News and Record

re-elected) to the post

The "Candidate Forum 2007," hosted by the Halifax County Chamber of

Commerce and WHLF attracted about 90 guests on Thursday evening as

local candidates explained their positions prior to the upcoming

November General Election.

While candidates for the School Board, Board of Supervisors,

constitutional officers and Delegate Clarke Hogan were present for the

event, it was the Sheriff's race that attracted more of the audience's

attention.

Sheriff Jeff Oakes and challenger Stanley Noblin fielded questions from

moderator Nick Long about what they expect to do if elected (or

re-elected) to the post. The candidates all had the questions sent to

them in advance so they had ample time to prepare their answers prior

to the event.

One of the questions posed was whether or not Halifax County should

belong to the Regional Drug Task Force of which both neighboring

Mecklenburg and Charlotte Counties are partners, but Halifax is not.

Oakes pointed out that Halifax had been a member of the task force

during his first several years in office, but had he had left the group

after questioning its efficiency. He said that using local drug

funding, his office had collected nearly twice as much drug forfeiture

money as Halifax had when it was a member of the drug task force.

But Noblin countered that he feels that the sharing of resources,

manpower and information provided by the Regional Drug Task Force is

available and could be very useful. "Why should we do it alone when

these resources are available?' he asked.

Oakes also repeatedly talked about the low salaries offered to members

of his department, saying that he is working not only with local

government officials, but also with Delegate Clarke Hogan and Senator

Frank Ruff to improve the payment of his deputies.

But when Noblin questioned him about a $10,000 special fund allocated

by County Supervisors for overtime pay for his officers, Oakes said

$9,100 of that money had been paid to his top deputy since he was the

person most often called out at odd hours of the night and who was "one

of the hardest working men in Halifax County."

"How do you decide who is afforded the opportunity to earn overtime

pay?" Noblin asked the Sheriff, who responded that the county's recent

personnel study had shown that some of his officers were well below the

pay scale shown by the consultants.

Oakes asked Noblin if he felt he could handle the administration of 40

employees and an annual budget of some $2.5 million for the department.

"What supervisory responsibilities have you been tasked with that would

qualify you to manage a budget and department the size of the Halifax

County Sheriff's Office?," the Sheriff asked of Noblin.

Noblin responded that he had only limited experience in administration,

but that he had led investigations and also owned his own business in

which he has employees and has to have a budget on which to operate.

But he asked the Sheriff later, "did you have experience with employees

and budgets when you first took office?"

Noblin also asked the Sheriff about the security of evidence collection

and who was responsible for that evidence and how it is stored. Oakes

said the officer who is investigating the crime is responsible for the

evidence collected at the scene and elsewhere and that to date no one

had contested his method of evidence storage.

Noblin said he felt that a specially named custodian should be in

charge of all evidence collected and that it should be stored in a

special place until the time of trial. That method, he noted, would

help the department in gaining accreditation which is something both

men discussed several times during the evening.

Oakes said that while his department is working toward accreditation,

it is very time consuming and is a very slow process with very

stringent demands. Noting that he is short on manpower, with three in

the military and the loss of veteran officers because of the salary

disparity, Oakes said the obstacles to certification in his office are

"monumental."

While Noblin acknowledged that the pay for deputies is a problem, he

said that is not the only problem. "They need a positive work

environment, one free of negatives."

In closing statements Oakes said he is proud of his 22 years of service

to the citizens of Halifax County and that he has seen much

improvement. "When I took office we heard about drive-by shootings and

drug dealers on every corner. I know the job and have the tenacity and

backbone to stand up for what I believe," he concluded.

Noblin said he looks forward to serving as Sheriff and just as he has

promised his three children to keep them safe in their home, he wants

to do the same thing for all the citizens of Halifax County.

Earlier in the forum three Supervisors — ED#4 Doug Bowman, ED#7 Lottie

Nunn and ED#8 Bryant Claiborne, all of whom are running unopposed

thanked citizens for their support and talked about how they hoped to

continue the progress of the County and how more consolidation of

services may be forthcoming.

Delegate Clarke Hogan was also present for the event and spoke very

briefly about the improvements he had seen in the community during his

tenure. "We still have a long way to do and if you have ideas please

let me know and I will respond," Hogan said.

Commonwealth's Attorney Kim White also addressed the crowd, saying that

she had made a number of promises when running for election four years

ago and she felt that she had fulfilled those. However, she expressed

her concerns about the abuser driving fees and their possible effect on

the court system as well as the unfairness to Virginia drivers who are

liable for the excessive fines while out of state drivers are not. "I

have voiced my concerns to both Delegate Hogan and Senator Ruff," she

said, noting that she is convinced that changes to the law will be made

during the upcoming legislative session.

School board members also made their presentations. Walter Potts, who

is running unopposed for the seat in ED#8 promised to make himself

available to his constitutents, saying that he plans to hold community

meetings to collect their thoughts and hear their concerns.

ED#4 school trustee Joe Bailey said he is proud of the new school

facilities and also his support of the dual enrollment classes offered

to some 1300 high school students. Bailey was high in his praise for

School Superintendent Paul Stapleton who, he said, "has done wonders"

for the local school system.

Joe Gasperini, who is challenging Bailey for his seat on the school

board described himself as "a concerned parent with three children in

the school system" with another yet to come. He said he wants to see

the upgrading of other schools so as to see the renewed excitement of

the new facilities in all the local schools. Gasperini, who holds a

degree in finance, termed himself "a team player with the fortitude to

say what I think in order to provide the best education for all."

Written statements from Clerk of Court Bobby Conner, Supervisor James

Edmunds and ED#1 school board hopeful Devin Snead, all of whom are

running unopposed by read by Nick Long.