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Bright: "I’m the man for the job"
By Billy Davis
Hugh "Shot" Bright capped a 22-year career as a Panola County jailer when he finished second in the November 8 sheriff’s race.
Bright, the jail administrator, pulled in 1,732 unofficial votes in a crowded field of 11 sheriff’s candidates.
Bright, 46, will be on the ballot alongside the first-place finisher, Craig Sheley, 37, when voters return to the polls next Tuesday to elect a sheriff.
A week before the runoff, Bright spoke to The Panolian about his plans as Panola County sheriff and why voters should return to the polls Tuesday and cast a ballot for him.
| Q. |
Why do you believe you did so well in the election, coming in second in a crowded field of 11 candidates? |
| A. |
We’ve got a lot of good people in Panola County.
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| Q. |
Can you explain a little bit more what you mean by that? |
| A. |
Panola County just has a lot of people who understand and know what we need.
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| Q. |
In a sheriff, you mean? |
| A. |
Yes, in a sheriff.
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| Q. |
On the other hand, lots of good people – about 5,200 Panola voters – split their votes among the so-called "outsiders" instead of voting for you, Chief Deputy Craig Sheley or investigator Mark Whitten. |
| A. |
Everybody was voting for the man they wanted elected. That’s the way it’s going to be now. They’re going to vote for the man they want elected.
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| Q. |
Since the eight outsiders didn’t win, how are you encouraging their voters to come out and cast a ballot for you Tuesday instead of staying home? |
| A. |
I just want them to come out and vote and vote for me as their sheriff. That’s all I ask. That’s all you can ask.
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| Q. |
Do you have any backing from the other nine sheriff’s candidates? |
| A. |
I’m hoping every one of them will back me. I’m hoping every one of them will vote for me.
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| Q. |
But have any of them told you they’ll back you for sheriff? Do you have their support? |
| A. |
I don’t want them to back me. I want them to vote for me.
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| Q. |
Are they calling their supporters and asking them to vote for you? |
| A. |
They’re not going to come out and endorse anybody. They haven’t told me that. I just asked for their vote and support, and said if they can change anybody’s mind I would appreciate it
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| Q. |
Why do you feel they would back you as sheriff? |
| A. |
Without hurting anybody’s feelings, they think I’m the best man for the job. I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, anybody’s kids or anything like that. I just want the county to move forward and be a safe and better place to live. And I think they’re going to support me because of that reason.
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| Q. |
At the Saturday sheriff’s rallies you participated in, your speeches to the voters seemed short with few details about your plans for the sheriff’s department. With the election just days away, can you now be more specific about your plans for the department? |
| A. |
Short and sweet and straight to the point: we’re going to do a job and we’re going to do it right. |
| Q. |
Considering the next sheriff will take office immediately, do you have any short-term goals that Panola Countians will see developing in the days and weeks ahead? |
| A. |
They will see a quick response, a quick difference, in vehicles in their community, some smiling faces, politer deputies to help if they can help anybody anytime.
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| Q. |
Panola voters might be nervous about the election following the investigation this summer into illegal use of inmate labor at the Panola County jail, especially since the attorney general’s office has yet to make public its findings of the investigation. If you’re elected sheriff, should voters be concerned that you will be implicated for any wrongdoing as part of the investigation? |
| A. |
There’s no investigation. There’s no wrongdoing. If there’s any wrongdoing, the wrongdoing has been going on for 30 years. Like I told you before, I had a boss and I was told what to do.
There’s no investigation. It was a political move. That’s all it was.
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| Q. |
Let me help you clarify that if you want to. Are you saying there is no investigation now or that there was no investigation at all? |
| A. |
I don’t think there was any investigation at all after they saw what was going on – after they saw that there was a sheriff’s race here.
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| Q. |
The next sheriff should obviously be a strong leader if he wants to succeed in office. Describe the leadership you’ve demonstrated in your job as jail administrator. |
| A. |
We had the best jail in the state of Mississippi and we’ll have the best sheriff’s department in the state of Mississippi if I’m elected sheriff.
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| Q. |
What did you do as jail administrator to make it the best jail in Mississippi? |
| A. |
I took care of people, took care of the taxpayers’ dollars of Panola County, worked inmates to save money for Panola County.
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| Q. |
In a comparison of you and Craig Sheley, your strength seems to be a background in administrative skills but you lack experience in patrolling, investigating crimes and a familiarity with the court system.
Why shouldn’t your lack of law enforcement experience affect voters’ opinions of your qualifications for sheriff? |
| A. |
Being sheriff has got more to do with common sense than it does anything. You hire good, educated people. A sheriff’s job is administrative. You don’t have the gun-toting sheriff anymore. It’s administrative, and that would be my job.
