Category — Escambia County Sheriff

For anyone that missed WSRE’s great “Rally 2008″ programs, they’re available in their entirety online.

These programs are an excellent public service put together by WSRE and the League of Women Voters.  They highlight local races and give the candidates a chance to speak to the voters about key issues.

For last Monday’s program, click here.  The Monday 10/27 program featured the following races:

• U.S. Congress, District 1
• Florida House, Districts  2, 3, and 5
• Public Defender, First Judicial Circuit
• Escambia County Sheriff
• Several Santa Rosa and Okaloosa County offices

For last Tuesday’s program, click here.  The Tuesday 10/28 program featured the following races:

• Escambia County Superintendent of Schools
• Escambia County School Board, District 5
• Escambia County Commission, Districts 1, 3, and 5
• ECUA, District 3
• Santa Rosa County School Board, District 2

The Northwest Florida Police Benevolent Association will endorse Democrat Larry Scapecchi as its choice for Sheriff of Escambia County at a rally tonight.

I’ve enjoyed watching the Rally 2008 series on WSRE this week.  I’ve still got last night’s installment to watch, but here’s my take on some of the races and candidates who have appeared:

Escambia County Sheriff

I thought that both Democratic candidates did well.  I enjoyed the back and forth between David Morgan and Ron McNesby.  Morgan again came off as level-headed and informative while McNesby came off like a liar and an excuse-maker.  That’s probably because he was lying and making excuses.

Escambia County Supt. of Schools (D)

Both Brown-Curry and Stidham did well, although both made slip-ups.  Simmons did passably but considerably worse than her opponents.

School Board District 5

Harrell and Slayton both did pretty well, in my opinion.  Tegenkamp didn’t even both to respond to WSRE (why is he running?) and Gindl, the incumbent, looked disheveled and came off like he was making excuses or wasn’t sure how he felt about things.

Escambia County Sheriff (R)

The winner of this election will face the winner of the Democratic primary for the same office in the general election.

The prediction: Incumbent Ron McNesby, with a substantial money and influence advantage, will squeak by David Morgan, that said, it will be a lot closer than it was four years ago. I predict a 52-48 split.

What I wish would happen instead: I want Ron McNesby to win, because he’ll be easier to beat in the general.

See also: Pensacola Progressive race coverage

Escambia County Sheriff (D)

The winner of this election will face the winner of the Republican primary for the same office in the general election.

The prediction: Larry Scapecchi will defeat Sam Lucas decisively. I predict a spread no fewer than ten points.

What I wish would happen instead: They’re both good guys, and I’d be happy with either.

See also: Pensacola Progressive race coverage

Escambia County Sup’t. of Schools (D)

The winner of this election will face Republican Malcolm Thomas in the general election.

The prediction: Claudia Brown-Curry will win by a respectable margin. Second place is more hard to peg. My gut says Cary Stidham takes second, but Myra Simmons will do better than expected. All of these candidates are nice and capable women, but as I’ve mentioned before, I think Brown-Curry is great.

See also: Pensacola Progressive race coverage

This evening’s Pensacola City Council meeting was pretty uneventful.  Four of our ten Council members — Nobles, DeSorbo, Wu, and Wiggins — didn’t even bother to show up.

However, a citizen did speak in open forum and raised an interesting issue.  Last year, on September 21, 2007, Escambia County Sheriff (and candidate for reelection to that office) received an “in kind” campaign contribution of $200 worth of golf passes.  He listed the contribution as having come from Osceola Golf Course.

For those of you who don’t know, Osceola Golf Course is owned and operated by the City of Pensacola and its operations are subsidised by City taxpayers.

Mayor Fogg very condescendingly let the speaking citizen know that it was surely some sort of mistake, and to take it up with the Supervisor of Elections.  Maybe it’s a mistake.  I’d sure like to run it to ground, though.  Who paid for the golf passes?  Did a private citizen buy the passes and donate them in kind to the McNesby campaign?  If so, who?

I haven’t really covered them, because, to be honest, who cares, but just as a reference, here’s a list of all of the PNJ’s endorsements so far this cycle:

Public Defender

• Kelly Merritt Richards, R

Florida House, District 1

• Greg Evers, R (incumbent)

Florida House, District 2

• Dave Murzin, R (incumbent)

Escambia County Sheriff

• Ron McNesby, R (incumbent)
• Larry Scapecchi, D

ECUA-1

• Logan Fink, R (incumbent)

ECUA-3

• Elvin McCorvey, D (incumbent)

ECUA-5

• Larry Walker, R (incumbent)

ECSB-3

• LuTimothy May

ECSB-5

• Tom Harrell

A roundup of events for this week:

Monday, August 4

• Independent News Birthday Party for Barack Obama
  5:30-7:00 PM, Lili Marlene’s in Seville Quarter

