Featuring candidates from races including the state Senate, district attorney, Dougherty County sheriff, coroner, and Dougherty County Commission and Dougherty School Board seats, the forum allowed candidates to state their platforms before answering questions from the audience.
Some of the most spirited conversation of the night came when Chief Assistant District Attorney Greg Edwards and defense attorney Ingrid Driskell each took the stage to announce their plans for the district attorney’s office. DA Ken Hodges is stepping down from the office at the end of his term.
Edwards told the crowd that he plans to implement a three-pronged approach to fighting crime — prevention, adequate prosecution and post-prison intervention.
Driskell, however, told the crowd that, if elected, she would break down communication barriers between the prosecutor’s office and other agencies and focus on pursuing justice by basing cases on evidence, not on one’s personal opinions.
Chevene King, an Albany defense attorney, questioned Edwards’ involvement in hiring practices that King contends have excluded blacks from working in the DA’s office. Edwards defended the diversity of the office and its unprejudiced pursuit of criminals.
“Truth outweighs color; truth outweighs ethnicity. That is why I’m here, the pursuit of the truth,” Edwards said.
Hodges tendered a question for Driskell after her opening comments about his office, asking her to cite a specific case that had been handled inappropriately.
Driskell quickly fired back, referencing a case where she served as defense counsel for a man accused of rape who was acquitted after 15 minutes of jury deliberation.
“There isn’t a problem with the office as a whole,” Driskell said. “It’s the leadership ... if the prosecutor had done their jobs based on the evidence and had a good case, it wouldn’t have taken 15 minutes for a jury to find a defendant not guilty.”
After Edwards and Driskell left the stage, the three candidates vying for Dougherty County sheriff announced their platforms and took questions.
Longtime deputy Kevin Sproul and Albany Police Department officers Benita Childs and James Williams are seeking to replace outgoing Sheriff Jamil Saba, who is retiring.
Sproul, who has picked up Saba’s endorsement, touted his experience working at the department and his anti-gang initiatives, while Williams pointed to his experience as an investigator and a gang expert, and to his civic activities.
Benita Childs focused on her leadership experience as a district commander for the APD and her willingness to unite community law enforcement in a collaborative effort to fight crime.
One question from the audience asked the three candidates about their experience fighting gangs and how that would play into their bids for sheriff.
Sproul pointed out his anti-gang training in Chicago and his time spent traveling the country educating other law enforcement officials about the issue. Williams pointed to his experience working gang homicides early in his career and said he was the first gang expert in Albany.
“With all these gang experts, we shouldn’t have a problem,” Childs observed.
Audience members also questioned the three about jail safety and security concerns, including instances of prisoner abuse and how to curb it.
Williams proposed additional security and surveillance technology to ensure that instances of prisoner abuse from guards or other inmates are documented and dealt with.
Sproul pointed to the security system already in place and his tough approach to protect both the inmates and the deputies assigned to work in the jail.
Childs pointed to hiring practices and additional diversity and ethics training to make sure that deputies placed in close contact with prisoners are the best trained, best people for the job.
In other county races, District 5 County Commissioner Art Searles sat with his challenger, businessman Harry James.
Campaigning on his record and experience as a commissioner, Searles was also questioned by audience members about a controversial column appearing in his weekly newspaper, the Southwest Georgian, which referred to Sproul simply as the “white candidate” and accused Childs of running to split the black vote and keep Williams from winning office.
One question about the incident came from Childs herself, who asked Searles if, having made the comments about race in his newspaper, he thought he could unite the black and white community if re-elected.
“I take issue with the comment that I focus on race and gender, but considering the source of the question I would say that there is an ulterior motive here, but that’s immaterial,” Searles said. “I don’t feel like, as a commissioner, I’ve been charged with uniting the community.”
Searles said that he didn’t believe he was prejudiced, but that society was and his words were simply facts.