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| Q. |
Are you saying you do or do not plan to carry a firearm? |
| A. |
I don’t know if I will or not. I never have in 23 years so why start now?
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| Q. |
Isn’t a sheriff similar to a police chief? You don’t usually see a police chief without a sidearm. |
| A. |
That’s right. But it’s left up to the sheriff.
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| Q. |
If elected sheriff, do you plan to be certified as a law enforcement officer? |
| A. |
I do.
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| Q. |
Which entails what – the police academy? |
| A. |
Going to the academy.
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| Q. |
Help finish this statement: when voters go to the polls Tuesday and look at your name and look at Craig Sheley’s name on the ballot, they should ask themselves…what? |
| A. |
I think they’re going to have their mind made up when they go to the polls. I think each voter, when he goes into that box, has his mind made up.
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| Q. |
Why do you think the voters would have their minds made up in favor of you? |
| A. |
Because I’m the man for the job.
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| Gun season is here (woo-hoo!) |
| By Billy Davis
Hauling a hunting rifle and strong coffee, deer hunters will head to the woods by the truckload this weekend in search of that elusive trophy buck.
The state’s deer population is estimated at 1.5 to 2 million, and an estimated 250,000 Mississippians will start hunting those deer Saturday, the opening day of gun season.
"It looks like it’s going to be a really good season for deer hunters,"said William McKinley, lead deer biologist for the Miss. Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP).
McKinley said the state’s deer population is flourishing in the north half of the state, where deer herds are overpopulated in many areas.
Closer to home, the deer biologist said he travelled to a hunting club in north Panola County last week to assist hunters with their deer management program.
"Their buck program was good because they’re taking only mature, high-quality bucks," McKinley said, "but the population of antlerless deer was extremely overpopulated."
Hunters should be encouraged to take does during the season, he said, since a thinning of the doe herd encourages them to have more fawns.
"If the does become overpopulated, they will stop having fawns, so if you shoot more does, you will have more bucks," McKinley said.
The season limit in Mississippi is three bucks and three does, though two additional does can be taken by archery.
The beginning of deer season also brings out the poachers, who often shoot at deer from their vehicles with no regard for laws, safety or hunting ethics.
"They’re already out there. They start when the first cold spell hits," said MDWFP conservation supervisor Bruce Jenkins, who oversees wildlife law enforcement in Panola, Lafayette, Benton and Marshall counties.
The punishment for poaching is a minimum $2,000 fine, the loss of hunting privileges for three years, and the confiscation of the weapon.
To report a poacher, Jenkins suggested calling the Panola County Sheriff’s Department at 563-6230. The sheriff’s dispatcher will radio the message to a conservation officer, he said.
Jenkins said conservation officers will be on the lookout for hunters’ safety this season, ensuring hunters are wearing a minimum 500 square inches of the traditional blaze orange.
Hunters can remove their orange once they’re inside an enclosed deer stand, Jenkins said, but must wear it while outside the structure.
Hunters ages 16-64 are required to have a hunting license and keep it with them while on the hunt.
Regarding opening day of deer season, McKinley said the introduction of cold weather this week means deer should be moving Saturday morning.
"We also got a lot of rain this week, and that’s good for food plots, which have been dry across the state," McKinley said. "You could see the food plots doing really well at the peak of deer season."
McKinley said the second week in December is the typical start of the rut in Panola County.
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| Parade set for Dec. 6 |
| The Batesville Christmas Parade is scheduled for Tuesday, December 6. This year’s theme is "Home for Christmas."
Those interested in entering should contact the Lions Club at 563-4689 for details and registration.
Beginning at 6:30 that evening, the parade will assemble at the usual spot on Watt Street before heading for the Downtown Square.
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| Hospital sale |
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A hint of a grin can be detected on faces of city and county officials as they move toward the climax of the sale of Tri-Lakes Medical Center to Physicians and Surgeons Hospital Group. USDA Rural Development State Director Nick Walters will join these and other officials today to commemorate a loan guarantee of $27.3 million at 10 a.m. at the conference room of the hospital.
Local officials representing the City of Batesville and Panola County’s ownership signing documents on Tuesday include: (from left) Robert Avant, Bill McKenzie, Colmon Mitchell, Jerry Autrey, Laura Herron and Jerry Perkins.
Panolian photo by Rupert Howell
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Sheley: experience matters to voters
By Billy Davis
Whether they were friend or foe, observers of the November 8 sheriff’s election expected candidate Craig Sheley to finish well in a field crowded with 11 candidates.
