Waggoner says campaign gaining momentum, touts big turnout at BBQ

Bobby Waggoner

Got this today from the Bobby Waggoner for Sheriff campaign. Waggoner is running against Sam Hammett and incumbent Jimmy "J.J." Jones in May's Republican primary for the seat. No Democrats filed to run, so the winner will be decided next month.

The sheriff earns roughly $140,000 annually and is in charge of about 1,000 employees and a $70.3 million budget. 

As always, send me your campaign stuff for publication.

Here's the release:

This past weekend, nearly a thousand Knox County citizens turned out to attend a BBQ at the Brasfield farm in Karns in support of Candidate for Sheriff Bobby Waggoner. The event provided BBQ, live music, demonstrations from the local K-9 unit training facility, and several activities for children ranging from pony rides, a train ride, and a water walk.

Those in attendance included Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, County Commission Chairman Brad Anders and several candidates running for other elected offices in the upcoming primary. Though parking was provided in a large field that had been cleared for the event, overflow parking had to be accessed to accommodate the large crowds.

Sheriff's race: Candidates Jones, Waggoner spar over patrol numbers

Knox County Sheriff candidate Bobby Waggoner issued a release today that said “at any given time, there are fewer than 30 officers on patrol in Knox County.”

Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones, called it “a lie,” adding that “it shows just how out of touch he is.”

“You’re not supposed to get desperate until the end of the campaign,” Jones said.

Waggoner, Jones and Charles “Sam” Hammett Jr. will square off in the May Republican primary. There are no Democratic candidates.

Waggoner, a retired chief of detectives with the KCSO, in his release said the department “is still working from a patrol map that’s more than two decades old.” He said the department’s patrol division consists of five shifts that cover a 24-hour period, and that 28 officers are assigned to each shift. He said of those officers, as many as five “can be off on vacation or personal leave” or in training, etc.

So, I asked the sheriff about this and he said it’s hogwash. He said the office uses “calls for service statistics” to determine how many patrol cars and officers should be available. He said that during a period from 12:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. “there’s a possibility” that there are 30 officers on patrol, “but any other time there’s 100 to 125 patrol officers, patrolling the neighborhoods.”

He said stats show that during the early morning hours calls for services and accidents drop, so not as many officers are needed. (I guess most people are asleep.)

Jones also said that the department also has 70 detectives and more than 40 folks on the radio, so if something goes wrong, he’s got an army on hand to take care of business.

He added that if Waggoner, who joined the department in 2001, was so concerned about patrol numbers then he should have approached him when he was an employee.

Jones, Knight raised a TON of coin

Well, the Man with the Badge turned in his campaign financial disclosure forms today and he might need a new nickname: Sheriff Money Bags!

Jimmy “J.J.” Jones has apparently raised some $169,400 in his bid for re-election. He faces Robert “Bobby” Waggoner and Charles “Sam” Hammett Jr. in the May Republican primary.

Democrat Tracy “T.A.” Clough also has taken out a nominating petition to run for the seat but hasn’t turned it in. So, too, has Donald Wiser, an Independent. But, Wiser also took out a nominating petition to run for the Register of Deeds seat, so I wouldn’t take that one too seriously. Heh.

The general election, which – come on, let’s face it, it’s really over after the Republican primary – will be held in August.

The disclosure forms are due Friday, but, technically, they can be late or pretty much filed whenever you like, because it’s not like the state Ethics Committee, which is supposed to punish such ne’er-do-wells, actually has any guts.

Heh.

Additionally, I’m also hearing that Charme Knight, a Republican and the only candidate so far to run for the open District Attorney General seat, has raised about $120,000 in folding paper.

Now, you’re not going to find any of this on the election site right now, because the office is closed. So, check back tomorrow.

In the meantime, it appears that Jones isn’t done raising money. He also has plans to host a meet-and-greet/minor fundraiser/pizza party on April 15 at the Expo Center. The event is designed to boost his election base.

Note that April 16 is the first day of early voting.

As always, send me your campaign stuff and I’ll post it.

Knox Sheriff's Office travel records

OK, now that Yellow Monday is over and a couple of school board members officially committed political suicide yesterday, we can get onto more fun stuff.

Like travel records.

