Wayne County Board: Where some of the villages keep their idiots
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(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...By admin
Published: March 12, 2010
Wayne County board chairman Darrell "Durrl" Stephenson, who might know why you can't just close a meeting to the public, but apparently doesn't understand what public documents are
WAYNE CO.—It was a repulsive sight last night in Wayne County: county board chairman Darrell (“Durrl”) Stephenson, who’s shacking up with sheriff Jim Hinkle’s office manager, Linda Jackson, was in the hot seat (that seat being heated by former probation officer/current county board member Larry Bunting) about remarks he made to Bunting last month concerning the sheriff and his behavior…which Bunting’s wanting to classify as ‘official misconduct.’
Once again the sheriff wasn’t present—as he’s stopped coming to the county board meetings altogether as of mid-year last year because of the micromanagement a handful of county board members seem hell-bent on imposing upon him—so the grilling about Hinkle’s practices as a duly-elected office holder was focused on Stephenson, Jackson, and Gary Sloan, who’s on the police and jail committee.
Bunting may seem to have a bend against Hinkle (decades of being a homicide investigator and law enforcement officer in Arizona can inexplicably do that to a person) but things got to the point of being frivolous last night during Bunting’s complaints about the sheriff. It wasn’t that everyone was riveted by Bunting’s dry, long, drawn-out explanations over his complaint: it was that most people were either totally embarrassed for the old guy, or were sitting there falling asleep as he ranted on and on.
Board members Earl Smith, Jr., left, and Larry Bunting
The gist of Bunting’s complaint is this: he doesn’t like it that the sheriff uses a county-owned vehicle to tend to personal business…which Hinkle has openly admitted he’s done on a handful of occasions. Bunting says it’s misuse of county property and is a criminal offense; Hinkle says he, as an elected office holder, is on-call 24/7 and needs to be in his vehicle or have it at his access at all times, even if he’s called to attend to personal business.
However, most disturbing in all this is that it appears Durrl was the one who stirred all the shit to begin with: in early February, after Hinkle lost the Primary election to Fairfield police officer Mike Everett, Durrl called Bunting and began telling him all kinds of wigged-out things about Hinkle—that he was having little snits, threatening to pull grants, issuing threatening letters to his dufus deputies (all of them left over from the previous “Sonny” administration thanks to the union, etc.)
Bunting ‘made notes,’ of course, on this conversation, and went over ALL of it last night with Durrl. Durrl didn’t deny any of it…but he wasn’t the most forthcoming in his assent, instead giving the pat answer of “If you have it in your notes, then I said it.”
A motion Bunting made to bring in a special prosecutor to investigate Hinkle failed 9-4, with Bunting, Mike Simpson, Barb Merritt and Jerd “the Turd” Smith (who is openly antagonistic against Hinkle) giving the ‘yes’ votes.
It’s beginning to look like this scenario: As soon as it became apparent that Hinkle was losing the election, Stephenson called Bunting with disparaging remarks about the sheriff…perhaps in an effort to preserve his bed-buddy, Linda’s, job at the sheriff’s department. Because when Everett, backed by Sonny’s boyz, sweeps into office come December, one of the things he’ll probably sweep OUT is Jackson, who is a relative of Hinkle’s. So it appears Durrl is playing both sides of this game; as if in an attempt to say to Everett, “look! I’m dissing the sheriff! See? I’m not really on his side after all!…please keep my girlfriend in as secretary! (and don’t look at my legal separation paperwork, as I’m not really divorced and I don’t really live in the district I was elected to serve two years ago.)”
Whatever the case, there are a few villages in Wayne County missing their idiots every second Thursday of the month, and if you want to see them in action, you need to come to the board meetings. That way, you can watch antics like Durrl refusing to give Jack a copy of paperwork that was handed out and referenced in an open meeting and thus becomes public and accessible to the media if the media so requests it…as Jack did. And Durrl refused.
More on that in the print version, on stands in Wayne no later than next Wednesday.
Tagged with: Darrell Stephenson, Durrl, Jim Hinkle, Larry Bunting, Linda Jackson, Wayne County
you might enjoy this out of the Disclousure
Bunting was a homicide investigator in Arizona? What was his last case, the Gunfight at O.K. Corral? It never ceases to amaze me that these small-time county boards feel that they must micro-manage a sheriff’s department ran by a highly-trained, well educated, professional law enforcement officer with decades of experience.
It’s boggling, isn’t it? and Larry has this little following going along with everything he says, even when it gets ridiculous, like it did last night.
They need to reduce that county board to 7, and they need to pick a better seven. We could name the 7 that should stay…and Bunting, Jerd the Turd, Simpson, Durrl and his buddy Ehrhart would be the first to be kicked to the curb. They have done nothing but stir the stink since we’ve been going to these damn meetings. And we wouldn’t bitch so much about it except that we pay a little property tax bill there and we believe that they’re wasting THAT little amount on these clowns and their bullshit!!!
It seems that most county boards fall into one of three catagories: 1. Inept 2. Crooked 3. Inept & Crooked
We’ll select #3.
We’ve yet to see a county board meeting in our coverage area (and granted, we only go to a few regularly) where there isn’t some kind of political posturing that in the end absolutely rapes the taxpayer.
Admin did you get my email about the choice ridgway made when they hired for the P.D
I think so…I’ll have to go back and check. We’re finishing pages right now, have about two left!! I’ll get back to you.
How long has Darrell been missing a chin?
The same amount of time he’s been missing his testicles.