The last couple of days I have been getting plaques, coins and certificates everywhere I go. I attend 24 meetings every week so I am well known in several circles over here and as I have given my final brief in many of these meetings I have been recognized. I don’t have photos of all of them; but here are a few:

From our SPO Huddle (SPO = Support Operations)

Battalion BUB (Battle Update Brief)

And this one is absolutely hilarious, but you will have to wait until I am off active duty for me to explain it; stay tuned, that is less than two weeks away

Those who really know me understand that I am a non-confrontational person; I don’t fear confrontation but I do try to avoid it when it is unnecessary. They also understand that I am not afraid to fight. The thing about fighting is I like to know who I am fighting. That is why I was annoyed as I read this submission this morning as I was heading to my first meeting:

A new comment on the post #432 “Thomlinson For Sheriff” is waiting for your approval
http://joelmaxwell.com/2008/01/08/thomlinson-for-sheriff/

Author : Anti-joel (IP: 75.116.15.2 , 75.116.15.2)
URL : http://www.greenecountymo.org
Whois : http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=75.116.15.2
Comment:
Hummmmm …. so what position has Thomlinson promised you IF he gets elected? I know your not doing this just out of kindness and I cant think of anything that you would be qualified for.

You were very under qualified as training officer - you screwed up a perfectly good training department. The only thing you knew about police work is what you read in books and “war stories” that other officers have told you.

Please do us a favor and make another attempt at a restaurant in Alaska or somewhere. Leave the politics and law enforcement to those who do know what they are talking about.

When I first read it I was hurt, thinking someone I used to work with had written this about me; however, after just some limited research, that is not the case. The person I am nearly certain wrote this I have never met. They don’t know me and to the best of my knowledge have never sat in a training event I instructed. They don’t live in Greene County and have no affiliation to the Sheriff’s Department that I am aware of. They do work at a Sheriff’s Department, which does lead me to draw a reasonable conclusion of why they want to comment here.

I only have about 500 readers on my blog, and the vast majority comes here to follow my story of financial recovery. That is why I am confused by people that hate me, yet still follow my blog religiously. No where on my blog will you find me spreading hate.

So Bill, can you tell me why you would leave such a comment and be too scared to put your name or your web site to it? I think anyone who follows my blog and read my post from Christmas Day knows what my future plans are; so yes my support for Gene is really out of kindness.

My replacement has been on the ground for two full days which is making my typical work day considerably longer as I do the data dump.  I have been looking forward to this time all year long and it is a bit surreal finding myself in this process.

In the Army when we do a handoff we have what we call a left seat and a right seat ride. If you imagine a car going down the highway, obviously the left seat is driving and the right seat is along for the ride. I am in the left seat for a few more days; I think I will be spending a lot of time at Green Beans when I switch to the right

I am glad that Chad posed the question of why he or anyone else should support Gene. The first thing that makes him the most qualified person is integrity. Having worked for him for five years and with him for another five, Gene will support you when you are right and come after you when you are not. Integrity is the most important issue for me in a qualified candidate.

The second reason is leadership experience. Since attending the Missouri State Highway Patrol Academy over 35 years ago Gene has had a leadership position in some capacity in law enforcement. Gene has lead and held together arguably the best reserve law enforcement program in the state for at least 27 years (I’m not yet an active part of his campaign, so I don’t have all the stats memorized, I am pretty sure it was longer than 27 years but I don’t want to exaggerate).  No agency I am aware of has been as dependent upon reserves as Greene County; and their success can be traced to Gene Thomlinson. He has long required reserves to have the same training as full timers and then additional monthly training on top of that. His experience in leading two organizations is unmatched.

Another factor as a former law enforcement officer that I consider heavily is who I would rather have backing me up on a call and who’s office I would rather be sitting in if a citizen had lodged a complaint against me. Having been on calls with all four candidates that have announced so far I can easily say I prefer to have Gene as my backup. As for sitting in someone’s office; I have sat in Gene’s and I know that I was always treated fairly and he has done the same for others.

Despite all those qualifications, the biggest factor in why I support Gene is because of his actions on and after 16 August 2000. When I was run over and hospitalized Gene immediately was there for Amy and me. He lived at the hospital with me until he himself was hospitalized and I had to come back and visit him. When I think back to that time in my life I really think about the people that took care of me and my family. Gene and Jack Merritt are at the top of the list; then there is Mike Penland and Kenny Weatherford that come to mind. There were so many others, but Gene and Jack went so far above and beyond what was required of them in order to help me and my family; because of that I will always support both of those men in any endeavor they undertake.

That is why you should support and vote for Gene Thomlinson for Sheriff of Greene County.