Rebuttal

GOMM does not make a practice of responding to comments. Recent ones made anonymously about the post titled Choir Practice about so-called non-partisan forum on September 24, however, need a rejoinder.

The main purpose of GOMM is to provide information and encourage people to pay attention. 

There are lots of words  with more than four letters in this book.

 Profanity will not be published. The English language has many words with more than four letters that can be combined to express any sentiment in a meaningful manner.

The first comment on the post in general:

“Typical biased opinion and false information reported by an obvious Creasey supporter.
Sandy Warwick you should be ashamed of yourself for posting such blatantly false information.” Not sure what information was false. Not ashamed, not sorry.

“I was at the forum and did not witness any of what you have stated.” Which part? The leaflet scuffles. The White supporters wearing tee shirts and stickers, cheering, taking pictures?

“The forum had an excellent turnout and was very informative.” Why so many empty seats and people walking out when the one-sided narrative became clear? You probably knew what was going to be said before the event started.

“Your blogs false information is exactly the type of negativity that is dividing this county and making this election so volatile.” GOMM clearly states that it is my opinion, which is as valid as yours. What makes questioning details of a candidate’s remarks negativity?  False information? The clearest example of this was the “when did you stop beating your wife” type question, alleging that deputies tauntingly tossed cigarettes on an already swept surface while supervising someone performing court mandated community service?  The thing is, deputies do not supervise court mandated community service. Someone else on the stage probably knew that and declined to set the record straight. That question seemed deliberately worded to spread false information by the ‘non-partisan” organizers.

“I respect your right to vote for who you feel is the most qualified candidate for Sheriff, but it is simply wrong for you post all this false information about the forum and Mr. White.  The residents and business owners deserve better.”  Not sure what “information” was false. Just commenting on some of the answers. Where, for instance, will the money come from to pay for all the new rent-a-cop deputies and better training? In past years, the supervisors, who provide most funding for the Sheriff’s Office, have declined to fund requested deputy positions. White should know this. Being Sheriff is more than slapping on a star and swaggering around the county. Also, during the Mizpah Church forum, White contended that he would give a “tax break” to a developer for a Centerville substation. Creasey pointed out that the Sheriff cannot give “tax breaks”. “This type of behavior from you only proves how much Goochland County needs a change.” No idea what this means, it is opinion. “I’m pretty sure you will be the only one that reads this because you don’t have the moral and ethical backbone to post it publicly because you know what you are doing is wrong.” The First Amendment gives me, as an American citizen, the right to express my opinion, as it does you. Doing so does not make me “wrong” it makes my view different from yours, which, apparently in your eyes make me evil. As to backbone, does posting anonymously mean you have back trouble? “If you are truly trying to make Goochland a better place be truthful with you reporting and allow people to make their assumptions who is more qualified to hold the position.” Critical thinking, the ability to question a statement and see if it makes sense, in my opinion is not untruthful.  GOMM tries to present background information, to put comments in perspective and provide complete information about a candidate’s qualifications, not repeat a carefully crafted narrative. The following comment drew a foul-mouthed response from the same biddy so bizarre that it was funny. It was withdrawn and will not be shared here but has been archived.

“Apropos of Mr. White's knowledge -- or lack thereof -- of the many duties and responsibilities of the Sheriff’s Office, I submitted the following question to the forum nine days prior to the submission deadline:

"Please identify and describe your experience in dealing with the important functions of the Sheriff's office, other than criminal investigation; in other words the day-to-day or more mundane (but still important) aspects of the job."

This question was not deemed worthy of inclusion in the forum. Apparently, the organizers of the forum deem Mr. White's taste in ice cream and admiration of Mickey Mantle of greater importance to his qualification to serve as Goochland's sheriff.”

 Why would asking someone with little or no relevant experience in routine matters of an office he aspires to oversee draw such a vile response? The sheriff’s office performs a wide range of tasks including dispatch; serving warrants in debt, subpoenas, and other court papers; performing evictions; welfare checks, prisoner transports, helping stranded motorists, dealing with motor vehicle accidents, and so forth. These functions are not mentioned in White’s resume. Don’t Goochland citizens have a right to know how much experience a candidate has in these areas?  Also, patrol, one of the most important functions of the office, was never mentioned.

As to the “non-partisan” aspect of the September 24 forum, this comment was recently posted:

“It might be worth knowing that Buddy Bishop, the now former chairman of the Goochland TEA Party, submitted his resignation when he discovered that the public service forum had become a partisan debate without his awareness until four days prior to the event - about the same time the Creasey campaign found out as well. No ground was given at the request to make the event as billed; the requests were wholly ignored. At least Mizpah church did it right this election cycle.
In case some might not see the difference, it's about confrontation vs information. It's about selling one product and substituting with another. It's about being setup for the same sorta "gotcha" we constantly see in the so-called news. Buddy was right to resign from the TEA Party as was the Republican party was in withdrawing from the event.
It looks like the meet and greets being held around Goochland are the best way, if not only way, to meet the candidates in person and have a decent respectful and informative conversation this year.”

As GOMM stated in Choir Practice, saying that a forum is “non-partisan” does not make it so.

Thanks to everyone who takes time to read GOMM and post civil comments .