Mineola Monitor (Mineola, Tex.), Vol. 141, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 2, 2016 Page: 3 of 16
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Mineola Monitor • Wednesday, March 2,2016 3A
Incumbent Wood County Sheriff Jim Brown gives opening remarks as his opponents (left to right) Ed Shadbolt, Tom Castloo and Dwaine Daugh-
erty await their turn at the podium at the final forum Thursday. (Photos by Josh Land)
Sheriff candidates face media questions in last forum
By JOSH LAND
The Monitor Staff
Wood County Sheriff
candidates Ed Shadbolt,
Tom Castloo, Dwaine
Daugherty and incum-
bent Jim Brown gave
their last pitch to the
public at their final fo-
rum at the Caroll Green
Civic Center Thursday
evening.
The event was hosted
by the Lake Fork Cham-
ber of Commerce. Pan-
elists were local media
members Bryan Giguere
of the Winnsboro News,
Larry Tucker of the Wood
County Democrat, Doris
Newman of the Mine-
ola Monitor and Tonya
Slayton of KMOO Ra-
dio. Each candidate was
limited to a minute and
a half to answer. Mod-
erator was a former West
Texas county judge, Ken
Donahue, who opened
the floor for each candi-
date who was limited to
five minutes for an intro-
duction.
Shadbolt mentioned
that he was a veteran of
the Vietnam War and
he had been a member
of law enforcement in
Wood. "I have over 33
years of law enforcement
experience in Wood
County. I have worked
in dispatch, in jails and
trained many people. I
have worked under four
sheriffs. If I'm elected
sheriff I'll protect your
constitutional rights. If
I'm elected I'll have an
open door policy and I'll
speak with you."
Next up was Castloo
who said, "I grew up on
Lake Brenda and this is
home." He continued
by stating he knew how
to do budgeting and that
he was ready to hit the
ground running. "I'm
from the Wood County
area. I have the people
and management skills
to lead a group of peo-
ple. I am proud of the
deputies we've got. I just
need to give them more
and better training. I was
instrumental in hiring
them and they do a great
job." Castloo would like
to institute drug educa-
tion programs targeted
for specific age groups.
Daugherty mentioned
he was the former sheriff
for 2005-2008. "If I didn't
care I wouldn't be in this
race." He mentioned he
was a veteran of the U.S.
Army and has various
hours of TCOLE hours
of training. "I have the
experience to do the job
and I want to be your
sheriff," Daugherty said
and added he would like
to get narcotics off the
street. He would also
like to implement the K9
program.
Brown touched on his
various experiences in-
cluding retiring in 1993
before making Wood
County his permanent
home. "It's not in the
other candidates' best
interest to tell you we've
been doing a good job
but we have in fact been
doing a good job." The
crime rate is 50 percent
less than when he first
took office, acccording to
Brown. "Wood County
deputies enforce the law
and are responsible for
55 percent of the arrests
in the county and have
some of the most ad-
vanced equipment avail-
able."
The media portion of
the forum was started
by Slayton who asked,
"What is your personal
relationship with all
the local police chiefs in
Wood County and how
significant do you feel is
the relationship with lo-
cal police?"
Each candidate said
their relationships were
good with local police
chiefs but Castloo said,
"It's good but it's going
to get better. There are
some dents in the armor
and it needs to be re-
paired,"
"You have to work
together to solve these
cases and have a good
relationship with them,"
Daugherty said while
Brown said his relation-
ship with the chiefs of
police has been delegat-
ed down.
Newman asked what
steps the candidates
would take to check the
background of sheriff's
department applicants.
Shadbolt said he would
put a person in charge
and added, "You have
to dig deep to find infor-
mation on these officers.
Background vetting is
very stringent." Castloo
said it was important to
make personal contacts
and said, "Ask the right
questions to the right
people and vet these
folks thoroughly."
Daugherty said they
have to be checked out
"thoroughly" and con-
tact someone to see what
you can find out while
Brown said the process
is extensive. "TCOLE
sets a very strict 32-page
background regiment
applicants have to fill out
along with their criminal
background check."
Tucker asked how the
candidates would use
reserve officers. Shad-
bolt said reserves are in-
valuable adding, "I will
have as many as I can get
and I can't say enough
about reserves." Castloo
said reserves are a very
important part of the
department. "We got to
have them." Daugherty
said when he was in of-
fice they had 12 slots
for reserve officers and
they are "essential to the
community." Brown
said reserves can be very
beneficial.
The first round of ques-
tions concluded with
Giguere who asked,
"How important is the
relationship with the
district attorney's office
and how to you plan on
improving that if need-
ed?"
Shadbolt said it is very
important to have a
good relationship with
the D.A. because they
prosecute their cases
and each officer needs
to find out what they
need to properly pros-
ecute the case. Castloo
said it was essential to
have a good relationship
with the district attorney
and again mentioned
a liaison officer to im-
prove the relationship.
Daugherty agreed that it
is very important to have
a good working relation-
ship with the D.A. "I
will have the D.A. come
over and talk with the of-
ficers and tell them how
they want the cases."
