Rain. World Series. “Dancing With The Stars.” There were too many temptations Monday night to sit home and cuddle up in front of the television and not venture out to do a civic duty.
Still, there were an estimated 30 Madison County residents who came out to the Rural Madison forum moderated by Joe Parker to listen to the candidates running for school board and sheriff. Only two candidates for school board (the incumbents) showed up -- Vice Chairman James Nelson and Tonya Taylor.
Banco resident Danny Taylor got their early because of a mix up in time. “I want to get some education and some answers. Maybe we can get some change going in the right direction.”
Rural Madison President Khalil Hassan said he hopes there will be a better turnout for the board of supervisors forum set for 6 p.m. today, Thursday, Oct. 27, in the auditorium at Madison County High School.
“I would be surprised if there weren’t more people there,” the Criglersville resident said. As for Monday’s forum he said, “The questions were really good and the answers to them even better. I think people got a lot out of it.”
Madison County Sheriff Erik Weaver is running against challenger Eugene “Gene” Metz. In their opening remarks, both men gave a brief biography.
Metz said he was a Virginia state trooper for 24 years and in the military for 22 years. He has worked in Madison County for 21 years. He has coached youth sports such as soccer and football.
Weaver said he has been the sheriff for two terms and is a lifelong Madisonian. He is a graduate of the Virginia State Police Academy and worked for 17 years as a sheriff’s deputy before becoming sheriff of Madison County. He said one of his big accomplishments of being sheriff for eight years was developing the Internet Crimes Against Children that has resulted in 63 charges against child predators in Madison County. Also since 2008, he has helped bring $231,000 in grants to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.
Community members submitted written questions beforehand, and the candidates had two minutes to respond to the questions. Here is a sampling of some of the questions posed to the sheriff candidates.
How much emphasis do you recommend on enforcement of marijuana laws compared to alcohol laws?
Metz said, “You need to pay quite a bit of attention to both of them that goes as far your enforcement is concerned.”
Weaver also said both are important. He said the sheriff’s office is an active member of Blue Ridge Narcotics Task Force. He said there was a drug raid in Madison County that obtained over $30,000 in illegal narcotics and weapons recently.
It is easier and safer to pull over a vehicle on (U.S.) 29 than on a two lane road. How do you propose to improve enforcement on Madison County’s two lane roads?
Metz said he didn’t know if there was any safe place to pull anyone over. “We’ve got wide shoulders on 29. We have some wide areas on some two lane roads.” He said with more training and improved training the officer has the opportunity to move the vehicle to a safe place.
Weaver said, “Stopping vehicles on (U.S) 29, Route 231, Route 15, 230, any primary or secondary highways is always a danger not only to the police officer or deputy but also to the citizen being stopped.” He said years ago there was a “29 stalker” and if you are concerned at night continue to drive to a well-lit area. “Our concern is our deputies and the person being stopped does get home that afternoon or that night to be with their family.”
Traffic enforcement may be done for two reasons either for safety or for revenue. Discuss your views about this.
Weaver said, “We are doing highway safety not to generate money but to save lives in the county.” He said the average speed on Route 29 now is 70 mph and he said it would be 80 mph without highway safety.
Metz agreed with Weaver. “Highway safety should never be a money maker.” He said there are numerous vehicles traveling through this county on a daily basis and Madison County needs enforcement. “It’s for our children’s safety. We have housing right next to the highway.”
Are you satisfied with (Virginia Department of Transportation) VDOT’s job as it relates to traffic safety such as traffic light timing and speed limit zones?
Weaver said that VDOT has restrictions on funding but they continue to work with them and are “blessed” to work with them. He said, “We have to work together. Times are tight. Budgets are restricted. We continue to work with VDOT.”
Metz said he has worked with VDOT for the last 21 years and when he came to Madison there were no traffic lights. Now, there are four lights in Madison. “I haven’t seen any real issues with the traffic lights.” He said he thought the speed limits are fine. “I haven’t seen any real issues with the speed limits posted.”
Do you think the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program results in kids not using drugs and alcohol long-term? Can you cite evidence to support your opinion?