Few of Sheley’s opponents were surprised, then, after the department’s chief deputy finished first, pulling in 1,991 unofficial votes and advancing to the November 22 runoff.
Sheley, 37, will be on the ballot alongside the second-place finisher, Hugh "Shot" Bright, 46, when voters return to the polls to elect a sheriff.
Barely a week before the runoff, Sheley spoke to The Panolian about his plans as Panola County sheriff and why voters should return to the polls Tuesday and cast a ballot for him.
| Q. |
Why do you believe you did so well in the election, coming in first in a tight race of 11 candidates? |
| A. |
I feel like the sheriff’s department provides the county with quality law enforcement, and I feel like I have provided the county with quality law enforcement, too.
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| Q. |
In other words, it was a vote of confidence from the public that all in all they’re happy with the sheriff’s department? |
| A. |
Not necessarily "all in all." I just think that the people have the confidence that I have done the job in the past and will continue to do it, and that I’m qualified to do it.
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| Q. |
Going into Tuesday’s runoff, do you feel you have the momentum behind you coming out of the November 8 election? |
| A. |
I feel like I have momentum but not necessarily as a result of the November 8 election. I feel I have momentum from the work I’m doing for the November 22 election – trying to see as many people as I can and talk to as many people as I can, and let them know that I want the job and will be there for them.
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| Q. |
Do you expect the election results will be close? |
| A. |
I have no idea.
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| Q. |
On the topic of your first-place finish, about 5,200 Panola voters – about 60 percent that voted – split their votes among the so-called "outsiders" instead of voting for you, jail administrator Shot Bright or investigator Mark Whitten.
Since their candidate didn’t win, how do you encourage those voters to come out and cast a ballot for you instead of staying home Tuesday? |
| A. |
Every vote counts, and they need to have their voice heard. This runoff election is part of our democratic process, the general election and then the runoff. I’m not upset or mad at how anyone voted in the first (election), and I hope no one else is. I’m pleased with the way things have gone and hope I’m pleased with them on November 22.
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| Q. |
Do you have any backing from the other nine sheriff’s candidates going into the runoff? |
| A. |
I have spoken with some of them and asked them for their vote.
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| Q. |
Why do you feel like they would back you? |
| A. |
I hope that anybody backs me because I’m the most qualified and feel like I’m capable of providing the county with the quality law enforcement it needs and deserves.
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| Q. |
At the Saturday rallies you participated in, when you spoke, you told voters that a laundry list of promises was easy to talk about but hard to put into practice. Is that an accurate way of describing what you were telling the voters? |
| A. |
What I was trying to say is that it’s a lot easier to be on the outside and say what you’re going to do. If you’re on the outside and do not know how many or what type of resources you
have – a lot of people assume that we have a certain amount of resources or an unlimited amount of resources, when in reality we don’t.
With me being at the sheriff’s department and being more involved in the last couple of years with the budget, I was well aware of what type of resources are available. I just know not necessarily that things can’t be done but that they won’t be as easily done as some of the others thought they would be.
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| Q. |
Would you agree, however, that the debate on the campaign trail was helpful in discussing some pressing issues. Even if the other candidates didn’t win, they were talking about issues the voters were concerned about – fighting drugs, more manpower, for example. |
| A. |
I was well aware of all of these needs. The only way that I think it was more helpful was that it brought to light some issues so that maybe the powers-that-be who control things more than me –
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| Q. |
You mean the county supervisors? |
| A. |
(Nods). They can realize there’s an issue there.
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| Q. |
Considering the next sheriff will take office immediately, do you have any short-term goals as sheriff that Panola Countians will see developing in the days and weeks ahead? |
| A. |
The complaint that I’ve heard the most recently, which bothered me the most, was that someone called the sheriff’s department and was greeted with a less-than-helpful attitude.
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| Q. |
You’re saying that’s something you heard that you consider a legitimate complaint, that you would address if elected sheriff. |
| A. |
Immediately.
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| Q. |
Panola voters might be nervous about the election following the investigation this summer into illegal use of inmate labor at the Panola County jail, especially since the attorney general’s office has yet to make public its findings of the investigation. If you’re elected sheriff, should voters be concerned that you will be implicated for any wrongdoing as part of the investigation? |
| A. |
Absolutely not.
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| Q. |
The next sheriff should obviously be a strong leader if he wants to succeed in office. Describe the leadership you’ve demonstrated in your job as chief deputy? |
| A. |
I started out in law enforcement as a patrolman and made the rank of sergeant. I went to special agent with the drug task force, went from special agent to deputy, from deputy to chief investigator, and went from chief investigator to chief deputy.
