As published in the Maryland Independent Newspaper

Heat rises at forum for county hopefuls

Testy exchanges rule at FOP election event

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Time was of the essence Monday evening for political hopefuls who each had three to four minutes to win over sheriff's officers and community members at a candidate introduction night.

The Charles County Fraternal Order of Police organized the gathering at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf as a way to learn candidates' platforms early in the race, said John Elliott, chairman of the group's political action committee and a detective at the Charles County Sheriff's Office. As he kicked off the event, which was open to the public, Elliott urged the crowd to take full advantage of the opportunity to hear out the candidates.

"Remember, we have the future leaders of the county in this room right now," he said.

The speeches of sheriff and commissioner candidates were at times pointed, but none was more so than the exchange in the race for state's attorney.

Anthony B. Covington (D), a Charles County deputy state's attorney, criticized his opponent for lack of experience. Local attorney Hammad Matin (D) fired back by questioning Covington's willingness to support sheriff's officers and prosecute tough cases.

Covington, who has the endorsement of outgoing State's Attorney Leonard C. Collins Jr. (D), stressed the fact that he has "seen it all" during his 12 years as a prosecutor.

The county can't afford to elect someone who doesn't have extensive practice with big cases, he said. The top prosecutor needs the know-how to assess and assign the cases, as well as to offer advice to the attorneys handling them.

"That's why experience truly matters," he said. "When the rubber meets the road, it's in the courthouse, in the courtroom, where all my experience is."

Covington also pointed out that all of the prosecutors currently working in the state's attorneys office — except for one person who was out of town — showed up to support him.

In his speech, Matin argued that the election is about advancing the Charles County State's Attorney's Office, where he worked as a prosecutor from 2001 to 2007. The office has skilled attorneys and with some changes could become the best in the state, Matin said, offering several ideas for improvement.

While he praised the prosecutors, he said that they are swamped with work and that he wants to hire more attorneys by tapping into state and federal grants. Another top priority would be adding an investigator to the office so detectives don't have to help with trial preparation, Matin said.

"It's scandalous that this office doesn't have an investigator," Matin said. "[Detectives] aren't paid to do my dirty work. … That's a shame, and I'm going to fix that."

Covington later said hiring an investigator would be unnecessary and disruptive.

"The FOP doesn't want some investigator who doesn't know anything about the case mucking up the works," Covington said. "I have never one time had a complaint or a problem with any member of the sheriff's office about following up on a case before trial."

Matin also blasted Covington for his handling of a drug case initially assigned to Matin during his time as a prosecutor.

Matin took the case to trial — even though he knew it would be tough to win — because the narcotics detectives told him the defendant was a "bad guy" and should be off the streets.

But the trial was postponed, and the case was reassigned to Covington, who put the case on an inactive docket, Matin said.

"The moral of the story is: If you want a prosecutor that's going to stand by you … I'm your man," Matin said. "I'm going to prosecute a case if I think it's the right thing to do and my cops believe in it."

After the speeches, Covington responded by saying that there wasn't enough evidence to try the case Matin mentioned. Police found drugs about 20 feet away from the defendant, Covington said.

"Hammad Matin on June 7 admitted he was an unethical prosecutor," he said. "If the evidence isn't there, you don't go forward. It was a total lack of judgment on his part."

Matin said that if Covington believed there wasn't enough evidence in the case, he should have dismissed it rather than put it on an inactive docket.

Though she was not there for the exchange between the state's attorney candidates, commissioners' Vice President Edith J. Patterson (D) was the subject of one half of the other heated debate among the candidates.

Patterson currently sits as the representative for District 2 but she has announced her bid for commissioner president.

"As officers you put your life on the line every day. We will continue to support you because you deserve it and more importantly you [the public] deserve it," Patterson said before leaving to attend a high school graduation. "When the going gets tough I have stood … in some cases by myself. I have no apologies to make … as recently as [my decisions] last week.

"As county commissioner president I will make sure we respond to you the way we've done in the past," she said.

"When the chips were down for you and the public was made suspicious of you … when a real leader would have stood for you and with you, my opponent did not," said commissioners' president candidate Candice Quinn Kelly (D). "I will never stand by quietly and allow anyone to publicly humiliate this agency.

"When twice legislation came before the board … that would have … protected you from salary cuts, my opponent twice was incapable of moving that legislation forward …"

The remaining dozen or so candidates have their own goals and objectives but the overarching theme of the candidates' speeches Monday night before the boys in blue was how to manage and save the green.

"[The sheriff] should be able to do what he needs to do with that money," said District 2 commissioner candidate Rick Campbell (R). "Who knows better about running the sheriff's department than the sheriff?"

