Although it’s been common knowledge around Washington County for weeks, Craig Ford made his official campaign announcement for sheriff Thursday, and he came out of the gate swinging.
Ford, who serves as town operations manager for Jonesborough and as the executive officer for the town’s police, fire and communications departments, will challenge Sheriff Ed Graybeal in the May Republican primary.
Ford gave an announcement speech at the Jonesborough Visitors Center to more than 160 supporters, pledging to “restore trust” to the sheriff’s office and eliminate “lengthy response times and unanswered phone calls.”
He also said the sheriff’s office’s “current leadership’s performance is unacceptable,” citing five inmate deaths at the jail last year, slow response times, numerous TBI investigations, high employee turnover, nepotism and chronic leadership absenteeism.
Ford is no stranger to the sheriff’s office. He worked there in the 1980s and 1990s under two sheriffs — Ron England and Fred Phillips — prior to being named the first public safety director for Jonesborough in 1999.
During his speech Thursday, Ford used phrases like “new sheriff,” “prepared to protect” and “professionally trained” to define his reasons for running.
“There is too much falling through the cracks in Washington County law enforcement,” he said. “Homes need to be better protected. Tennessee has an outrageous number of meth labs, and Washington County has an unacceptable percentage of that share. Meth and illegal pills are getting into the hands of too many of our youth.”
Ford said there is “rampant nepotism” and high absenteeism in the sheriff’s office that he intends to eliminate if elected.
“I am prepared to protect Washington County because I have the leadership and management experience to run this department properly. I am prepared to protect your tax dollars,” he said.
When he worked at the sheriff’s office, Ford said he wrote many grants to fund the hiring of new officers, implement substance abuse treatment in the jail and hire the county’s first two school resource officers, which saved the county thousands of dollars.
“Our current sheriff neglected the school resource officer program until it became a crisis,” Ford said in a direct attack on the incumbent candidate. “What’s more, he didn’t even bother to request a grant that would have saved the taxpayers of Washington County $500,000.”
He said other agencies did apply for the grant and received the award.
“I am running to restore trust,” Ford said. “We may not be able to fix Washington, D.C., but we can fix Washington County and make it an even better, safer community; the place we all want to live and raise our families.”
He also sent a message to employees at the sheriff’s office who “dutifully show up to work every day — I will too, and help is on the way.”
Ford began his emergency services career as a volunteer with the Johnson City/Washington County Rescue Squad in the early 1980s, then started working at the sheriff’s office from 1985 until 1991. At that point Ford went to work as an officer at the Jonesborough Police Department until 1994, when newly-elected sheriff Fred Phillips appointed him chief deputy, then later was named assistant to the sheriff until he resigned in 1999.
Some of Ford’s supporters who were at the announcement Thursday include District Attorney General Tony Clark, Assistant District Attorney General Dennis Brooks and two former Johnson City police chiefs, Ron Street and John Lowry.
Like other candidates in the upcoming election, Ford has launched part of his campaign through social media. His Facebook profile is http://on.fb.me/1atJlLw.
Ford lives in Jonesborough with his wife, Benita, and their son, Aaron.
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