Is Jon Thomas Wallis a Stalker?

Earlier this week we published a blog concerning Jon Thomas Wallis; Wallis was recently arrested and charged with the attempted murder of his wife Tania Marie. At that time Florence Police noted the 31 year-old Wallis had previously been charged with stalking--he also has pending drug trafficking charges.

A friend of Wallis has asked us to look further into the events leading up to the shooting of Tania Wallis. This friend, who was out of the country at the time of Wallis' stalking arrest, also seemed to believe Wallis had been found not guilty of these charges. So, just what is the truth surrounding the two events? We certainly don't have the entire story on either charge, but we can fill in some of the blanks for Wallis' friend.

Early on Monday morning September 7, 2009, Wallis was in a Florence bar where he had a documented altercation with another man. During the next few days, Wallis was accused of attempting to find the man, threatening two separate individuals, and going so far as to break into a mutual friend's home to find information on the man's whereabouts.

Florence Police arrested Jon Thomas Wallis for stalking, making terrorist threats, and burglary. Was he found not guilty? No, it seems for whatever reason, a grand jury did not indict Wallis. According to legal sources, the grand jury could have considered that all testimony came from friends of the alleged victim, or that possibly the investigating officer was unable to testify for whatever reason. This in itself proves Wallis neither innocent nor guilty.

What of Wallis' wife? According to a local paramedic, even though Mrs. Wallis sustained severe head injuries, the weather on April 27th prevented her being transported to the NICU at Huntsville Hospital. After treatment at ECM, Mrs. Wallis is apparently improving rapidly. The same source feels she has probably already spoken with Florence Police concerning the shooting.

We certainly feel for Wallis' friend in this situation, but our first concern here has always been and always will be the brutal violence against the innocent. If Wallis himself is innocent in this crime, we hope he is cleared of all charges.

*****

We have been informed that one EEOC complaint against Lauderdale County Sheriff Ronnie Willis is pending. The complainant will likely charge age discrimination. We know neither the name nor the age of the employee filing the charges, but Willis' new administrative assistant Nancy Sartain is said to be 42. A Rogersville resident, Mrs. Sartain had been with the Lauderdale Sheriff's office less than one year when she was hired earlier this month to replace the retiring Betty Hooks.



Shoalanda

Talking Turkey About Sheriff Ronnie Willis

Since before the last election, we've received several, indeed many, communications concerning Lauderdale County Sheriff Ronnie Willis. Obviously no elected official will please his entire constituency, but complaints seem to be escalating against Willis and what many deem his unfair and illegal hiring practices.

Long time office manager/administrative assistant Betty Hooks has just retired from the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office, as have one or two others. Sheriff Willis apparently has complete control over whom is employed to replace Ms. Hooks. Nancy Sartain, someone the good sheriff finds more vocationally attractive than other more experienced applicants, has been chosen.

While we're sure Mrs. Sartain has many good points, apparently college courses are not part of them. Until her appointment as office manager, Sartain was a part time employee with only a standing of one year. Sartain was hired by the LCSO as a clerk in the summer of 2010.

Three other applicants had over four years experience, but not all have continual experience with the LCSO. One has been with the LCSO approximately 10 years, another about six, and the third about four years. One of the three has a total of over 20 years experience working in various law enforcement and judicial clerk positions. In all, many applicants were more qualified to fill the vacancy left by Ms. Hooks' retirement. Nancy Sartain has the least experience of any applicant.

Will the scorned applicant(s) file a discrimination suit? We understand that this is still undecided. Will Nancy Sartain make a competent office manager? Many who have no official degrees have the intelligence and determination to make excellent employees--so until her probationary period of 90 days ends, we'll contend that judgment should be reserved until that time.

We will say that many in power in well run companies and agencies place personal opinion aside when hiring. It should not be a popularity contest, but a decision based on who will perform best in a very critical position.

Related post: Qualifications for Ronnie Willis' Administrative Assistant

*****

We've received two e-mails from Derek Logue, a former Sheffield resident who calls himself a sex offender advocate. Logue now resides in Cincinnati where he continues to spout his rhetoric of misunderstood child molesters. One of his emails to us was a link to his blog in which he compares himself to Charlie Sheen. We'll leave our reading audience free to make their own jokes about that.

The second email arrived via an Internet service that immediately deletes the content once it has been read. Apparently Logue has never heard of a snipping tool--he may be Charlie Sheen, but he's obviously not Bill Gates. In this correspondence Logue states he's only sorry that the recent tornadoes didn't destroy all the Shoals. We won't publish the entire contents of the email here since it contains some dubious language, but we will certainly retain it and be happy to send it to anyone having legal issues with Derek Logue.

Yes, sex offender laws need to be reformed--they need to be strengthened.



Shoalanda

Qualifications for Ronnie Willis' Administrative Assistant

Like other words in the English language, job titles morph and evolve. Some use the term "administrative assistant" to denote a secretary or even the more mundane stenographer, if there should be any of the former left.

Yesterday we commented on the opening for a new administrative assistant to Lauderdale County Sheriff Ronnie Willis. Ideally, what should Willis be looking for? Here's a good example:

• More than five years of extensive experience.
• Strong ability to lead and train staff.
• Excellent ability to gather and analyze statistical data and generate reports.
• Profound database management skills.
• Great knowledge of general accounting principles.
• Remarkable ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Complete knowledge of supplies, equipments and services ordering and inventory control.
• Exceptional record maintenance skills.
• Excellent ability to solve problems.
• In-depth receptionist skills.
• Deep ability to compile information and prepare reports.
• Excellent coordinating skills.
• Immense ability to schedule appointments and maintain calendars.
• Profound ability to transcribe and record meeting minutes.
• Remarkable word processing and data entry skills.
• Excellent ability to make administrative/procedural decisions and judgments.
• Strong ability to compose and edit already written materials.

Now we know that cash-strapped departments can't always hire the best, and that is indeed unfortunate. We hope that Lauderdale Sheriff Ronnie Willis will highly publicize this opening and make an informed decision when hiring Betty Hooks' successor. We also hope the county commission will assist Willis in this matter. Good luck to all applicants.

*****

Worth listening to again:





Shoalanda