Uncaring Sheriff

So I served over 25 years in the military and my dad served over 30 years.  Now I'm really mad that President Clinton didn't come to his funeral.

Whats the difference.

Did Scott Lancaster go?

Yes Scott was there.

For an employee's loved one beside the attending of funerals. Ones that are more private and meaningful. How many anti-Beasler people would have been clucking their tongues if he had shown up?

I for one don't care who gets voted in. Heck with all this stuff going on I probably won't even waste my gas and time going to the polls. Maybe I will do absentee. I am so tired of all the negative blogs about all the races, tit for tat. If I do vote, I will not base my vote on who did or didn't show up at a funeral or how many inches signs are away from the the power lines, or because some unknown blogger says what a wonderful human being someone is.

Can't we all just get along?

I'm with you. There are ample reasons to choose whether or not to vote and who to vote for or not vote for.  This thing about the sheriff not attending a funeral is just so small minded.  I would like to attend one of the debates for sheriff.  Hopefully the MCS management will post debates or meetings for everything as it unfolds. I don't necessarily need to ask questions but I would like to hear what all the candidates have to say regarding the issues we face.

Lily's Lore "I don't ever want to be rescued And I don't ever want to be saved I got a feelin' that I'm gonna be alive forever Dancin' on the edge of a grave..." Jim Steinman

After watching the elections for sheriff of Clay County for the last thirty odd years, one can always expect the tone of the campaign to turn petty and malicious. Does anyone expect a voter to form an opinion of a candidate because he used treated lumber to build an election sign? Get serious. How dumb do you think us bumpkins are? The next thing someone will nit-pick about is one of the campaigners wore white socks with black trousers. Don’t vote for that guy cause he reminds you of Barney Fife. Rick Beseler didn’t attend someone’s funeral. So what? A funeral isn’t necessarily a public thing for all of us to take a gander at. How do we know whether Mr. Beseler didn’t show his respect to the family in a more private way?

Some people act as if the sheriff is supposed to be a caped crusader with a big red "S" on his chest. The days of Matt Dillon are long gone. A sheriff is an administrator. He can’t be involved in everyday enforcement activities. He is ultimately responsible for the budget of the department, the conduct and training of the deputies and ensuring that the equipment is as close to state of the art as it can be. He should of course be a skilled law enforcement officer but don’t expect a gun-slinger type. He should be receptive to new ideas and techniques to rid the county of the criminal element and hold his department heads accountable for implementation. Unfortunately, he should also be a politician so he can build relationships with the BCC, the citizens of the county, other agencies and also the State’s Attorney.

Who I’m voting for, I have no idea. None of them have me dancing in the street but I’m surely not voting for anyone because they may have more or better built signs.

Hello!  My name's Thinker and I've been thinking about your comments about being tired of all the negative blogs, and asking "Can't we all just get along?" 

Perhaps I can console you with a few shallow, superficial thoughts of my own:

First, remember the game being played through November of this year is called "politics."  And one must remember that politics is just the reverse of what the world's most famous military strategist Carl von Clauswitz wrote centuries ago, when he said: "War is the continuation of politics through other means."  So the reverse of this would be, "Politics is the continuation of war through other means." So, the negative blogs are shots being fired by troops representing the opposing power-seekers. 

And that leads me to point number two -  remember that politics is nothing more, nothing less than the struggle for power.  The more power to be exercised by the office sought, the more fierce the struggle will be.  The sheriff's office is the most politically powerful office in every Florida county, therefore the stakes are greater and the struggle more fiercely fought - just look at how much more money is contributed in every sheriff's race compared to other constitutional officers; usually a least twice as much  That's a direct measure of the power inherent in the office of county sheriff.  Then look at how much money is thrown into a secondary office such as county commissioner - land development interests have a lot at stake because that body makes the final decision on zoning changes, impact fees, etc.

So, my frustrated friend, you can sit idly by and let others make the decisions for you (but don't come on this blog page and expect sympathy if you complain), or you can get involved and support the candidate that measures up to your hopefully realistic standards of representing the public good.  (Just remember the only perfect man died two thousand years ago and there ain't been nobody born since then that was perfect in God's eyes). It's understandable that an uninvolved person such as yourself sitting on the sideline watching the volleys being fired from those in the trenches could find the struggle for power to be troublesome.  But then all war is troublesome, isn't it?  The question becomes, "Whose side do you want to win?"  Because one side will absolutely win - whether that side respesents the best interests of the public or a narrower set of interests (like a defeated former sheriff, maybe?) depends on people like you.