Now, the reality is these rarely yield what you want them to. Heck, just ask Commissioner R. Larry Smith (speaking of political suicide).

Anyhoo, Bobby Waggoner, a retired assistant chief over the detective division who is running for sheriff, asked the finance department for “copies of all travel expense reimbursement summaries,” and blah, blah blah for the following folks:

• Eddie Biggs
• Rodney Bivens
• Butch Bryant
• Clyde Cowan
• Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones
• Mike Ruble
• Lee Tramel

I know this because I’m a smart guy. (And occasionally, I do record requests for copies of records request.)

You’ll note that Waggoner did not ask for his own records.

I’ve since received a copy of all these docs, including ones on Waggoner. They cover a three year period from Sept. 1, 2010, when Jones’ current term began, through Nov. 30, 2013.

Now, this is a ton of stuff, but not a whole lot to show.

So, let’s break it down from stingiest to costliest. Remember, this is for three years.

Chief Deputy Eddie Biggs: $1,859. Well, it looks like he took some trips to Nashville for various functions, and he also went to the U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations Expo in El Paso, Texas in 2011. It appears that he sought reimbursement for meals only once.

Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones: $2,096. Now, you hear all these stories about Jones set-setting and globe trottin’ but that doesn’t mean a whole lot when one of the trips was a personal vacation to Scotland and another – to Taiwan – was paid for by the Taiwanese government. (Someone fancy from Atlanta was invited to a Knox County luncheon and then invited the Sheriff’s Office to go over there.) Here’s some info about it right smack here. That said, it looks like the sheriff made three trips to Nashville, one to Sevierville and another one to El Paso for that Border Patrol thing. Jones did not seek any reimbursement for food or mileage other than the plan ticket to Texas.

Look, I don’t really feel like going through this whole entire thing. So, let’s throw out some numbers then skip ahead. Since I did the lowest two in some detail, I’ll also do the top two.

Lee Tramel: $3,662.41

Butch Bryant: $3,795.24

Mike Ruble: $5,032.34

Clyde Cowan: $6,192.03 (By the way, Cowan, who is over the detective division and SWAT, has some FBI academy stuff he has to go to, so that cost a few coins.)

OK, final two:

Bobby Waggoner: $7,250.01. Waggoner went on about 10 trips to Nashville (these are Tennessee Sheriff’s Association meetings); a couple to Sevierville, one to Tampa (Cold Case Investigations & Interviews) and another to Orlando (International Homicide Training Symposium). He also took trips to Washington, D.C. and to New Orleans to attend the International Homicide Investigators Association Annual conferences (That actually sounds kind of cool). Waggoner accepted per diem for meals for the out-of-state trips, but not in-state.

Rodney Bivens: $14,579. OK, now Bivens runs the jail, which is accredited, which means he’s got mandatory conferences that he needs to attend every year. And, no, they don’t hold these conferences locally and they’re not one or two-day events. Sooooo, that meant a mandatory jaunt over to Potomac, MD to attend the U.S. Dept. of Justice PREA training; the ACA’s 142^nd Congress of Correction in Denver; Phoenix for another ACA Conference; another one in San Antonio; one in Kissimmee, Fl; and there was something in Sweetwater, TN. So, when it’s all said and done, that’s a little under $5K a year in trips for Bivens.

It’s a good thing Chief Bivens didn’t go to a women’sconference or he’d have R. Larry after him.

Heh.

In the meantime, all these trips were budgeted and approved by top county officials, including the sheriff and the mayor.

Waggoner versus Jones for sheriff

Well, looks like the Man with the Badge - Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones - will have an opponent in his re-election bid.

Bobby Waggoner, a retired chief of detectives in the sheriff's office, officially announced today his intentions to seek the office. He will talk more about it tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. on Market Square (at the women's suffrage statue) when he holds his campaign kickoff.

That's about all I got. The news release wasn't really that long.
 
In October, Jones held his kickoff in front of like a gazillion people at Lakeside Tavern at Concord Marina. The guy is a political powerhouse. I don't really expect this one to be close. But well, who knows . . .

Anyhoo, both are Republicans, so they'll face off in the May primary. The general election is set for August.

Jones took office in 2008 and won re-election in 2010. If he wins, this will be his final term.