by Tom Chillemi –
Candidates for the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, Middlesex Commissioner of the Revenue and Middlesex Commonwealth’s Attorney spoke at a candidate forum on October 10 at the Deltaville Community Association (DCA).
In his opening statement, sheriff’s candidate C.B. Blair Sibley said he started in law enforcement in 2001 and joined the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office in 2005. He was promoted to investigator in 2006 and was the lead investigator until 2016. He currently is working part-time with the Mathews County Sheriff’s Office.
Sibley said among major concerns in the county are visibility of deputies on the road, that only one deputy is on duty at certain times, and the visibility of the sheriff.
The most important concern is drugs in the community, said Sibley.
He said he would use every resource available to combat the drug problem.
Incumbent sheriff David P. Bushey said he has lived in Middlesex for 30 years. He has been in law enforcement for 25 years. He served as a deputy U.S. Marshal in Washington, D.C., with the Richmond police for five years and worked in management with a marketing company for five years, where he learned how to run a business.
In 1994, he became a Middlesex deputy and worked all aspects from patrolling as a road deputy to investigations.
Bushey said he has been to the FBI Academy and the National Sheriff’s Association executive management course.
He said he will continue to do his best to support and protect the community.
DCA Candidate Forum Video – Constitutional Office Candidates – Be sure to read the description of the video on YouTube and you will find you can click the timestamp for each question and each individual candidate’s response. Via Stephen Blue.
Jon Farinholt and E. Mae Burke are candidates for the Middlesex Commissioner of the Revenue. The current commissioner, Bonnie Davenport, is not seeking re-election.
Farinholt made his opening statement first. He has lived in Hartfield since 2008. For nearly 20 years Farinholt worked in Europe and Asia and ran multiple businesses for one company for which he had full financial responsibility.
Farinholt said he is running for commissioner of the revenue because it is time for him to serve this community. If elected Farinholt said he will use his background in business and finance to develop systems to improve the property assessment process.
Mae Burke said she has worked in the Middlesex Commissioner of the Revenue office for seven years and has been the chief deputy commissioner for four years. Burke said she has taken certification courses through the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service School for Continuing Education through the University of Virginia, which has been a good source of information for her.
Burke graduated from Middlesex High School in 2001 and the University of Virginia College at Wise in 2005.
Burke said she has been a substitute teacher and a paraprofessional with Middlesex public schools.
A question for the commissioner of the revenue candidates was: “What experience in financial education do you have that makes you the most qualified for the position of commissioner of the revenue?”
Farinholt answered first, and said he graduated from VCU with a business degree. He said he also spent 20 years in his international business running multiple companies that were quite large in size—many of them had a budget larger than that of Middlesex County—and he had full financial responsibility and bottom line responsibility.
Farinholt said he and his brothers have three marinas in Middlesex and he is the business manager. He said he has more than 33 years being in a position of financial responsibility.
Burke said her main experience has been on-the-job training for the past seven years in the Middlesex Commissioner of the Revenue’s office and the courses she has taken through the certification program to prepare for her to help citizens of the county as far as tax exemptions for which they may be eligible, and in dealing with personal property appraisals and real estate. Burke said her on-the-job training has been more extensive in the past few years. Because of the health issues of the current commissioner of the revenue, Burke said she has had to take on more leadership roles in the office.
Incumbent Middlesex Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Hurd, who is seeking a fourth term, is being challenged by David Eberline.
Hurd made his opening statement first. Hurd said he has been a trial attorney for 30 years and has been involved in more than 43 jury trials.
Hurd, a Middlesex native, attended Lynchburg College and got his law degree at Mercer University. He was assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Danville. He worked in Michael Soberick’s law firm in Gloucester before becoming Middlesex Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Hurd said he prosecutes misdemeanors even though he is not required to do so.
Hurd said it is his policy to not make plea agreements on a case without discussing it with the victims and law enforcement officers, and many factors must be considered.
Eberline is a native of Tappahannock, he graduated from Christchurch School and the University of Virginia, then taught for a year at Christchurch School before attending law school at the University of Richmond.
Eberline said he is motivated to be commonwealth’s attorney to serve the community; and because criminal trial work is his “passion.”