Brown said you have to
have the best relation-
ship possible but also,
"when a case is made
well - facts are facts and
that's the way to go."
Newman's second
question was, "Do you
plan on implement-
ing an animal control
policy and-or having a
dedicated animal con-
trol officer?" Castloo
said he plans on having
a comprehensive animal
control program and a
dedicated ACO, while
Daugherty will work
with the SPCA and com-
missioners to find a hu-
mane way to take care
of the animal problem.
Brown had a designated
ACO but found all depu-
ties participating in the
animal control program
were a better fit. "We
are limited to what we
can do. I don't like the
kill facilities," Brown
added. Shadbolt said he
would like to get Cow-
boy churches to help
with stray cattle and
animal control "will be
implemented."
Slayton's third and fi-
nal question was, "We
are all members of the
media and it is very im-
portant to us to keep the
citizens of our county in-
formed. We can't do that
job unless we get infor-
mation from the sheriff's
office. What is your plan
for making information
public through the me-
dia?"
Daugherty said, "It's
essential that the pub-
lic knows what is go-
ing on because we pro-
tect them. The media
should be able to know
anything that doesn't
cause a problem in the
case," and added that he
would send press releas-
es and jail logs to the me-
See DEBATES, Page 4A
Council approves billing
ordinance and court fee
By DORIS NEWMAN
The Monitor Staff
The Mineola City Council spent about 20 minutes
behind closed doors during their regular February
meeting last Monday. After the council reconvened in
open session they took no action on the topic discussed
which was to deliberate regarding economic develop-
ment negotiations.
In the brief meeting the council approved an ordi-
nance to enact a Municipal Court Building Security
Fund. Assistant City Administrator Mercy Rushing
said a state statute allows for the collection of $3 per
ticket to everyone convicted of a misdemeanor in mu-
nicipal court to go into a fund for security for the court.
The action was approved on a motion by Ward 1 Coun-
cilperson Sue Jones and a second by Ward 2 Councilp-
erson Connie Lowe.
An amendment to the ordinance pertaining to billing
and collections for utilities was also approved unani-
mously on a motion by Ward 3 Alderwoman Novada
Bigham and a second by Sue Jones. Rushing explained
there had been discussion about allowing a maximum
of three extensions for people who are late paying their
bills during a 365-day period. The extensions cannot oc-
cur in consecutive months.
"Everybody has emergencies and we want to be sym-
pathetic to our citizens," Rushing said, "if in the past
this citizen has not abused it in the past" the city ad-
ministrator and finance director may consider the ex-
emptions.
Water will not be disconnected after hours, but if a
customer wants their water reconnected after hours,
they must pay a $75 fee to cover the service. Changes
will be publicized with letters to residents to inform
them of the different options to make payment more
convenient.
Also in the meeting the council approved budget
amendments to the Economic Development Corpora-
tion budget in which the transfer-in sales tax was de-
creased by $54,700. Rushing explained that last month
the council approved a budget amendment for the city,
and the EDC has to mirror any changes with the city
budget. "Yall decreased your percentages of sales taxes
you're bringing in, therefore we have to," she explained.
Mayor Rodney Watkins wanted to be sure the mat-
ter was clear. "The revenue for this budget year was
over estimated. And so we did an amendment to take
it back down to a realistic number that we thought we
can achieve so we can keep up with it. When we did
that, it lowered the money EDC gets because they mir-
ror what we get."
The interest income for the EDC was brought up to
$800. The expenditure budget was decreased. Howev-
er, they are budgeting $25,000 for two different phases
of marketing property at the industrial park.
During the assistant city administrator's briefing
Rushing said "We like to brag when we can. Want to
say that our sales tax is up know is up nearly 5.8 per-
cent from this same time last year. We're very excited
about that." She said that helps and the city is hoping
the it continues strong.
She presented the city of Fredericksburg's employee
succession plan that she would like the city to consider
for its own employees.
Also during the meeting the council approved:
*the police department racial profiling report;
*a request to close North Johnson Street from High-
way 80 to Kilpatrick on March 17 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. for
a St. Patrick's Day event;
^changing the April workshop date to Monday, April
18.
Ward 2 Alderman Kevin White was absent from last
Monday's meeting.
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The Mineola M.S. staff picks Magdalena Estrada as this week’s Student of the Week.
This week's Student of the Week, 11-year-old
Magdalena Estrada, is a sixth grader at Mineola
Middle School and the daughter of Rosa Garcia. She
has three siblings, Jose, Dallana and Esmey. During
her free time Magdalena enjoys reading books and
art. MMS English as a Second Language Teacher
Annette Pecorino said, “Magdalena is a hard
working and respectful student. She always has a good attitude and
always gives her best in her work." After graduation Magdalena plans on
doing art, design or teach.
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Newman, Doris. Mineola Monitor (Mineola, Tex.), Vol. 141, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 2, 2016, newspaper, March 2, 2016; Mineola, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth899369/m1/3/?q=%22Places+-+United+States+-+Texas+-+Wood+County%22: accessed June 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Mineola Memorial Library.