In closing, just keep telling yourself this:  "Politics is the struggle for power." 

That being said, I'm going to bed, 'cause I ain't got time to make another rhyme.

Oh, by the way - no we'll never ever all get along because there is such a thing as sin and evil and it permeates human nature.  But you'll be surprised by how all this brouhaha will diminsh when the elections are over.  I liked what I saw on the bottom of someone's blog - think it was a candidate, but cant' remember who - it said something about the Gatlin brothers singing "Winners walk out laughing; losers cry 'deal again!'"  I'll bet that's exactly what you'll see at the end of the elections here and all over the country!

.

I realize that the Sheriff not attending a funeral for the mother of one of his command staff members seems extremely trivial. This member is an avid supporter in an agency who does not support the Sheriff. It would seem to make since that the Sheriff would at least attempt to show his "game face" in the crowd, if not to show support for the member and his family at least for everyone else to see.

 Not showing up does not sound like a big deal outside of the law enforcement community but it is huge. This in conjunction with him not going to the funeral of the teenager who was tragically killed a couple of weeks ago, even thought his Dad works for Green Cove P.D. And his lack of decorum during the death and services for one of his own deputys. That conduct is unacceptable.

Maybe Rick has learned from these experiences and the comments on this site. We will see if he starts attending those functions a man in his position should attend even when the cameras are not around.

In reference to Thinker's comment:

"The sheriff's office is the most politically powerful office in every Florida county, therefore the stakes are greater and the struggle more fiercely fought"

This is a perfect reason to support placing the Sheriff's position under the Charter.

I would suggest we abolish the position of the Sheriff as a constitutional officer. Then bring it under the Charter and control of the BCC. The County Manager can hire a professional law enforcement officer as a Dept Head of Public Safety.

End of the negative campaigns, more levels of budgetary controls, and a professional law enforcement officer instead of a good politican fighting for the most politically powerful office in the county. They will answer to the County Manager who in turn answers to the BCC.

Do you ever heard all the negative about the Green Cove Springs Police Dept or the Orange Park Police Dept.?

I know this man we speak of personally, some of you may as well.  Sad or not that the sheriff did not attend is irrelevant to the point Taylorvoter is trying to convey.  Using a funeral for a mother who raised an honorable man for political tactics against the incumbent sheriff.  Nothing more than a ploy yet showing the true colors of this taylor supporter.  If taylorvoter gave a damn about the man we speak of, he or she would have composed a blog for support and sympathy for the family, not a blog in reference to who attended and how this shows yet more negative aspects.  My opinion Mr. or Mrs. you should be ashamed of yourself.  Your blog was about caring and you showed how much you care.  My heart goes out to the family, may God be with you all. 

Sheriff Beasler should have attended, sent his undersheriff or someone to represent him to the funerals out of "respect" for the families.  I agree with you FastOne....it is unacceptable!  I heard he did attend the funeral for Deputy Urban, but was 'antsy' to leave as soon as the service was over.  Not sure if he ever did pay his respects to the family. 

It may seem trivial to some FastOne, but as you and I know in an organization like the Sheriff's Office, all branches of the military and other organizations it's not trival, it's showing respect, which has long been tossed aside.  Guess it's the way I was reared but Thank God I was reared to show respect.

Stryker

I wonder if Sheriff Beseler attended Deputy Urban's funeral because Deputy Urban worked for the Sheriff's Office and the mother & teenager, who passed away, did not?  Amie

Thought to bestow on the Candidates and their support systems:  Stop trying to make yourself look good by trying to make your opponent look bad. We the People, the Voters of Clay County need to know the positive items that the candidates are bringing to the table, not hear the candidates amd their supporters bash and beat up the opponent.  This would be much more effective in your goal.  

The more supporters of "X" Candidate come out and sling mud against "Y" Candidate only serves to make me look at the one slinging the mud in a critical light. 

All is not fair in politics for me personally.  Whether its a Candidate, or a supporter or a PAC.....if you're misrepresenting, you're manipulating, and that causes me to do the opposite of what you're trying to achieve. 

One does have to remember however that it's difficult for any Candidate to control their supporters once the machine gets just so big.  Especially here on the blogs when people are using ficticious names. 

We all have to create our own criteria for what makes a good public servant, and then remain true to that criteria otherwise you just feel like a ping pong ball going back and forth, back and forth. 

