Published: July 28, 2008 03:31 pm            

"Meet the Candidates" Part 2

Coverage of local candidates at "Meet the Candidates" forum

Ada — Following is the second half of the “Meet the Candidates” forum hosted by the Farm Bureau and the Women’s Committee last Tuesday. The second half of the forum dealt with candidates running for Corporation Commissioner, Pontotoc County Commissioner for District 2 and Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Department.

Corporation Commissioner (Short Term)

The Farm Bureau also extended an invitation to candidates running for Corporation Commissioner (OCC), in both the short term and full term seats. Only one candidate out of the five running for office chose to be represented at the forum.

Dana Murphy

OCC short term candidate Dana Murphy did not attend the forum, but was represented by campaign member Jaylyan Richardson. Murphy is running as a Republican candidate, and will face off against fellow Republican challenger Rob Johnson on Tuesday’s primary election. The winner will run against Democrat incumbent Jim Roth in November. Richardson briefly addressed the crowd. “First of all, when we go and talk to groups about the Corporation Commission, a lot of times people say, ‘What does the Corporation Commission do? I know it has something to do with energy, and it probably has something to do with oil and gas and wells,’” she said. Richardson said that Murphy often tells people the easiest way to sum up the OCC’s involvement in different fields is to remember the acronym TOPP. Broken down, TOPP stands for Transportation, Oil and gas, Petroleum storage tanks and Public utilities, all areas that the OCC regulates.

Richardson described Murphy as the most unique candidate, because she has worked with the Corporation Commission previously from three different areas. “She was a geologist for 10 years, and even gave expert witness at the Corporation Commission because of all she new in her area of expertise,” Richardson said. “She was an attorney representing clients at the Corporation Commission. And she was an administrative law judge for six years at the Corporation Commission. So she’s seen it from three different angles and she gives it a very unique perspective.”

Currently Murphy is an oil and gas attorney who specializes in representing mineral owners and producers, Richardson said, giving her over 20 years of experience in the energy industry.

Richardson closed by encouraging everyone to visit Murphy’s Web site, www.danamurphy.com.

Pontotoc County Commissioner, District 2

After Richardson finished speaking, Moderator Joe West shifted the forum over to candidates for District 2 county commissioner. It’s important to note that all three candidates for the seat are running as Democrats. Therefore, Tuesday’s primary election may decide who will be the new District 2 commissioner. But if none of the three candidates receive over 50 percent of the overall vote, a primary runoff election between two candidates with the highest number of votes will be held at the end of August. If necessary, that runoff election would elect the county commissioner.

Carl Wages

Incumbent Carl Wages was first among commissioner candidates to address the audience. He began by thanking everyone for attending. “I’ve been in this business for three terms, this is my fourth term running for office,” he said. “I’ve been to 12 of these meetings; seems there’s more people here tonight than there have been the whole 12 years I’ve gone.”

Wages then outline some of the tasks and project’s he’d overseen while in office. “When I came in here 12 years ago, we had very little equipment working. We built our equipment up, and now we’re second to nobody,” said Wages. “We built lots of bridges, we built lots of roads. One bridge we built ... had been out nine years when I came into office. I kept asking everybody why this bridge hadn’t been rebuilt. They kept telling me it couldn’t be built; had no money, couldn’t get in. I had it built the first year I was in office.

The incumbent said that he’s established a strong working connection with the Chickasaw Nation as well. With the help of the Chickasaw Nation, the commissioner was able to construct three bridges that cost over a $1.5 million.

Roads were also on his agenda, and he listed several that were up first, including CR 3650. More roads would be worked on as money allowed, said Wages. “There’s lots of work out there to do,” he said. “... The rains and stuff we’ve had the last two years has crippled us pretty bad, the winters we’ve had the last couple of years has crippled us pretty bad, but we’ll overcome it. We’ll come back. It’s an ongoing thing for work to wash away, to blow away. We just have to stay on it all the time.”

Danny Davis

Challenger Danny Davis was not present at the forum, but sent his son Clancy to briefly speak on his behalf. Clancy said that his father is currently employed at the City of Ada. Davis has been employed by the City of Ada for 13 years, and is currently the construction supervisor. Before that Davis worked for the county for 11 years, serving under three different county commissioners. “He’s had 24 years of experience in construction and building roads,” said Clancy. According to his son, Davis has also been a member of the fair board for 15 years and is currently serving his sixth year as president. Clancy said his father is very familiar with the community.

“Dad’s extremely familiar with this area, he knows a lot of people,” Clancy said. “He’s got a lot in store. I just believe that if we elect him on the 29th we’re gonna see good things.”

Clancy closed with a laugh from the crowd, saying that they didn’t need to worry about his speaking over ten minutes because, as he said, “I don’t even know 10 minutes of sophisticated words.”

Harvey Wilson

Harvey Wilson was the final County Commissioner candidate to speak. Wilson said that he’s lived in district 2 for 50 years. “I’ve had three jobs in my life,” he said. Wilson spent four years in the military, was employed at a company for 18 years, and has been self-employed for twenty years as the proprietor of Wilson’s Tire on West Main St.

