For all of those who are interested in the upcoming sheriff race. I was asked to set up a town hall debate between John Skipper & Dennis Gough. This debate will be held on October 2,2008 @ the Homeland Park Volunteer Fire Department. The debate will begin promptly @ 6:00pm. This will NOT be a scripted debate anand all questions will come from the those who attend. This is open to all Anderson County residents.
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Sheriff Debate
Thank you for the information. Why don't they do it at the Library?
Vote Skipper.
Ummm, think the reason it ain't at the library is there's ALREADY a debate scheduled that day at the library........something about a Senator debate.
Also, there will probably be more than one debate and they try to do them at different locations - don't they? (WTH - are you still waiting?)
I guess you could say I am waiting on Nov 4th.
Vote John Skipper. 
They have multiple rooms at the library or they could use another library beyond Anderson maybe.
Why do I have to use the library? I am perfectly content using HP fire department. After all both agreed that the fire dept was a great place.Alos they already have a debate there.I really dont understand what the big deal is..
As a reminder, tonight at 6:00 pm, there will be a Sheriff candidate debate between John Skipper and Dennis Gough. Once again, this will be held at the HOMELAND PARK FIRE DEPARTMENT, not the Library ( due to conflicting debates for House seat). This debate is a non-scriped debate, meaning we will be taking questions directly from attendees. A more think-on-your-feet style and more likely to show ability to react to immmediate situations vs. a Palin rehearsed speech session.
We encourage those interested in your next Sheriff to come out and ask those questions we see on the blog or newspapers. It's open to all, even those wishing us ill-will. See you tonight at 6:00. Bring those questions!!!
Mr. Gough was asked about his statement a few weeks ago; which was "unionizing the sheriff's office using the Fraternal Order of Police here in Anderson County". He went stright into a speech about protecting deputies and their jobs until; he was advised by several in attendance that South Carolina is an At Will Work State and that a union does not have that kind of power.
Mr. Gough was very argumentative and often told people who were asking the questions that they were wrong...I am sorry, but I thought that Mr. Gough was the one who has only lived in this state for about 2 or 3 years.
All of his "ideas" are directly from his idol Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Quote from Mr. Gough was "If you like Joe Arpaio, you will like me". Even going so far as to show off an autographed pair of pink boxers he had in a frame. This is not Arizona, and he is no Joe Arpaio. Mr. Gough also had a board filled with lawsuits against Sheriff Joe and displayed it and referred to it as if it was something to be proud of.
Mr. Gough made the statement that he "has two lawyers ready to take them on" should he be found to be un-qualified to run for sheriff. This was just before he stated in answer to a question that he has not gone to the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy as required by South Carolina State law (Gough said this!) and then threaten to sue if he is found un-qualified. He also stated "We will take it to court and it wont cost me anything" (might not cost Mr. Gough anything, but we the tax payers would pay dearly...)
It seems; with that statement that he intends to follow his idols lead in becoming the most sued sheriff in the USA.
From Wikipedia
Several organizations such as the ACLU and Amnesty International have found that Arpaio's actions may be based less on a desire to serve the public and to lower crime, but more on demagoguery and grandstanding that does not serve the public welfare. Amnesty International issued a report critical of the treatment of inmates in Maricopa County facilities. The family members of inmates who have died in jail custody have filed lawsuits against the sheriff’s office. The lawsuits have cost Maricopa County more than $43 million in settlement claims during Arpaio's tenure.From 2004 through November 2007, Arpaio was the target of 2,150 lawsuits in U.S. District Court and hundreds more in Maricopa County courts; 50 times as many prison-conditions lawsuits as the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston jail systems combined.Arpaio is named in a class-action lawsuit, Hart v. Arpaio, brought by Phoenix attorney Debra Hill and the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of jail inmates. The lawsuit centers on the treatment of pretrial detainees, who are legally innocent until proven guilty. The lawsuit claims that Arpaio is violating the constitutional rights of those detainees. The trial in the lawsuit began on August 12, 2008.By mid-2007, more than $50 million in claims had been filed against the sheriff's office and Maricopa County.
Mr. Gough again and again stated that he and John agreed on this, agreed on that ect; and that if he was elected he was going to "hire John to run the aviation division as he is invaluable to law enforcement". For a few moments there, I almost forgot this was a debate between the two; as Gough was praising Skipper so!
Mr. Gough showed that he knows little about South Carolina State law and a lot about Sheriff Joe Arpaio and little else.
John Skipper was great. John Skipper has the experience and knowledge that Anderson County needs at the head of the sheriffs office. Mr. Skipper answered all the questions with confidence and had the facts to back up his response or stated that he would get that information to anyone who wanted it.
Vote John Skipper Nov. 4th !
When is the next debate you can't get entertainment like this everywhere
I like Gough's plan about district Posses's chasing down the bad guys. I even like the part where John Skipper swoops down in the helecopter and takes them off to the chain gang. At least let them watch GunSmoke Reruns with the Disney & Weather Channel. Where did this guy come from???????
Don’t quite know that for sure...Canada, Florida or Illinois? He sure aint from these parts!
I would like to say thank you to all who attended the debate last night. I was glad to see how many people showed up. I would also like to thank Mr. Skipper & Mr.Gough for allow me to set this up. I was finally glad to hear their views on how they would run the sheriffs dept.
Oh, for those who said HP was a bad place to have the debate, Not one person was shot,mugged or harmed in anyway.lol
You did a good job keeping the debate moving along Angelsc. The FOP topic and Mr. Goughs lack of understanding about it could have gotten a bit more heated; Nice move on your part to keep it civil.
Again... Nice job!
I wish it had been at a different date, because I had a conflict that was unavoidable. I hope to hear more from both of these candidates, and appreciate your work in making this debate possible, Angel!
Skipper is and has always been the clear choice. Gough is clueless. You can't do the tent city in our state or chain gangs. Maricopa County is a great idea. They are p-r-i-s-o-n-e-r-s , not guests of the state. Look at his repeat offenders numbers and see how well the program is working. Maricopa County, wish we could do that here. What do our troops live in? I don't see the ACLU or Amnesty Intl. looking into that as a human rights violation LOL
Thank you. I was excited about our turnout. I was a little concerned when the debate got a little loud over the FOP. I really hope I did not upset anyone by cutting them off.
Queen, I will check to see if any more debates are planned. I know when I was asked to do this I was told at that time there were no others planned.
I don’t think anyone was upset; Although I can't speak for Mr. Gough...it was becoming laughable as it was made very clear that Mr. Gough has absolutely no idea about South Carolina Law and what little he has looked at (i.e. Sheriffs qualifications’) he has utter contempt for. To spout off and say that you have two lawyers ready to sue is just plain sad. Mr. Gough had NO idea that a union has no power in this State and he wants to be the head of the county’s top LE agency. What a joke.
If (and that is a BIG If) Mr. Gough was to agree to another debate…I can assure you it would not be the same as the one you hosted. That Q/A directly from the people was great, but it sure can be nasty when you are as unprepared and uninformed as Mr. Gough was that night.
