Voters, not Moyer, should be the ones to pick the sheriff

To The Daily Sun,

Sheriff Mike Moyer is crying over spilled milk in his dispute with Commissioner Hunter Taylor, and his call to investigate Taylor for exposing potential abuses of public office is laughable. Moyer is a man who supposedly knows the law, but his actions reveal he is clueless when it comes to the First Amendment. There is nothing illegal or unethical about sharing documents related to a news worthy event with the people who print the news (unless there are national security implications). If Moyer knew the law, he would know that even illegally obtained documents can be printed publicly. The power of the press is absolute.

What is even more ironic about Moyer's behavior in this mess is that he continues to pretend as if nothing he did in this whole Perkins vs. Wright scenario is questionable. If that’s true, he would not be trying to quash a full airing of all the documentation that illustrates the real intricacies of this whole fiasco.

The worst part is that while Taylor has a legal leg to stand on with his accusations against Moyer, the Sheriff himself doesn't even have enough evidence or precedent law to mount a civil claim against Taylor with his own gripes. It's all just disgruntled grandstanding on the part of Moyer while Taylor seems to be actually pursuing a noble effort: to inform the masses of the true details behind this ongoing saga.

Moyer seems most upset that Hunter Taylor's pursuit of the truth may interfere with an effort that stinks of cronyism and patronage. The Belknap County Sheriff's Office is not a monarchy, and the voters should be the ones who decide who fills that office. Prior sheriffs should not be allowed to de-facto appoint their successors the way Moyer intended to do with Wright. Many local citizens may not realize that whether or not Wright is fully qualified and would be the best man for the job, the Perkins debacle put a cloud over his head that he'll never get rid of even if he is elected. So in some ways Moyer hurt the guy he was trying to help and left more questions than answers for the public about whether or not Wright is the best man for the job.

The bottom line is Wright was accused of improper oversight of the drug unit, and instead of investigating those claims against his favored successor, Moyer used his position to go after the person he didn't want to succeed him instead. If the investigations into Perkins that resulted were all above board, Moyer would not have anything to cry about with respect to documentation explaining those investigations. He would want it all published since it would exonerate him if he's telling the truth

Belknap County is not immune to law enforcement misconduct, and it's sad to see a public official attacked for trying to demonstrate that with the truth. Commissioner Taylor should be saluted by the community for this effort, not shunned.

Rich Bergeron

Belmont