Sheriff David Harvey 

I am writing as a resident of Wakulla County since 1975 in response to the letter of support by a Law Enforcement Officer from Perry who wrote about the individual running against our Sheriff, David Harvey.  While I am not a law enforcement officer and have never been an employee of the Sheriff's Department, I feel that I represent a segment of our community frequently referred to as "long time residents".  In that capacity, I have had occasion to closely observe the operation of the Sheriff's office from several different perspectives: as resident, as liaison, as victim, and as volunteer who worked with trustees at the animal shelter.

{sidebar id=1}When Dr. Mooney and I moved here in 1975 our office was located across the street from the then miniscule little Sheriff's Department and jail.  Our community had barely 3,500 people in the entire County.  Then, as now, Sheriff Harvey was at the helm of that Department - but at that time he was lauded as the youngest Sheriff ever elected in the State of Florida.

These days, we are all a bit older, and Sheriff Harvey is now the Dean of Sheriffs in Florida - the Sheriff that has served his fellow citizens for the  longest time of all.  During these decades his Department has grown to include a diverse and rather large staff of deputies and civilian employees, an extensive and well run jail (isn't it a shame that we need such a large jail in today's society?), the enormous fleet of cars, trucks and other vehicles and the housing for same, and other services not normally thought of as being under the auspices of the Sheriff's Department.

The one of those with which I am most familiar is the Wakulla Animal Shelter, because I was among those who originally (although unsuccessfully) tried to found that service in this County.  Without the determination and sacrifice of Sheriff Harvey and the fact that he took that service under his Department's budget, we likely still would not have a home for the Shelter or for CHAT.  I am so grateful to him for taking this much needed service under his wing and I will never forget that, when all hope for the animals was basically lost, he did so voluntarily.

Furthermore, he has generated income for his Department in many ways other than that which most small towns choose  (ticketing local citizenry) by bringing innovative income sources into the County Jail system.  Has anyone ever thought about the kind of crimes normally associated with counties with widespread rural areas where so much is hidden and what an enormously successful job Sheriff Harvey has done keeping crime to a minimum here and protecting us all from harm?

{sidebar id=1}While a person from Taylor County may admire Sheriff Harvey's opponent, I want to say that those of us who have spent the last 33 years here  watching Wakulla County growth with relatively no crime would like to keep Sheriff Harvey.  Sheriff David Harvey has been good for his home county, has been good to his employees, and has been an outstanding Sheriff that has kept us safe.  He has run the County Department which has surely seen the most enormous growth of any as our county has grown from 3,500 people to nearly 35,000 people with efficiency so seamless that most of us are
unaware of it, has done so many good works and charitable acts for the people of THIS community, and has done it all quietly and without the drumbeat for more taxes and fees - always with the people of this County put first.

Interestingly, Sheriff Harvey has always run as a Democrat and not tried to hide his party affiliation from anybody, although he actually enjoys very widespread support among all Political Parties here.  Isn't it nice that here in the United States, every citizen gets to vote for his own choice of candidates?  Here in Wakulla County we know a good thing when we already have it, so we will be voting overwhelmingly once again for the best Sheriff any community could ever ask for - Dean of all of Florida's finest: Sheriff David Harvey.

Mary Mooney
Crawfordville

Mary Mooney
Crawfordville

This letter originally published on September 12, 2008.

Per Wakulla.com policy, all reader comments (submitted below) must include a valid first and last name.

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to post a comment.