I’m not going to ask anyone who works for me to do anything that I wouldn’t do. And if they need my help doing whatever I ask them to do, then I’m going to be there for them to either help them or show them what needs to be done. I want to provide them with the resources to do the job and do the job well.
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| Q. |
Can you give a specific example of when you stepped in and showed some leadership? |
| A. |
I like to think that I step in everyday and show leadership. Something that comes to mind right now was the time I investigated a homicide on July 23, the day of my birthday. I was called about six o’clock that morning, left my house, went out and worked this homicide and got back about midnight or one o’clock that morning.
That’s the kind of ideal of leadership – you do whatever the job asks you to do no matter what it is.
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| Q. |
You obviously have more experience in law enforcement than Shot Bright, such as patrolling and investigating crimes, but he is also experienced in overseeing people as jail administrator. Is that a weakness in your resume – overseeing personnel – and a strength for Shot? |
| A. |
I’ve been in a supervisory position since I was promoted to the rank of sergeant. I was chief investigator in a supervisory position and chief deputy in a supervisory position.
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| Q. |
In other words, your answer would be that you have the law enforcement experience plus the experience of overseeing others? |
| A. |
Correct. When I attended the FBI Academy, that’s what it was geared toward – administration.
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| Q. |
Help finish this statement: when voters go to the polls Tuesday and look at your name and look at Shot Bright’s name on the ballot, they should ask themselves…what? |
| A. |
Who has the experience, the education, the qualifications, the capability and the integrity?
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| Holiday hunt begins Sunday with chilly weather, annual Open House |
| By Jason C. Mattox
When the Holiday Open House officially begins the local shopping season Sunday from 1-5 p.m., most merchants are counting on one thing more than any other to drive sales: cold weather.
Linda Goodnight, owner of The Candle and Gift Shoppe, said past experiences have shown her what an impact weather can make on the Christmas shopping crowd.
"The overall turnout for the open house will depend a lot on the weather," she said.
Kay Nickle of Kay’s Gifts agrees with Goodnight’s statement.
"When the weather isn’t cold, people don’t want to get out and start their Christmas shopping," she said. "There is something about cold weather that puts shoppers in the mood for yule tide gift grabbing.
If the assumption of Nickle, Goodnight and several other merchants is true, they should see a good start to their holiday sales.
Weather.com forecasts a high temperature of 59 degrees on Sunday.
"I expect the cold weather everyone is predicting is going to help the turnout a lot," Stubbs Department Store manager Teddy Morrow said.
In addition to the cold weather, merchants expect the family atmosphere to bring in a good crowd.
"I really look forward to it because you see people out for the day with their entire family looking for that perfect ornament or gift," Nickle said. "We always have families that come in to find just the right thing to get them in the Christmas spirit.
"To me, that’s what the Holiday Open House does for everyone involved? it gets them all in the Christmas spirit," she added.
"There are already some people who are doing their Christmas shopping," Goodnight said. "But I really expect that sales will pick up during and after the open house."
Mike Carver, owner of Eureka Antiques, is doing his part to give families a reason to come out and celebrate the holiday season.
"We are going to have Santa Claus on hand to welcome the people who are taking in the open house," he said. "Santa will be there for pictures, which will be taken by his good friend Malcolm Morehead of Morehead Photography."
Carver said he understands there isn’t a lot for families to do together anymore, which makes this event special.
"The Holiday Open House gives people the chance to get together with their friends and family and do some browsing, shop or just spend time together enjoying what will be going on," he said.
As for entertainment, the Dickens Carollers from Northwest Mississippi Community College will be performing.
"The Dickens Carollers are always a favorite for people at the open house," Batesville Main Street Manager Colleen Clark said.
Retailers throughout Batesville are hoping the open house will signal the start of a good holiday shopping season.
"This year, I expect people to do a lot of their shopping locally," Goodnight said. "People are not going to want to go out of town as much with gas prices where they are now."
Morrow echoed that sentiment, but added that he knew people would still shop away from home.
"You are going to have people that will make those trips out of town for certain items, but where they used to make four or five trips a year, they might not make but two or three," he said. "That should really be a good thing for the local shops.
"The only thing that might help make the sales better is if all of the stores would open up and make this a really big start to the season," he said. "I understand why some stores don’t do it, but it has been worth it for us."
Goodnight said her store has also seen the benefits of the extra hours.
"All of the years we participate in the open house have been really good," she said. "We get a lot of people who are ‘just looking,’ but most of the time they come back."
"All in all, this is going to be a fun time for everyone, and a good time for business," Nickle added.
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