Weaver said, “If we save one child out of 100 children we have done our job.” He said they are assisting people in the fifth grade and people in the high school. He said he is a “firm believer” in the DARE program.
Metz said the DARE program is a “great program.” He said it is a difficult to answer to cite evidence to support DARE unless you are directly contacted by letter or phone call you don’t know if you have affected someone or not.
Are you satisfied with the communications equipment the sheriff department has, if not what do you think is needed?
Metz said this is an area he is not familiar with but never had a problem as a state trooper working with the sheriff’s deputies. “There are new inventions everyday when it comes to radio systems. It is just a matter of what is going to work best for this community, especially with the mountains and valleys of course.”
Weaver said several years ago the federal government decided to lose some of the channels and they lost some coverage in the county. He said the new radio system is a necessary and actually went down in price from original price tag of $6 million. “We have to have this,” he said. He cited an example where a deputy recently was run over by his vehicle and had to call the sheriff’s office to let him know his location by his cell phone. “We need this system. It will save a life.” He said the fire department and the rescue squad both support the new radio equipment approved by the board of supervisors for about $500,000.
Does the sheriff’s office need more officers and if so how many and how would you use them?
Metz said the Madison County Sheriff’s Office is adequately staffed. He said based on information he has Madison has 16 officers. “There has been coverage with this amount of deputies so I don’t believe we need anymore.” He said if there was funding for more deputies, he would look at a possible change in the routines of patrolling.
Weaver said there are 10 deputies working the road and two alternatives. He said they work an east west quadrant. He said there are two full-time in court and four part-time deputies in court. “It would always be nice to have additional manpower. One person, two people to cover the shift when people go on vacation. These guys work hard 12 hour days, 14 days a month they work. You try working a 12 hour day, three days in a row, answering 30 law enforcement calls a day.”
He added, “We need more people but it depends on the funding.”
I’ve heard some Madison County High School students area wearing tattoos and the like in imitation of big city gangs. Is this so? If so, what do you think the sheriff’s department should do about it?
Metz said he hasn’t been in the high school for a year and hasn’t seen tattoos but they are easily hidden. There is the state police and gang task force he said that gathers intelligence on these matters. He said the school resources officer needs to keep his eyes and ears open. “We have to keep this in the back of our minds and keep vigilant in the high school,” Metz said.
Weaver said, “Gangs are operating here in Madison County. Not only in the school system but out in the public.” He said recently the ABC store in Orange was robbed and it led back to a gang that was operating in Madison County. He said the sheriff’s office is staying up-to-date on the gang activities.
The candidates also had a question before hand that they could prepare for. The question was the following:
Please take the present budget for the sheriff’s department and assuming you have to reduce it by 10 percent, list in order of priority the cuts you would make and indicate the management changes you would make for the required reductions.
Weaver said he would cut the following:
*Training -- $23,800.
*Maintenance support contracts -- $9,400.
*Telephone bills -- $8,000.
*Fuel -- $45,000.
*Vehicle maintenance -- $15,000.
He said the approximate $100,000 in cuts would not work. The officers would have to be trained to receive certification to serve, the support systems must be maintained at all times, the telephone would only pay for six months out of the year, there would be no cars on the road without fuel money and if a car breaks down they would not have money to repair it. “We take our budget very seriously at the sheriff’s office,” Weaver said. “Ten percent can not be done.” He said he would not cut manpower because he would not have one deputy work at night by himself.
Metz said “We will have to take a new approach and make structural changes on how our sheriff’s department is managed.” He said with the post budget of adding the radio equipment comes down to $416 per household instead of $193 per household. He added, “Hard questions need to be asked. Can we reduce capital assets? We will maintain a fleet of vehicles adequate to serve the public safety needs. We will maintain vehicles on a pulled basis for transporting prisoners and other functions of court security. Excess vehicles will be sold assuming 10 cars at $10,000 each. That average savings is about $100,000 not including fuel and maintenance. Is there duplication of our efforts with state police? How can we better share services with them considering we are all under the same budget constraints,” Metz said.
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