Tuesday, August 5

• Kevin White District 5 Town Hall Meeting
  6:30 PM, Escambia County Extension, 3740 Stefani Road

Wednesday, August 6

• Gene Valentino’s “Coffee with a Commissioner”
  7:30-9:00 AM, Crema Coffee, 1124 West Garden Street
• Pensacola Charter Review Commission Meeting
  3:00 PM, Hagler/Mason Room, 2nd Floor, City Hall
• Public Forum for Escambia Sheriff and Public Defender candidates
  5:00 PM, UWF Commons Conference Center, Building 22, Room C

Thursday, August 7

• Escambia County BOCC Meeting
  5:30 PM, 221 South Palafox Place

This week, Progressive Pensacola has been profiling the 2008 race for Escambia County Sheriff:

• Monday: Ron McNesby
• Tuesday: David Morgan
• Wednesday: Sam Lucas
• Thursday: Larry Scapecchi

The Office

The Sheriff of Escambia County is the chief executive of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) and the preeminent law enforcement official in Escambia County. He is responsible for all operations of the ECSO, including the operations of the Escambia County Jail. The Sheriff manages a budget that has risen to ~$86 million in FY2007-2008. While the ECSO is dependent on the Board of County Commissioners for budget appropriations, once the money is budgeted to the ECSO, the Clerk of Circuit Court has no power to audit the ECSO’s spending as it does with the Board of County Commissioners generally.

The race for Escambia County Sheriff has become by far the most expensive County-wide race, with the four candidates raising over $240,000 cumulatively, as of the first quarter. More than half of that figure comes from the incumbent, Mr. McNesby, alone.

The Sheriff’s annual salary is $138,636. Sheriffs are elected to serve a four-year term.

This year’s race features two Republicans: Ron McNesby (the incumbent) and David Morgan; and two Democrats: Sam Lucas and Larry Scapecchi. The Republican and Democratic primaries will be held on August 26. The winners of those contests will face each other in the general election on November 4.

Projections

Republican primary: It’s going to be close. McNesby has a huge money advantage, but the anti-incumbent and anti-McNesby sentiment in the air, combined with the support base that David Morgan has cultivated over the past few years, will make this a very competitive race, which I could see going either way. The bottom line is that McNesby will spend whatever amount of money and exert whatever influence he has to win reelection.

My gut tells me that McNesby will squeak by with a victory.

That said, I believe McNesby, rather than Morgan, is the easier candidate to beat in the general.

Democratic primary: This race won’t be as close. Both candidates are great guys and would make excellent sheriffs, in my view, but Scapecchi has an edge in money, political acumen, support network, etc. I think Scapecchi will score a decisive victory.

We’ll take another look at this race after the primary. The dynamics of the race will vary greatly depending on the matchup.

Escambia County Sheriff candidate David Morgan has had his best take of all fundraising periods with $13,401.33. He has raised $47,371.32 in total, with expenditures of $42,262.50, for a cash-on-hand total of about $5,100.

Who gave to Morgan this time around?

• $35 from Byron Keesler of the Escambia County Citizens Coalition
• $500 from dentist Bryan Gerstenberg
• $100 from Clayton Roesch of Grover Robinson and Associates
• $100 from Diana Hall, wife of Pensacola City Councilman Sam Hall
• $500 from Local 4131 firefighters’ union
• And many more!

Links
Morgan’s complete F1 report
All financial reporting

This article is part of a series on the candidates for Escambia County Sheriff.

Larry Scapecchi
Democrat
Qualified by petition
Campaign Finance Reports
Campaign Website

The Candidate

Scapecchi, 45, is a retired ECSO officer and is a new entrant to politics. Not satisfied to stay in retirement, Scapecchi jumped into the race with the following explanation:

“After 25 years of service on the streets, I am disappointed in the direction that Sheriff McNesby has taken the agency and I can no longer stay in retirement without standing up for what I believe is right.”

While I was initially skeptical of his ties to the current ECSO administration, numerous conversations have convinced me that he’s genuine, honest, and well-intentioned. Scapecchi has run an excellent campaign: he is a good and concise speaker; his campaign materials and website are attractive and concise; his fundraising is competitive and his ground game is solid.

Education and Experience: Scapecchi is a graduate of Escambia High School and Pensacola Junior College. At PJC he obtained his Criminal Justice Standards for both Corrections and Law Enforcement, both with Honors. Scapecchi worked for the ECSO for 25 years before retiring in 2007 as a Lieutenant. During his career, Scapecchi garnered experience working in a variety of departments, including narcotics, corrections, and investigations.

Personal: Scapecchi is active in the Myrtle Grove community, serving in the volunteer fire department and as President of the Myrtle Grove Youth Association Foundation. He, his wife Sarita, and their family attend Myrtle Grove Baptist Church.