As for the funeral, my empathy goes out to the family that their loss would be used as a political weapon.  Mike Taylors camp scored no points with me on that one.  Its petty, and spiteful to use someone else's loss in such a manner. 

The funeral issue was not used for politics. It was used to illustrate how detached he is with the rest of us.

There is no "camp, simply people wanting the public aware of what is going on.

I suppose, FastOne, as in "pulling a", you are trying to spin this. If you believe Sheriff Beseler to be detached, then just say so.  Attempting to illustrate it with the loss of a loved one is just crass.  Marsha is 100% right.  And this is coming from one who believes term limits should mean one term only.  I do not like anyone making a career off the public dole.  I would vote for anyone but Mr. Beseler because attitudes atrophy with too much comfort in a job.  But with this contemptible act of ridiculing a sheriff (or anyone else for that matter) with something like this, the Taylor groupies lost my vote. I'm sure Mike Heemer can recommend someone for a write in for sheriff. So long as they take the "No Stupiding" pledge, they will get my attention.

Lily's Lore "I don't ever want to be rescued And I don't ever want to be saved I got a feelin' that I'm gonna be alive forever Dancin' on the edge of a grave..." Jim Steinman

The originator of the blog created a name specifically in support of Mike Taylor, "Taylorvoter" implies that they are not just merely a citizen in support of Mike Taylor but an active campaigner, ergo my use of the word "camp".  I think there are more important things going on here then taking issue with a label that I feel based upon the original blog is germane.

Since there is no "sensetivity" test required for any of the Candidates if I had to choose between a cold hearted Sheriff and one who is so sensetive he won't enforce the law I'll take the cold hearted guy hands down. 

At least Taylorvoter didn't mention any names, so the family was not exposed completely for the sake of scoring points for Mike Taylor or taking them away from Rick Beseler. 

The pro Taylor people have been blasting the incumbent in these blogs for months, it's not like this is the first time.  People are always calling him a crook for one reason or another.  I'm still waiting for someone to tell me why Taylor is better then Beseler, if it can't be done without just pointing out what is wrong with the Sheriff we have then I just don't believe the sale has been made yet. 

I can't tell you what Mike Taylor will do as Sheriff but he does have an impressive resume. I don't think he can be blamed for his supporters blogs or statements. As Marsha has pointed out in her above post, "One does have to remember however that it's difficult for any Candidate to control their supporters once the machine gets just so big.  Especially here on the blogs when people are using ficticious names."

I will not be voting for Sheriff Beseler in the upcoming race. I like Lily think 4 years is a term and that's enough for any one in public office. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

In Feb Sheriff Beseler appeared on tv. His statement was " I have the highest paid, best trained, best educated, best equipped law enforcement in the history of Clay County.

Here are my taxdollars at work:

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=64563

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/051008/nec_277147158.shtml

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040908/met_266541339.shtml

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/052108/met_281106550.shtml

http://www.news4jax.com/news/16357235/detail.html

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/092305/nec_19835865.shtml

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/100405/met_19942454.shtml

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101005/met_19988505.shtml

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19211460&BRD=2150&PAG=461&dept_id=377017&rfi=6

Kevin Neff's death in the Clay County Jail the medical examiners report medical reasons.

The Taser death off College Drive. 

Continued increase in crimes in the County.

I could continue to list reasons here about my decision to not vote for Beseler.

Now will Mike Taylor make a good Sheriff. I don't know he's never been one to my knowledge. However, he does have the credentials and a long career in law enforcement. The other candidate Mr. Newman has a history too.

These blogs appear to be some inside agency employees screaming out for change. Well I don't have to do their jobs for them. But I can recognize a plea for help from the public. So I try to wade through the blogs and will help the men and women of the Clay County Sheriff Office and not vote for Beseler in the upcoming elections.

Should either of the other candidates win we'll have to see what they offer the public.

I still think the best thing to do is abolish the office and bring it under the Charter and hire a professional law enforcement officer as a Dept Head of Public Safety.

You are hot on the trail, as my neghbor has told me most of the deputies at the CCSO are to scared to say anything. Most of the time he only drops little hints. All I know is he use to enjoy his job and was glad to do it, know he just takes one day at a time. He can't go to any training even if it is paid for by the state, they tell him no try for another cousre hoping he will forget. Keep up the hard work Angela I think you are on to something about the people screaming for help.