Letter to the Editor: John Taylor

Being several friends and myself are new to the political scene and not very knowledgeable on the political candidates running for our federal, state and local offices, a discussion that seems to always intrigue us during our weekly get together, we decided that maybe we should do our homework.

The one race that continually grabs our attention is the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office Race between the current Sheriff, Mr. LC Knight and the want to be Sheriff Mr. Mike Turner. The first thing that really caught our attention was an article taken off face book where the Sheriff and Mike Turner were invited to speak at a local restaurant. The narrator implied that Sheriff Knight always appeared to have an aggressive demeanor towards people. This really concerned us so we spent several minutes watching the short video studying Sheriff Knight’s demeanor. After watching the video it was clear to all of us that Mr. Knight wasn’t aggressive at all, extremely passionate about his desire to serve the community, absolutely! It was plainly apparent to us that he is a genuine person who cares and is extremely passionate about serving the citizens of Dorchester County. 

Approximately a week or two later, still following the campaign trail, Mr. Knight and Mr. Turner debated at the Summerville Medical Center. A member of the audience asked Sheriff Knight what he would do if an employee of the Sheriff’s Office stole money. The Sheriff responded to the question and Mr. Turner, who apparently was very agitated by the question, eagerly wanted to respond. Mr. Turner angrily responded that “he was arrested wasn’t he.” Even though the member of the audience never mentioned a particular name it was quite apparent that Mr. Turner had someone in mind. We as a group are not sure of which individual he was referring to, however, we believe it was the pervious jail administrator under Ex-Sheriff Nash & supervised by Mr. Turner during that time who was arrested for embezzling funds from the Sheriff’s Office.

Yet another week, still following the campaign trail, Mr. Knight speaks at the Crestwood Subdivision and members of the audience apparently came confrontational with Sheriff Knight which was caught on video and posted on face book, obliviously videoed by Mr. Turner supporters observed during other events videoing the debates & wearing Mike Turner political clothing. The video which did not include the individual’s exact question however did include Mr. Knight’s response as well as a member of the audience accusing Mr. Knight of threatening another member of the audience, a police officer, with their job. Well once again concerned over these statements we carefully reviewed the video and to our surprise this is what we discovered. First, nowhere in the video does Sheriff Knight threaten anyone’s job; he does refer the subject to check with their Chief of Police. Second it was very apparent that the individuals who were asking the questions were being coached. If you take a moment and watch the video, listening very carefully, you will hear the person in the back ground, either producing or assisting in the video, instructing the persons asking questions and coaching them on what to do. Sounds like dirty politics to us and certainly an attempted to set up Mr. Knight. Who by the way apologized to the member of the audience at the end for the miss understanding telling the audience member that it was not his intent to sound as if he was threatening anyone’s job.  An apology, which was accepted by the subject, stating that he never thought his job was threatened by Mr. Knight at all. Ladies & gentlemen it takes an honorable man to admit he’s wrong, especially for a misunderstanding where he actually did no wrong.           

At another event, occurring at Legend Oaks Subdivision, Deputy Chief Richardson of the Sheriff’s Office spoke in Sheriff Knight’s place along with Mr. Turner. Again on Face Book all kind of accusations were made against Sheriff Knight for not appearing.  We would like to think that people would not believe that the Sheriff can simply drop his responsibilities to the county and its citizens for a political event. Meaning folks the man is responsible for the largest law enforcement agency in the county and he can’t always be where he’d like to be. Another issue at this meeting documentation was handed out on crime statistics implying crime was up in Dorchester County. Upon everyone reviewing the document it was soon realized that the statistics were developed by a Real Estate Company and not any law enforcement agency. Folks what does Real Estate have to do with crime statistics, which according to the FBI annual crime report, crime was down by 11% throughout the entire state.

Another issue that continues to pop up in all these political events is the lack of a SWAT Team in Dorchester County. Mr. Turner continues to suggest that Dorchester Co. needs a Swat Team so not to bother other local agencies for the use of their Swat team, Charleston Counties Swat Team in particular. Well folks even though a Swat Team is certainly an asset to any agency, not to mention the brave officers who serve on these teams, they do cost a lot of money to operate. This is tax payers money and Sheriff Knight’s point of view is that the Charleston Co. Sheriff’s Office Swat Team is on a grant that requires their Team to aid and assist surrounding agencies. Now how many of us shop in Charleston County, own businesses in Charleston County or even participate in their tourist events stimulating their economy? We certainly do not wish to imply that the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office or its citizens owe Dorchester County citizens anything; however, we do extremely appreciate their assistance from the brave personnel of their Swat Team. As a tax payer we can absolutely appreciate their willingness to assist, to serve & protect our county as well as their own. Excellent team work by both agencies, who not only deserve our thanks but our support and appreciation as well.

Well the election is a little more than a week away now and after reviewing all the information we gathered on both candidates we couldn’t help but wonder why Mr. Turners campaign was so negative against Sheriff Knight, was there something we were over looking with Mr. Knight or was this just negative campaigning by Mr. Turner? So as a group we decided to dig deeper into both candidates. What we discovered was that Sheriff Knight is an extremely reputable individual whom is considerate, dependable and a highly honorable professional man who deeply cares for the citizens of Dorchester County. We could find nothing that would make us believe any different. Mr. Turner on the other hand was completely the opposite and very questionable to say the least. For example he served under Ex-Sheriff Nash and supervised the individual who was arrested for embezzlement. Where was he when this money was being stole. Also Mr. Turner has a Masters Degree from American InterContinental University which according to his web site he earned some time during the 2007 or 2008. A University which was placed under probation by the Southern Association of Colleges & School between 2005 through 2007 over issues concerning credit hours inflation noted in certain undergraduate and graduate programs. 

Back in 2009, posted by the Chronicle, the Inspector General of the US Department of Education issued a harsh assessment recommending that the Secretary of Education consider limiting, suspending, or terminating the organizations status. Even though Mr. Turner has no involvement or no control of the Universities issues and faults it’s hard to believe that he wouldn’t have checked into the school’s reputation and accreditation status before applying for his degree. Meaning folks if you were about to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on education wouldn’t you be concerned about its reputation, especially when it’s under so much scrutiny by the Inspector General’s Office.

Mr. Turner recently came under fire in the local papers for having in his possession a firearm issued by the Sheriff’s Office which was not returned upon his exiting the Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Turners reply was it was given to him as a retirement gift in the form of a shadow board. Come on folks, who does that? Putting a completely functioning $400.00 to $600.00 firearm in a shadow board makes no sense to us, very questionable at least.

Well folks we cannot speak for anyone else but it is certainly obvious to us who we are voting for in the Sheriff’s race, Mr. Knight of course.As far as the other candidates running for political offices we are still out on the Presidential, Senate and County Counsel races. We certainly ask that you don’t take our word concerning the Sheriff’s race do your own homework and see for yourself.             

John Taylor

Bridges of Summerville