My favorite part of the political campaigns, are the campaign promises. The reason being that there is always somebody around that remembers what was said, even if it’s only the media. No matter how big or small the election, somebody always remembers. So, in order to make a campaign promise, you have to take a stand.

Where the Richmond County Sheriff’s race is concerned, my hands down favorite campaign promise has come from Eddie Martin. He said, “He’d have the S.B.I (State Bureau of Investigation) do a detailed inventory of the evidence room at the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department before he even sat down in office chair.”

Now that’s something that the other three candidates, (who are all deputies), would never do. For them, it would be like saying to guys they’ve worked with for years, “I think you might be a dirty cop.” And that is never going to happen.

There may not be a dirty cop at the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department but there have been enough allegations over the course of years that it definitely needs to be looked into. The first step in that process is for every dollar, gram of cocaine and speck of marijuana to be inventoried by the S.B.I. I think the fact that Eddie Martin is going to request it right out of the gate is pretty incredible. Not only is it the kind of commitment to integrity that we need to see in that job but it’s the surest sign yet that Eddie Martin wants to shine a bright light on the department which he heads. And light is the best disinfectant.

Sean Mahoney

Hamlet