Effective leadership

This letter is in support of John Weaver who I am thoroughly convinced should be elected to the position of Flathead County Sheriff.

John is a man of the highest moral and ethical integrity. He is an incredibly devoted family man and, most importantly, a man of knowledge in his field of criminal justice and law enforcement. His Criminal Justice Administration degree and his life's experiences and years of experience in criminal justice are so important for what is needed in Flathead County.

In my opinion, this is the most important primary election race we are faced with on June 6th.

As a county commissioner and one who understands what is going on in our local government, I can say without hesitation, John is the one candidate who can be the most effective leader of the sheriff's department.

The other candidates' main qualifications, even though they are nice guys, is that they have been a part of the sheriff's department for a number of years, and that is their only rhetoric to try and convince the voters.

Understanding a complex budget and being a professional administrator are important to me. Not only is John more qualified by education and experience, but he also has the desire to protect his and your children's future and absolutely hold the criminal element to accountability. These are among the reasons why I am working so hard for John's election.

I am very impressed with John Weaver's creative thought process to deal with the Meth problems, his proposal of having community service workers and prisoners keep our highways cleaned up, and his plan to have satellite deputy stations around the valley to better serve the individual communities. John Weaver also wants to substantially increase volunteer opportunities through service groups and churches.

Among the campaign individuals working for one of John's primary election opponents are some of the same ones who started a new level of angry and bitter political practices during my campaign and also during the last Commissioner's race. They have taken full liberty with untrue accusations as they did in my election and subsequent elections, and they are doing the same kind of nonsense with this campaign. Character assassination has no place in Flathead County but seems to have found a place in this race. True Montana Republicans do not have to be nasty in the media or launch personal character assassinations to get their message out.

I implore the electorate to study the candidates, especially their qualifications and what they want to bring to the sheriff's office for leadership ability and administrative ability. I would ask you to please vote for John Weaver on June 6th. Future generations will be affected by the outcome of this most important primary election.

Gary D. Hall

Flathead County commissioner