Electoral History

None

The Bottom Line

One of the things I appreciate most about Scapecchi is that he is concise. This is a great attribute in running for public office. For example, his website lays out his priorities in one page, without the use of lengthy arguments, subpages, etc.

Like the other challengers to the incumbent, Ron McNesby, Scapecchi has made budget issues a focus of his campaign, citing the increase in the overall budget, and more specifically the dramatic (310%) increase in the administrative budget. Scapecchi is also pushing a strong commitment to integrity on all fronts, from the administration, including the Sheriff, down to deputies and corrections officers: “I believe that the Sheriff of Escambia County should be above reproach and should be responsible for the ethical behavior and attitude of his deputies. It is clear that attitude reflects leadership. The Sheriff MUST lead by example.”

Scapecchi has a lot of support. I run into a lot of people, both online and off, who are enthusiastic about him. He’s come out on top in a lot of informal polls I’ve seen, such as the one conducted by the Police Benevolent Association. They later declined to endorse him, saying that the 34% response rate by their members was too low. Either way, I think that’s telling.

This article is part of a series on the candidates for Escambia County Sheriff.

Sam Lucas
Democrat
Qualified by petition
Campaign Finance Reports
Campaign Website

The Candidate

Sam Lucas, 61, is a private investigator and retired Coast Guard officer and a new entrant to politics. He is focusing his campaign, like incumbent Ron McNesby’s other challengers, on budget and administration issues. Lucas is pledging to move the ECSO to a “zero-base budget”, funding only the bare necessities by default and requiring all discretionary spending to go through him as Sheriff.

Education and Experience: After graduating from high school, Lucas joined the Coast Guard, and over his career rose through the ranks, retiring as Officer in Charge of Coast Guard Station Pensacola in 1986. According to Lucas, the last fifteen years of his Coast Guard service focused on “law enforcement and personnel supervision and training.” Since retiring from the Coast Guard, Lucas has served in management positions with marinas and more recently operates a private investigation agency.

Personal: Lucas and his wife of 42 years, Kat, have three children, and are active members of Myrtle Grove Baptist Church.

Electoral History

None

The Bottom Line

While Lucas’ formal law enforcement experience was in a different scene and more than twenty years ago, he is very “in touch” with the ECSO and law enforcement in Escambia County. In the course of his work as a private investigator, he visits the Jail regularly and deals with the ECSO on various levels. He’s very smart on the important issues and has detailed, impressive plans for reform. Personally, I consider Lucas’ outsider status a strength.

Lucas has had some fundraising issues and lacks the network enjoyed by Larry Scapecchi, his Democratic primary opponent. I can’t help but feel that Lucas would have more support if he had more resources, which is a shame.

You can learn more about Lucas and his experience and priorities at his website.

This article is part of a series on the candidates for Escambia County Sheriff.

David Morgan
Republican
Qualified by petition
Campaign Finance Reports
Campaign Website

The Candidate

In his second run for the office, Morgan has centered his campaign on pledges to reform the ECSO budget process, rein in costs, and restructure ECSO operations to place more emphasis on patrol and detention deputy functions.

Education and Experience: Morgan holds an M.A. degree in Business Administration and Management from Webster University and a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice from Southeast Missouri State University. He served in the United States Air Force for more than 20 years, the bulk of which he spent as an Air Force Police Officer. He has completed a number of advanced law enforcement training programs, detailed at his site. Since 1994, Morgan has operated a private investigation agency.

Personal: Morgan and his wife Susan have four children and four grandchildren.

Endorsements: Escambia County Professional Firefighters Local 4131, Dothan Chief of Police John Powell (2004 Democratic candidate for Escambia County Sheriff)

Electoral History

Escambia County Sheriff, 2004: Morgan challenged incumbent Ron McNesby in the Republican primary, but lost by ~11K votes (34 percentage points)

The Bottom Line

I think David Morgan is an educated, capable guy with both the LEO and management cred and experience necessary to run an office like the ECSO. While I disagree with him on some fundamental positions, I think he’d probably make a decent Sheriff. My only concern would be that Morgan to me seems somewhat over-emotional and over-theatrical, but one could make the argument that such is the byproduct of a heated campaign. I think even McNesby’s supporters will concede that Morgan will do significantly better than he did in 2004.

Morgan is focusing, as are McNesby’s other challengers, on administration and budget issues. According to a “Frequently Asked Questions” pdf on Morgan’s website, the ECSO’s biggest current problem is the “culture within the Administration from which all the other problems can be traced back to. It is a culture of entitlement, spitefulness, and deceit. Not only within the department, but with their attitudes with the public they are sworn to serve.” Morgan’s website, and his almost daily television programs on BLAB, are informative but showcase his flair for the theatrical.

Put blunty: David Morgan is a better man for the job than Ron McNesby, but he is not the best man for the job.