Sheriff’s Association Endorsement: Clarifying

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[Note: I found Jason Westmoreland's response after I posted this; his post is linked below]

I was told last night that the Ellis County Sheriff’s Association endorsed Johnny Brown for sheriff.

I do believe, however, that a special committee made up of the political action arm of the ECSA was the body that voted unanimously to endorse Brown.

The PAC has every right to endorse or not endorse.

So to say the entire association was on board wasn’t really clarified. I apologize to Brown for any misunderstanding.

(maybe that’s why my advice for every elected official and their agency to have a PR person that does this stuff for a living would make sense)

Joey,

On 02-22-2008 the Ellis County Sheriff’s Officers Association Political Action Committee endorsed the candidacy of Johnny Brown for Ellis County Sheriff. Although the vote was unanimous from the Political Action Committee, the vote was not unanimous from all members of the Association, and I would like to clarify that, especially for the subject above, who claimed that he/she did not get to vote. That person is correct in some ways, (but not all) because the members themselves did not directly vote on this matter since it was set up through a Committee.

The Sheriff’s Officer Association recently approved the appointment a Political Action Committee by a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors in attendance at that meeting. Johnny Brown, who at that time was on the Board of Directors, was absent from that meeting, and chose to be absent and abstain from voting. Johnny Brown has since resigned from the Board of Directors against my wishes to alleviate the possibility of anyone claiming he had a conflict of interest.

The Political Action Committee is a separate entity from the Sheriff’s Officers Association. The Committee is required to have a campaign treasurer on file with the Ethics Commission in Austin, Texas, and it can be verified that we are in compliance with those rules and regulations through the State. There is no money exchanged between the groups, and it is against the law for the Political Action Committee to spend Association money on the Committee’s activities. As of this date, the Committee has not raised nor donated any money.

The Political Action Committee was appointed under the Association’s current bylaws. There are two types of committees, and this Committee was a committee of Directors, which means that the Committee had the power of the Association. The Committee, which I did appoint, consisted of myself and two other Directors, which meets the criteria under our bylaws.

The Committee was contacted by the campaign of Steve McKinney, and we met with Mr. McKinney a few weeks back for approximately 1 hour. During that discussion we talked of many issues confronting the Sheriff’s Office and its employees.

I personally invited James Ledbetter to speak with the Political Action Committee, and he respectfully declined to meet with us, stating that he was in the process of withdrawing from the Association, which he and several of his supporters have done in the last few weeks.

The Committee also met with Johnny Brown, and went over the same areas that we covered with Mr. McKinney.

Mr. Brown and Mr. McKinney share many goals for the Sheriff’s Office, and they also are different in many ways, too numerous to go into detail here.

After taking into consideration the best interests of the current employees of the Sheriff’s Office, the Committee made the determination that Mr. Brown and his plans for the Sheriff’s Office best fit the needs of the employees of the Department. Mr. Ledbetter was not considered since he would not meet with us and share his goals or plans for the Department.

There are members of the Association that do not agree with the decision of the Committee to endorse any candidate. Those employees fear retaliation from the candidate not endorsed if that particular candidate wins, or they are angry because they support one of the other candidates.

The Sheriff’s Association by nature is a political machine. It exists solely for the purpose of making the Sheriff’s Office a better place to work for its members. The only way to make changes in the County Government to benefit employees is to become involved in the political arena, and I know firsthand that the arena of politics isn’t always pleasant.

The endorsement of Johnny Brown doesn’t take anything away from Steve McKinney. He is a good law enforcement officer with a decorated career, and would make a good Sheriff if elected. The Committee just felt as though he is not the right man for the job at this time for the employees of the Sheriff’s Office. Its hard to have an opinion about Ledbetter when he would not give us any answers.

There are supporters of Mr. McKinney and Mr. Ledbetter that will come onto this blog and try to nullify what has been said or say they didn’t support this and they are well within their right to make those comments.

There were 5 members, including Mr. Ledbetter that resigned from the Association a few weeks back. I am happy to announce that we had 5 new members join at our last meeting! The Association looks forward to the elections and encourages everyone to vote, regardless of party affiliation or candidate choice. Although the gentlemen that resigned will believe this is a direct attack on them, I would like to say that I wish they had stayed with the organization to make it stronger, rather than leave the organization because of their differences with myself or other members. They seem to have given up on the Democratic process, which makes this country and County great. The power to vote affects everyone, including myself. I wish they would have stayed to vote the current Board of Directors out of office, rather than give up. They are welcome back anytime, as we still work side by side everyday. I have the same great respect for them today, as I did last week, or last year. And that includes Mr. Ledbetter.

If any other political candidates wish to speak with our Political Action Committee, please contact me, and we will be happy to set up an appointment with you. Mr. Ramsey did address our meeting, but has not requested any endorsement, and none is planned at this time. No other endorsements have been made by the Association at this time.

I may be reached at 214-399-0091.

Jason Westmoreland
President
Ellis County Sheriff’s Officers Association

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