“To be county commissioner I think you need to be a good businessman,” said Wilson. “I’ve survived it 20 years, I think I’ve come to understand some knowledge of big business and things like that.”

Wilson said that if he were elected, one of his big standing points would be to provide more assistance to rural law enforcement and emergency response. “The population is growing so big in rural America that funding is not there (for law enforcement and emergency response),” he said. Wilson indicated that he would try to help those agencies, possibly providing funds for equipment or training.

The Agri-plex was another big issue with Wilson. “I think it could be used to a lot more potential,” the candidate said. “I think it has a lot of potential here to bring a lot of revenue into the town of Ada and I’d work real hard to try and do that.”

Pontotoc County Sheriff

Candidates for the Pontotoc County Sheriff’s office spoke last. As with the candidates for county commissioner, both candidates are running as Democrats. This means the office will be decided by the primary election on Tuesday.

Pete Peterson

Current Sheriff Pete Peterson was first to the podium. Peterson began by praising the large number of people in attendance at the event, and said that same kind of involvement is needed throughout the country.

Peterson said that he’s been in law enforcement for almost 37 years. He was a retired state trooper when he was first elected sheriff. He said his decision to run came from a belief that new leadership was needed in Pontotoc County. “Over the years I’ve seen how the law and how crime has affected people not only in our state and not only in our county, but in other counties and other states,” he said, speaking in regard to his experience.

Often candidates will make promises to constituents, even though it’s not recommended, he said. Peterson said that he’d made his share of promises as sheriff. “I’m standing here tonight telling you I think, I know that I have fulfilled some of my promises that I have made to you,” he said.

Peterson mentioned the new jail currently under construction, listing it as one of his better accomplishments. “We’re having a new jail constructed right over here right now,” he said. “I know that if I had not got out there and brought this to the taxpayers’ attention, this jail wouldn’t even be started today.”

Another promise Peterson said he made and kept was to more actively pursue illegal drug dealers, users and manufacturers. “Drug arrests are up,” he said. “... And they’re going to continue to go up. We’ve got one of the best Drug Court systems in the state, if not the best in the state ... The numbers are up somewhere over 200 people in the Drug Court system. When I came onboard, I think the number in there were around 60, maybe a little more.” Peterson refused to take all the credit for the increase in numbers, saying that they were a result of many different elements, including a better working relationship with other law-enforcement agencies.

Other accomplishments Peterson listed included upgrading security measures and equipment in the County Court House, and becoming one of only three agencies in the state that take fingerprints which allow background checks for obtaining new HAZMAT certification for CD-Ls.

Peterson said that if he were to be re-elected, he would focus on improving the D.A.R.E. program and providing school resource officers to be present on school campuses. “If you need a deputy or a law enforcement person at that school, you need them then,” he said. “You don’t need them 30 minutes later or an hour later, you need them then.”

John Christian

Challenger John Christian spoke after Peterson was finished. Christian was the final candidate to speak. He began by thanking the Farm Bureau and Women’s Committee for putting the forum together. He then took a moment to recognize his father, who was in attendance. He also recognized his wife and children, who he referred to as his “campaign team.”

Christian said he began employment with the Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Office in 1986, when he was hired on as a jailer. Soon after he obtained his jailer certification, saying that the certification helped him to understand the complexities of running and maintaining an effective jail. After a little less than a year, Christian became a deputy sheriff. He continued to work as a deputy until he was promoted in 1995 to undersheriff. He was undersheriff for ten years. When Peterson was elected Sheriff in 2005, he appointed a new undersheriff and Christian took a position as a compliance officer in the Pontotoc County drug court office.

Christian said that his time served as undersheriff gave him a thorough understanding of how the office runs. “Part of my job as undersheriff was to maintain the financial end of the sheriff’s office and make sure that it stayed in compliance and that we stayed within budget, which we always did,” he said. “We were audited by the state every year, and were always found to be in compliance. I was kind of proud of that.”

While undersheriff, Christian applied for various federal assistance grants which were used to obtain new equipment for deputies, several new vehicles, new bullet-resistant vests for deputies, and new communication equipment for deputies, among others. “I plan on continuing (to pursue grants),” he said. “Even though federal grants are harder to come by today, I still believe there’s enough of them out there that we can continue to do that.”

Christian said that he’s the best candidate for the job because of his strong work ethic. “I will be there, I’ll be available to you when you need me,” he said. “... I put in long hours. Something my parents taught me, growing up, is that if you’re going to do a job, do it right. I certainly believe that I do that.”

Christian said that if elected, he will work to make the sheriff’s office more proactive rather than reactive. He said that this could be accomplished by “getting out in the field and talking to people,” and employing more of a “community policing” policy, instead of just waiting to respond to calls. Another important issue for Christian is the continuation a strong working relationship with the Chickasaw Nation.

“I’ve done the job before,” Christian said in closing, “and I’d like to continue, to be a good sheriff and work hard for you.”

        

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