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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2008 BARROW JOURNAL PAGE 7A Sheriff Jud Smith James Bonnemer Career/Occupation: I am a Georgia certified Peace Officer employed by the City of Winder Police Department as a sergeant, currently assigned to day shift patrol. Describe your back ground: I am married to my won derful wife, Stephanie, and we have two children, Conyer and Addison. We live in Bethlehem and attend Winder First Baptist Church. Both Stephanie and I are gradu ates of Winder-Barrow High School. I have a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Columbus State University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Georgia Law Enforcement Command College, also at Columbus State University. I have been in law enforcement for 10 years. The Sheriff’s Office is projected to end fiscal year 2008 over budget by approximately $600,000. As Sheriff, what measures would you take to insure your department ended the year at or under budget?: One of the most important obligations the Sheriff has is to formulate an accurate assessment of the needs of his/her department for the next year. This requires some degree of vision, planning, and even forecasting, and no one can correctly anticipate every possible contingency. This is where management of the budget comes into play. As the Sheriff of Barrow County, I will properly plan for each year’s budget by closely examining several key indicators of growth, such as county population, commer cial, industrial and residential growth, and crime trends. I will evaluate the department’s ability to meet the needs of the citizens in a timely fash ion. I will pre pare for growth within the department by working close ly with county commissioners so that we will be able to fund long-term proj ects on a year-by-year basis and not all at once. In short, I will manage the budget all year long, and as I have said many times during this cam paign, I will be especially diligent in searching for ways to save the taxpayers money, including through the pursuit of law enforcement grants. The current Sheriff was asked twice to appear before the Board of Commissioners to explain why his depart ment was ending the year over budget. He declined. Do you feel the Sheriff should answer to the com mission regarding budget ary issues?: The county commissioners have been elected to their positions by the people of Barrow County, just like the Sheriff, and they are entrusted with the author ity to make financial deci sions on behalf of the citizens of the county. As the Sheriff, I believe that I, too, am accountable to the taxpayers of the county in matters of how I spend their tax dollars, so, yes, I will always make myself available to the county commission to answer questions regarding the budget of the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff has a discre tionary fund at his dispos al. What do you feel is the most appropriate use of this fund?: That really depends on what the “dis cretionary fund” is for. My under standing of this fund is that it is a fund comprised mainly of con fiscations and seizures, as often occurs in drug cases. By law, any funds that are confiscated by the Sheriff’s Office in a drug case can be used by the Sheriff’s Office but only for the purpose of continuing the enforcement of drug laws. In other words, these funds are supposed to be used for very specific things, and that depends on how they were acquired. If elected, what will your top priorities be during the first year of your admin istration?: As I have stated throughout my entire cam paign, one of the first proj ects that we will be involved in will be the achievement of State Certification for the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office. This will require a compre hensive review of the operat ing procedures and policies currently in effect at that department and a revision or rewriting of policies that do not meet the necessary stan dards. I believe that by imple menting policies and proce dures that meet or exceed State standards, the citi zens of Barrow County will receive higher quality law enforcement service from the Sheriff’s Office. I would also like to imple ment an illegal immigration control program that will help us deal with the problem of illegal immigration right here in Barrow County. As I have stated previously, I believe that the solution to the national problem we have with illegal immigration starts at the local level. People who enter our nation illegally arc basically “thumbing their noses" at our society’s laws and are, by definition, criminals the very moment they cross our bor ders. When they come to our community and commit other criminal acts against our soci ety we, as law enforcement officials, have a duty and an obligation to respond. I support a program that not only addresses the crimi nal acts committed by illegal immigrants, but one which also allows for the deporta tion of them out of our coun try, returning them to their countries of origin. There are many things that I hope to achieve in the first year of my administration that are too numerous to mention in the space provided, but I can say that I am interest ed in creating an aggressive recruiting and hiring program so that we can be assured of hiring only the most qualified candidates for employment with the Sheriff's Office. I am interested in formulat ing a new incentive plan that will strive to retain the good, professional, and conscien tious deputies and deten tion officers that are already employed with the Sheriff's Office. And I am interested in cre ating many more communi ty awareness programs that will not only help residents and business owners prevent crime in their area, but create a more open and recogniz able relationship between the Sheriff’s Office employees and the members of our com munity. SMITH - HOSCHTON MEDICAL, PC Affiliated with Barrow Regional Medical Center Board Certified Family Medicine CAQ-Sports Medicine CALL TODAY FOR AN APPOINTMENT! 706-658-2452 Hoschton Towne Center 115 Towne Center Pkwy., Suite 113 • Hoschton, GA 30548 HOURS: Mon., Tues. <fr Wed. - 9 a.m. -5p.m., Thurs. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Fri. 8 a.m. - 2 p.m., NOW OPEN Sat. - 9 a.m. -12 p.m. £ Leslie David. M.D. iJ it The Parker Group is pleased to announce Barrow Journal has located an office in Winder 77 East May Street Thank vou to: Mike Buffington & Scott Buffington Maynard & Bartlett Realty Group, LLP Wayne Parker - Commercial Associate Career/occu pation: Barrow County Deputy Sheriff Describe your background: I was born March 29, 1945, to an Air Force father, Sidney Bonnemer, who was origi nally from New Orleans, Louisiana, and homemak er mother, Lois Danlyn Williams Bonnemer Bowen, who was from Winder. Her parents, Broadus and Trellie Williams were from Winder, as were their parents. Winder has always been my home, and even while traveling the world, Winder has remained in my heart as my home base. My family has been a part of Barrow County for gen erations. As a child, I attended school in Pooler, Georgia; Upper Heyford Air Force Base, England; Great Falls, Montana; Winder, Georgia; Goose Bay, Labrador; Orlando, Florida; and back to Winder, Georgia, where I attended the remainder of my schooling. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy on April 25, 1965 and remained until April 1969. During my enlistment, we did three Mediterranean cruises and three Caribbean cruises with our objective being the Ready Task Force: to protect and assist Americans during any international crisis, as when we were called to assist the American Military in the Dominican Republic crisis. I received an honorable dis charge from the United States Navy. I enlisted in the Air Force in June 1971. During that assignment, I was stationed at Homestead AFB, Florida, at the sea survival school. We taught pilots and crew members how to survive at sea once they left their aircraft. From there, I went to Lowry AFB, Denver, Colorado, and attended Air Operation Intelligence School, and then on to Hill AFB, Utah, and worked with the Para-rescue Unit until 1974, when I transferred to the Air Force Reserves at Dobbins AFB, Marietta, Georgia. During that 22 months enlist ment, I was in the Security Police. I received an honor able discharge from the United States Air Force. In 1976, I enlisted in the Georgia National Guard. I was in the 151st Aviation Battalion, Winder, Ga., which then moved to Lawrenceville, Ga. I transferred from the 151st to the 111th Signal Battalion in Winder, then later to 158th Military Intelligence Unit at the Winder-Barrow Airport. In 1984, I was transferred from the National Guard to the U.S. Navy Reserves, NAS Atlanta, until 1994, when I retired - with 23 years of military ser vice. I married my beautiful wife Phyllis Elaine Wood Bonnemer, who is from Bethlehem, Ga., in March 1968. Her parents were Carl and Maggie Ruth Wood, also from Bethlehem. We have four grown children and eight grandchildren. In law enforce ment, I have worked with the Winder Police Department, Gwinnett County Police Department, and Barrow County Sheriff’s Office. 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