted in Austin