The second question for the commonwealth’s attorney candidates was: “What specific qualifications do you bring to the position that will make you an effective commonwealth’s attorney for Middlesex County?”
Eberline replied that while working in a criminal defense attorney’s office he found that he enjoyed working in the courtroom and arguing cases. He worked with three criminal defense attorneys in Richmond who had been prosecutors before they were defense attorneys and they taught him how to evaluate cases and anticipate what the opposing attorney was going to do.
He has a law office across from the sheriff’s office and he has spoken with law enforcement about what is going on in the community and the courtroom, and what can be improved upon. Eberline said that in his experience he has seen which kind of prosecutors are effective and which ones are not. He said he has seen different types of police work and how different judges react to different things. He said he has learned to adapt to situations, and that is a valuable quality.
Hurd replied that he got the job of assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Danville on his own merits and worked there about 4.5 years prosecuting more than 2,000 cases a year.
Hurd said he is the only candidate who has actually tried a felony case in Middlesex County; and the only candidate who has been an assistant commonwealth’s attorney or a commonwealth’s attorney who has prosecuted a single case.
There are a lot of differences between a defense attorney and a prosecuting attorney and he has been both for 30 years, he noted.
Hurd has 13 years of experience in private practice and 17 years experience as a prosecutor. He also has been a substitute commonwealth’s attorney in other jurisdictions.
He said he has strengthened the victim witness program and established a sexual response assault team with regards to protocol for sexual investigations.
Hurd said he has been to more than 70 days of training in several areas which cover things that private attorneys do not experience.
The first question posed to the sheriff’s candidates was: “How do you feel about using jail inmates for public projects such as picking up litter?”
Bushey said he favors the use of inmates. The inmates are trustees who will be getting out of jail within 12 months, and there has never been an escape.
Sibley agreed that inmates should be used.
A question posed to the candidates for the commissioner of the revenue was: “If you disagreed with a board of supervisors’ policy that affected your office, how would you deal with those types of issues?”
Burke answered first and said she’d study the policy and discuss with the board how it came up with that policy, how they expect the commissioner of the revenue to endorse that policy, and how to give what is needed for that policy.
Farinholt replied the most important thing to do is to fully understand what the board of supervisors would be trying to implement, the reasoning behind it, and what the impact would be on the taxpayers. There would need to be extensive research into how a policy would be implemented and to see if it could be maintained and still do what is right for the citizens, he said.
Another question asked the sheriff’s candidates: “At present, right now, in Middlesex County what issues do you consider to be the most critical for the sheriff’s department to address?”
Sibley replied that drug problems are the most important issue and they are growing and at the root of other crimes such as burglary. Drug use needs to be attacked with every resource available, he said.
Bushey replied that Middlesex County has the lowest drug activity among the surrounding counties. There is some drug activity and oftentimes the same people are being arrested.
He also said deputies dealing with persons with mental health issues consumes a large amount of time because a deputy must stay with a person who is having mental health issues until that person can be admitted to a facility. In some cases that can take 12 to 24 hours.
Closing statements
Burke said her nearly 8 years experience in the commissioner of the revenue’s office makes her qualified.
Farinholt said he is qualified because of his business and financial background. He said he will bring new ideas and technology to the office.
Eberline said he is confident in his ability as a trial attorney. He will improve the relationship with the sheriff’s office and be involved in the community.
Hurd said he has been involved in community clubs and programs.
Hurd said he has had over 43 jury trials in his career, with 15 of them in Middlesex. He got life sentences for sex offenders and a 110-year-sentence on another sex offender conviction.
Bushey said that when he took office he had to restructure the office. He asked his deputies to give back to the community and a deputy developed the Virginia Rules Camp, to teach children juvenile law.
The Shop and Dine with a Cop is another program of the sheriff’s office that started during his terms.
He said he plans to next work on elderly. He said he has four investigators.
Sibley said he worked hard for the community as a deputy. He said he will work hard, and drugs need to be fought.
He said deputies need more and better equipment, including tasers. Mobile-data terminals in patrol vehicles would make the office more effective, and he plans to establish a local sheriff’s auxiliary similar to those of the rescue squad and fire departments to assist the sheriff with getting equipment.
Sibley also said he would like to see the county get a drug dog again.
