Phil Andrews' Policy Statement/Shannon Oliver

We received this from Mr. Phil Andrews, Republican candidate for Colbert County Sheriff:

I understand you might have questions about my platform. For over 2 years I have talked to my friends, family, supporters, and anyone that is interested in the future of our great county.  We have been door to door and at every possible event passing out 20,000 cards with my experience and platform. I purpose to live my life with integrity, honesty, and commitment to my family. My wife of over 27 years, Tracy, and I have 2 children, and I am a lifelong resident of Colbert County

I have first hand knowledge of writing and managing budgets as a small business owner/operator of Alabama Metal Duplications. In addition to having financial experience, my time as a small business owner has given me the opportunity to manage nearly 100 employees that have worked for my business over the course of 29 years. Through this overseeing of employees, I have learned the importance of working alongside others to find out what their needs are, so that they are better able and motivated to do their job. I believe each deputy and employee deserves the respect and opportunity to advance their careers. In order to boost morale in the department, I will implement shift schedule changes to enable deputies to have more weekends off, additional education time to better train employees, and family time.

As Sheriff, my qualifications will benefit this County. I have qualified and been certified in: Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center, NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, Sniper Marksmanship, Regional Counterdrug Training Academy,  Tactical Operator, MSPD TACT Team, Police Motorcycle Course/MSPD Motor Unit. I’m especially proud of my NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor status, as I am a staunch supporter of our 2nd Amendment Rights. 

As Sheriff, I will work with commissioners to write a budget for the Sheriff’s office to provide adequate training and equipment for the employees. If there are grants available, I will work to find the matching money to get those grants. Any good Sheriff would do that.

As Sheriff, I also plan to attend every County Commissioner meeting; however, I will only have one voice in these meetings to make changes. As such, the Sheriff does not have the authority to take over any agency such as Animal Control or the Drug Task Force. However, as Sheriff I will work closely with Animal Control and the Drug Task Force to ensure they have the training, facilities, and equipment they need in order to provide safe and humane treatment for animals, as well as keep our schools and communities safe and drug free.

I respect the citizens of Colbert County in that I will not mislead them with ads or claims of experience that I do not have. I will not make false promises of Grants that may not be available. Churches will not be a campaign stomping ground for me, nor my family. I believe in the sanctity of worship, free of politics. For each and every agency to operate at its fullest potential, requires mutual respect between all governing bodies. There will be the highest level of support for all agencies from me. Every agency is important. It’s vitally important to have a Sheriff that has a broad knowledge base, experience, and qualifications in multi-tasking and teamwork, which I have.

As I ask the people for their support and vote, they can trust me to deliver HONEST LEADERSHIP.

I will respect separation of government offices and responsibilities of each of those offices. 

The Sheriff has a huge job to do. Not to run the county, but to work with each and every agency to protect and serve. I have been in law enforcement for 13 years (10 years as a certified officer, 3 years as a reserve officer), and it is not just a job to me; it is my passion.

I have one agenda, and that is to work for a safer community with every resource available.

Lastly, I will not hide behind phantom ghost writers in social media smear campaigns. I believe in honest and straight forward means of communications and do not condone negative publications.

We're happy to publish this and have another topic on which Mr. Andrews will comment later, when we can ascertain his permission to post.

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Mr. Andrews poses an interesting question; he says the sheriff cannot take over the governing of the animal control department. We realize he may have meant this as a general statement, as in referring to a coup type situation, but the Florence-Lauderdale animal control department resides under the jurisdiction of the Florence Police Department. We are aware of several cities in Alabama which have such an arrangement. Let's put some teeth in animal control!

Why? How about this if you haven't already seen it:

Muscle Shoals Man Starves Mother Dog & Puppies

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We haven't said much about the race for sheriff in Franklin County. Four years ago, we endorsed Shannon Oliver's opponent. During his four years in office, Mr. Oliver has done what we consider to be an excellent job. Considering the e-mail we receive about Lauderdale, and to a substantially lesser extent Colbert, we feel this shows that Shannon has been all he promised to be. Let's not get rid of a good thing.

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Shoalanda