Each candidate received a questionnaire to fill out. They will be used to determine who will get the endorsement of the FOP.

Because there are so many commissioner candidates, the union will not be endorsing those candidates until after the primary, Elliott said.

"With incumbents, we're looking at their track record in relation to the budget and support of the sheriff's office," Elliott said after the speeches. "For the new candidates we are looking at what they've committed as their goals for the sheriff's office."

A new face in the political arena, District 2 commissioner candidate Bob Buehler (D) said that the public safety branch of the county government needed to be fully funded, which would help ensure that people can and want to live and work in Charles County.

"The best crime prevention is having a good job, decent education and a supportive community," Buehler said.

The lone Republican candidate for the commissioners' president seat, Jim Thompson, said his focus would be on staying on the same page as the sheriff while avoiding micromanagement of the office.

"We need to have balanced growth and maintain the police force," Thompson said.

"What we fiscally have to do is work the budgets and be fair to all."

Last year there was an outcry over fairness when it came to a series of decisions and revisions passed down from the county commissioners last fall.

In summer 2009, the commissioners did not return $1.1 million of $1.7 million in funds the sheriff's office saved in fiscal 2009.

A few months later in September, the sheriff was told his office would be furloughed for 10 days and then a retention supplemental salary agreement was signed a few weeks later to help offset a 2.5 percent salary cut. In early October, the commissioners agreed to return $1.5 million to the sheriff's department, which was part of the $2 million it did not spend in fiscal 2009.

"We're very fortunate we do live in a safe county, but that can be lost overnight," said District 1 commissioner candidate Ken Robinson (D). "The sheriff's office needs to be off limits; nonessential personnel comes first."

"I have total commitment responsibility to funding the sheriff's office … and maintaining that funding … to not create an adverse effect on [public safety]," said Commissioner Reuben B. Collins II (D).

Debra Davis (D), another District 2 candidate, said one of the first things she would do when handling public safety as a commissioner would be to sit down with the experts to talk about any issues.

Citing the example of William Braxton, president of the Charles County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and his proposal for a citizen complaint panel for sheriff's office cases, Davis said she would "like to explore what details there are about it."

Taking a more thorough look at what comes her way is how she will handle public safety issues, Davis said.

A former police officer, District 2 candidate Johnnie DeGiorgi said there is still a problem with speeding throughout the county. As a current EMT, DeGiorgi said he could understand what the fire and EMS squad members need from government leaders.

Though every commissioner candidate was invited, not all were able to attend.

Commissioner Samuel N. Graves Jr. (D) was at a local high school graduation, but during a Tuesday follow-up call the District 1 representative said it would be a hard two years for the county financially.

"For public safety we need to make sure we give the available resources we do have," Graves said Tuesday. "The county commissioners' job is to determine what we have coming and give out those resources ... to get the jobs done."

District 2 candidate Leo Eyombo (D), who also was absent Monday night, said he would try to support public safety as much as possible.

"We can't just sit and say, ‘If it's not broke, don't fix it,'" Eyombo said.

Scot Lucas, a Democratic candidate for District 1, had a prior engagement and could not make the candidate event but said he would take a back-to-basics approach if elected.

"We need to take a hard look at the budget and see what things we aren't spending money on, that aren't the basics," Lucas said. "It will take time and I'll need to make hard decisions but we need to take care of the necessities first."

Charles Carrington, who is currently a member of the county's board of education, is running as a Democrat for District 2.

He said that public safety was a key component for quality of life.

This quality of life is created by good education, a productive workforce and ultimately a stronger commercial tax base.

"So the key is, industry doesn't want to come here if the crime rate is outrageous," Carrington said. "Seeing a decrease in crime rate, that's a godsend."

State figures released in spring showed a 13 percent decrease in crime between 2008 and 2009.

Republican candidate for District 3 Joe Crawford said if elected, he'd stress community safety.

"Public safety is obviously one of the key responsibilities of government," Crawford said. "I would look to make sure that our public safety is paramount."

All four candidates for sheriff also appeared at the Monday night event.

Sheriff Rex W. Coffey (D) spoke early in the evening, saying he had fulfilled his campaign promises to reduce crime and support the sheriff's office rank and file.

Dave Williams (D), a retired sheriff's office captain, said he wants to promote agency members fairly and cut down on wasteful spending. "The bottom line is I'm not satisfied with the direction the Charles County Sheriff's Office is going," he said.

The youth of the county need attention from the sheriff's office, said officer Jesse Williams III (D), who added that if elected, he would start a boys and girls police club.

He also said he was concerned with fair promotion inside the agency.

Lt. Tim Crawford (R) offered a similar message.

"I don't believe in bringing in campaign donors," he said. "The rank and file need to know there's upward mobility for them."

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