Ever since Calvin Woodard decided to run for Wilson County sheriff, he said there is no time to waste. "I've been campaigning now for over a year and a half," Woodard said. "First I had to run against Sheriff (Wayne) Gay in the primary. Then he said he would do whatever it takes to make sure I didn't walk into the office easily. Then Mr. Farmer jumps into the race. So it has been a busy time campaigning straight through with no time to slow down."
Woodard still works for the SBI. At 5 p.m. when he has finished his first job, he hits the road to campaign for what he hopes will be his next job. He also has to be a parent and husband, cut grass at his house and his parent's and his list goes on and on.
"My son just started middle school, so I call him on my drive home from work to see how his day went," Woodard said. "I catch up with my daughter and wife by phone, dash into the house to freshen up, and then head to my campaign headquarters."
Woodard said he has been going over the sheriff's budget and said there are lots of unanswered questions for him. "There are no line items," Woodard said. "We know how much is allocated in lump sums. But, for instance, how much are they spending to uniform a deputy? Is it the most cost efficient way? I asked for the line items from the budget and never got it."
He enjoys going out meeting Wilson residents, he said. Woodard said when his volunteers go out to put up signs, he likes to go, too. "I want to answer questions in person," Woodard said. "Everything the committee members do I've always made myself a part of. We sit down and talk about the issues. We're like a family. It is wonderful."
Woodard said he is looking forward to the upcoming Wilson Times-sponsored debate next month to let the public know he is not inexperienced but has 18 years in law enforcement. "My opponent constantly talks about me not having management skills and he is trying to pull himself away from the fact that he has no plans for the future of the sheriff's office," Woodard said. "His 100 day plan can be accomplished in a short period of time."
Woodard said he has supervised several major cases in multiple counties as an SBI agent. He said he has also worked drug investigations in several counties. Woodard said he sees his campaign as fighting for the people of Wilson to have the kind of sheriff who will be accessible to them, giving them the service and protection they need. "My fight is not with Johnny Farmer, my fight is for the people of Wilson County - that's where my fight lies, for the people," Woodard said. One of the issues Woodard said is close to his heart is helping young children see that drug and gang activity is not the way.
"One way that will be important is to take the time to talk to children when you see them in casual situations," Woodard said. "When they see you care, they will start to talk with you. That is the chance then to further teach them to avoid negative things." Woodard said during the primary he began talking about GREAT (Gang Resistance Education And Training program) coming to Wilson. Woodard said that program not only trains the law enforcement officers, but also empowers parents to recognize when their children are beginning to participate in gangs.
Woodard said he also wants a juvenile awareness program similar to the Scared Straight program that began in the 1970s. "We have the space and it won't cost the taxpayers any money," Woodard said.
It seems that Woodard's campaign is turning some non-voters into voters. Archie Bryant of Elm City said he has never voted before until this year. "I never had a reason to vote, but I have a reason now to vote," Bryant said. "We need a change. There are many other people like me who never voted. I run a car repair shop and there are other people who have never voted. I plan to have registration forms in my shop to register people to vote."
Bryant just happened to see Woodard and some of his volunteers at Walter Blackwell's home putting up a sign. Blackwell asked to have a large sign for his yard. "I think a change is needed in the sheriff's office," Blackwell said. "That change will help everybody. We need somebody who is interested in getting the drugs out of Wilson County."
* Article and photo appeared in the Wilson Times written by Janet Conner-Knox staff repoter. Click here to follow the comments.
4 comments:
If Mr. Woodard really wants to fix things in Wilson County if elected he should start in house. How can any Sheriff have faith and pride in a department when his detectives are having sexual enconters in the detectives building instead of doing thier job. I not sure but I dont believe having sex on the clock is in their job description or benifits package. Whether it is Mr. Woodard or Mr. Farmer who wins, neither can clean up the county till the clean up their own house. If I were Mr. J T Bass, or those who covered it up (Baily, Farmer) I would be sweating a little right now. I do not think Mr. Woodard if elected will just ignore this. He cannot afford to. We all know he and Mr. Farmer have read the stories, even the reporter for the Wilson Newspaper made reference to it. Their is no way either candidate can say they haven't heard about it. What they do when elected is another story. The correct thing to do and earn a little confidence is to investigate and find out the truth. I have heard there is proof of what happened. All one who wanted to know the truth is start a doing a little digging. This is too big a deal, there are too many people who know about it, and somebody will be willing to talk if asked. Are you listening Mr. Woodard? Mr Farmer? Are you sweating Mr. Bass? We need to clean up our Sheriff's Office and make it something we can be proud of. We needan audit of the books, find out how the money has been spent. We need to invesitgated these personel incidents. No matter who wins, the first order of bussiness should be to clean up the Sheriff's Department befroe they try to clean up the county. Right now the WCSD is viewed as as disgaceful joke. We know their are a lot of men and women who put thier lives on the line every day, and do an outstanding job. Nut until Gay is gone, and the Bass thing investigated, and money accounted for not very many people will respect the office. Mr Woodard I personally will vote for you, I hope you are listening to the people who spoke when they voted for you over GAY. We hope you are reading these things. We knoow a lot of what you do will be things we can't know about. But you want to impress the county? Then clean up the dpartment, hold people accountable. If detective were having sex instead of doing thier job do you really want to keep them? The NCHP has had some issues recently. But they gained back a lot of respect they lost by the actions of their offiers by the way they held them accountable for their actions. We understand the department cannot control all the things its employees do. We demand though, that they be held accountable for those actions. Other compannies and law enforcement agiencies do, why do we not?
To Anonymous, We,the Citizens of Wilson NC who are voting for Calvin Woodard for Sheriff are confident Mr. Woodard has his plan of action in order and will implement it efficently and effectively to begin the process of bringing justice and integrity back to the WCSO. We appreciate your concern and should you have any further matters you would like to discuss please feel free to contact the WCSO after Calvin Woodard has become the new sheriff...Until such time please be sure to cast your vote for the candidate of your choice and have a nice day.
I have read all the storeis the last couple of months about things going on in the WCSO. I have heard the book keeping on how money was spent is horrible. We have heard f things dissappearing, and a detctive using the detective building as his own personal no tell motel. If Mr. Woodard wins, I sincerely hope that these things are looked into. There should be a paper trail fro the books you just have to look. If things are missing, back track to the last person responsible for the items. As far as the shinaigans going on in the detective's building, sound ery similar (except WORSE) than what happened with the NCHP office few months back. They proved you can find the infrmation if you want too. Emails, text, phone records all leave paper trails. But someone has to be interested in looking. If we have employees having sex on the job in that building I would like SOMEONE, ANYONE to explain on here why they still have a job. And if Mr. Wooodard does not look into this and fix it, then he will be no better than what we have had in the last 28 years. I intend to vote for Mr. Woodard. I hope he doesn't et me and Wilson down.
Giving Woodard the opportunity to get the position first... should be the focus right now. All else will have its perfect turn. We can't plan his itinerary as Sheriff for him or his agenda. As citizens we can voice our concerns and look for results in a timely manner. Comments such as he's no better than the present administration if he does not do what we think he ought to do in our timeframe is disingenuous. Let's let him figure out what things are and are not priority first. He ran his campaign on integrity, honesty and transparency. We believe he will do what he said he would do. Regardless of the timeframe of what you want or I want. Give him a chance to get in the door first. Patience is required.
Post a Comment