The sign from Giles Lee Ruthrough’s old drug store and soda fountain still decorates the building that now houses Highland Hardwoods. A sign of the past. A campaign sign for Stephanie Murray Shortt, candidate for Commonwealth’s Attorney, hangs in the window. A sign of the the future? Only time (and November’s election) will tell.
Amen Carol. Stephanie has my vote as well. She will be a definite improvement over the current holder of the office.
Another vote for Shortt. She’s proven herself worthy of the job.
Eric Branscom has been a prosecutor for 8 years. Ms. Shortt is a defense attorney who has prosecuted for less than a year. While we appreciate Ms. Shortt’s efforts while the incumbent was on a tour of duty, her experience simply doesn’t stack up against that of Mr. Branscom. This is Floyd. There is no GOP machine. Mr. Branscom is simply a good prosecutor who lives in the county and is offering us the chance to have a qualified attorney on the job. I say we take him up on his offer.
No GOP machine in Floyd? What alternate universe are you from? Everyone knows Gino Williams recruited Branscom to move to the county and get rid of Hannett. Next you will claim there were WMDs in Iraq and that Anna Nicole married for love.
Given the record of the GOP power brokers in picking our recent Commonwealth’s Attorney, I would say that Mr. Branscom is already starting out with a strike against him.
Gino was no prize as a prosecutor and when he got kicked upstairs to judge his choice to replace him, Mr. Hannett, proved a flop in office even though he, like Mr. Branscom, was supposed to be an “experienced” prosecutor.
Stephanie Shortt proved herself in the prosecutor’s job. She is not a political hack brought here by a party boss but someone who has worked in the county and knows the people and the county. The sheriff’s deputies are openly supporting her and she has the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Unlike the current occupant of the job, she has actually won a jury trial. That is enough to secure my vote.
I’d be more than happy to meet with Carol for an argument. While we don’t agree, it is clear we both have a lot of passion for Floyd. It is nice to see this discussion going again- I love a political debate! Lets hear from others out there…
As a native Floyd Countian and a believer of fair play, I have to say that I am disturbed by the tactics employed by the Branscom campaign.
The letter to the editor of The Floyd Press concerning the hypothetical need for a special prosecutor was a deliberate distortion of the facts and an outright smear tactic that has no place in our local elections. Likewise, there have been attempts to create a “whisper” campaign to damage Mrs. Shortt’s reputation.
Judge Williams, why don’t you stick with being a judge and let the county voters decide who should occupy the Commonwealth’s Atttorney’s office? You recommended Mr. Hannett to the post and look what a disaster he has become. I’m sorry but I don’t trust your judgment when it comes to such matters. I’ve met both candidates for the office and I consider Mrs. Shortt to be the best choice. She appears to view the postition as public service not a career opportunity and in my opinion that is very important.
If you take the time to look at the Floyd County budget you will see that Floyd County does indeed pay for the Commonwealth’s Attorney. For fiscal year 2006 we paid $149,330.00 (2 full-time, one part-time), 2007 approved amount was $154,096.00, and 2008 is projected to be $158,919.00. I think some of this money is returned by the state through its compensation board, but I’m not sure how that process works. Perhaps you could explain?
All that education and you don’t understand how our tax dollars are spent?
Yes, the county budget has allocations for the county offices but the salaries for constutitional positions (sheriff, commonwealth’s attorney, circuit clerk, etc.) are set by the state compensation board and paid by the state. The compensation board, for example, had to approve the assistant that Gordon Hannett hired when he tried his lamebrained idea of running his office via email while serving in Iraq. Let’s remember that he was another outside attorney recruited by Gino Williams to move to the county and become a prosecutor and he was supposed to have experience.
We have enough cronyism in government, both here and elsewhere and the last thing we need is another commuter prosecutor who doesn’t know the territory.
I see emotions are riding high this morning. Let’s tone down the hyperbole.
Mike and Carol, why don’t the two of you meet over coffee and debate this face-to-face?
A note to all posters: I’ve had to remove links to sites that promote candidates for office. It is not this web site’s function to serve as a link to political propaganda web sites or to serve as a conduit for anyone’s political agenda.
As a career journalist and as one I have no dog in this hunt. You can be sure that I will treat whomever wins the election with equal skepticism and disrespect. 🙂