Richard Grenier: Whatever happened to the old Sheriff Bill Wright?

To The Daily Sun,

I have been blessed with three closely related careers. Thirty-three years with the Belknap County Department of Corrections, retiring as superintendent; 18 years with the Belknap Regional Special Operations Group as a negotiator; and currently in my 46th year as a part-time deputy sheriff with the Belknap County Sheriff's Department. I have proudly served seven elected high sheriffs in that time.

In its earliest days, even before he joined the sheriff's department, I served with Sheriff Bill Wright on the Regional Special Operations Team. We even deployed on a criminal extradition to Arizona together.

I miss that Bill Wright. I don’t know where he went, but he hasn’t shown up for work in some time. Under his watch as sheriff, morale is at an all-time low. The department is irreparably dysfunctional both inside and with our outside law enforcement partners throughout the county.

While the unanimous voice of the union employees has been heard, there are far more per-diem employees at the courthouses, part-time deputy sheriffs and dispatchers that do not have that singular representation. If you were to ask them, you would find the vast majority feel the same way. That majority and the full-time staff in all divisions are risking their careers to publicly support the man we believe can restore the department to what it once was just a short time ago. That man is Mike MacFadzen. Please join me in voting for him Tuesday the 13th.

Richard Grenier

Gilford