Glen Hill Kickoff
By Greg L | 19 April 2007 | Prince William County | 5 Comments
Sheriff Glen Hill had a tremendous campaign kickoff this evening, with about 150 people in attendance who were entertained by a rather good jazz trio and treated to some excellent barbecue. This family-friendly event was emceed by Delegate Jackson Miller, and featured attorney William Boyce, sister-in-law Dora Brooks, and Chief Deputy Major John Collier as speakers in addition to Glen Hill. This event had about three times the number of attendees as the campaign kickoff for Mike Messier, which is probably representative of the level of support these two candidates for Sheriff can command.
There were several interesting things to note about this event. Supplies of yard signs and bumper stickers were plentiful, but demand outpaced the supply. For those who appreciate Old Testament stories, Dora Brooks gave a very good introduction comparing the work Sheriff Hill has done to the inspiration Nehemiah provides, which was perfectly appropriate, very fitting to what Sheriff Hill has done in office, and hopefully will inspire a few to brush up on a Book that not many tend to be all that familiar with. The highlight of the introductions was probably Major Collier’s revelation of an incident that happened last week.
Apparently the Fairfax County Police Department pulled over someone on a reckless driving charge who then presented Sheriff’s credentials and said that he used to be a deputy, asking for some sort of professional courtesy from the officer. Being aware of the problem of unaccounted for credentials from the Lee Stoffregen era, the FCPD called the Sheriff’s office to come and speak with this suspect and confiscate this unauthorized badge. This time the interview with the suspect yielded some interesting information.
The Sheriff’s Deputy asked the suspect how much he paid for the badge, and the suspect told the deputy the story that he paid $500 for the badge back in 2003 during a “power dinner” at which there were about 150 to 200 people who also ponied up $500 for badges as well. A few days after this dinner these campaign contributors were individually brought to a back room where they were handed a badge without any background investigation, training, demonstration of proficiency with a firearm, or a demonstration of any law enforcement qualifications whatsoever. This suspect said that he thought it would “be neat” to have a badge, and thought $500 was a pretty good deal. This “power dinner” probably raised about $100,000 in campaign contributions for Lee Stoffregen, and contributed to the generally uncontrolled proliferation of suspect law enforcement credentials of which only 256 were documented in a 2002 listing, which wouldn’t account for the badges sold for campaign contributions that evening.
I imagine that with this new information there would be a good opportunity to more thoroughly investigate what happened here and help recover some of these unaccounted for badges.
I spoke with Major Collier after the speeches, and his opinion is that now-candidate and then Stoffregen Chief Deputy Mike Messier must have been fully aware of what was going on. Messier boasted to news media that he pretty much ran the Sheriff’s Department while Stoffregen was out campaigning, and based on his experience working as a partner with Sheriff Glen Hill, he can’t imagine anything but a close and complete partnership between a Sheriff and his Chief Deputy. There’s just too much that has to be done for a Chief Deputy to be unaware of what the Chief is doing, and he can’t imagine that Stoffregen’s scheme to sell law enforcement credentials in return for campaign contributions could possibly have not come to the attention of Mike Messier. Since Stoffregen used Mike Messier as his campaign chairman on one occasion, it’s difficult to think that the two of them didn’t have a close enough relationship where Stoffregen’s activities on such a grand scale would have been unknown to Messier. For Messier to claim ignorance about what happened would require a rather inconsistent and implausible relationship between this former Sheriff and his Chief Deputy that just isn’t plausible.
Glen Hill spoke about how he has dealt with the aftermath of the Stoffregen regime, imposing effective financial controls, restoring accountability on missing firearms, ensuring that X-ray equipment and metal detectors at the courthouse were fully operational, obtaining effective training for supervisors and officers, and controlling the department’s budget. There were serious challenges to face in the aftermath of Stoffregen and Messier’s control of the department, and he has succeeded in doing everything that he promised the voters that he would do. He also noted that he has held the line on departmental spending, even absorbing a budget cut from $7.2 to $7.1 million annually without any reduction in service. Hill gave a compelling review of what he has accomplished this term, and asked for the support of the attendees to help him continue to ensure excellence within the department and make it possible for future Sheriffs to be selected from within, rather than from outside the department.
My take is that that support will definitely be there for him. Glen Hill has a large and solid group of supporters who will definitely do whatever they can to ensure he will continue to serve as Prince William County Sheriff. He can count me among that number.
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So far, it appears Messier’s support is confined to old Stoffregenites who want their “stinkin badges” back, and some Orthodox Catholics from All Saints (Messier’s church). These two groups do not a majority make. Wait until the law enforcement endorsements start to come in for Hill….
What about the third candidate in this primary? I haven’t seen anything about him expect his name.
There isn’t a third candidate. It is Hill and Stoff…er I mean Messier.
I was at the kickoff. Many of the attendees were deputies. One of them told me that the department under Stoffregen and Messier was like something out of a movie. The shady things that were going on made her embarrassed to be a deputy.
Messier cannot become Sheriff. Also, what’s up with his hair?I guess that when he loses to Hill, he’s going to try out as the bass player for Blue Oyster Cult.
Did John Collier begin his bedtime story with Once upon a time?
There is not only a third candidate for this office, but it just so happens that the third candidate is, INHO, far more qualified to be elected Sheriff, particularly if you are a conservative/party supporter.
His name is James J. Fotis, he has national republican/conservative pedigree, he will be breath of fresh air to a much to stale battle, and he will bring energy and enthusiasm to the Office of Sheriff and he will help support/energize the conservative (Republican) base/party.
It is time for a real change….. www.fotisforsheriff.com