Vetting Sheriff Candidates for the 2020 election

[Stephanie Gibson]

I am planning on hosting a few meet and greets for the 2020 election including the #SheriffRace. Currently, there are only two candidates: Kurt Hoffman and Paul Fern. My personal focus on vetting candidates will be character, committment to Open Government as a means to reinstate Public Trust in our government through accountability and equal justice. Thus, restoring trust and faith in Law enforcement is paramount. While Character should be Qualification 1 for Sheriff.. what if both candidates are of equal character?

Please help the public make the best choice for Sheriff and provide your serious feedback on this thread. I have limited first hand knowledge on both candidates, and I am certain the public has even less information. Maybe Hoffman is the right choice, or maybe it is time for fresh perspectives that Fern may provide. What say you all that live it on a daily basis?

1. What are the top 3 characteristics the public should seek in the Sheriff candidates?

2. What 3 questions would you ask each of the Sheriff candidates?

3. What are your opinions on each of the candidates.. preferably with verifiable reasonings. I am all about 'Trust but Verify'. Any leads on pertinent public records requests that might provide insight would be greatly appreciated.

Happy New Year!

[Unregistered]

Your post was well written and articulated and it appears as if you are being sincere. If that is the case, then I don’t believe you are or were local law enforcement. If you were, you would know that Kurt Hoffman does not have the integrity or moral character that us required in law enforcement.

1.) He failed a polygraph for lying.

2. After failing his polygraph, he was given a very rare opportunity to law enforcement candidates, an opportunity to try again. He was given a second polygraph, by a “new” operator.

3.) Only then did Kurt admit to:
A.) stealing gas on multiple occasions for his personal car, from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. This was not a mere mistake or lack of impulse control,Mormons night after a few drinks, it was not a theft of opportunity. Considering it happened on multiple occasions, any normal person would be thinking about the theft in between occasions. A person with integrity would feel guilty about it and not do it again. However, Kurt continued his thieving ways from another Sheriff’s Office in order to suit his needs. He felt no guilt or remorse and he lied about these thefts on his government employment application and on his polygraph.

4.) Kurt also admitted to stealing pesticides from the Charlotte County Government, (a separate Governmental entity from the Sheriff’s Office), therefore he has stolen from multiple Government entities, stolen from multiple employers, multiple times over multiple years. More stealing. Again, he lied about these thefts on his government employment application and on his polygraph.

5.) Kurt admitted for stealing a boat, from a civilian. Another theft. Again, he lied about these thefts on his government employment application and on his polygraph.

6.) Kurt admitted to stealing pornography from a business. Another theft. Again, he lied about these thefts on his government employment application and on his polygraph.

7.) Kurt admitted to lying about the amount of alcohol he drinks.

So far, Kurt hit the Trifecta, he has admitted to stealing from:
a.) The Government (Multiple Governments, over multiple years)
b.) Private Citizens
c.) Private Businesses

Kurt May have a drinking problem, apparently he drinks so much that he is ashamed, embarrassed about it and feels it necessary to lie about it.

He has no real law enforcement experience and has no idea the demands and tolls his hack policies have taken on the agency.

Kurt has done irreversible damage to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. Based possible drinking problem, predilection for deceit and his history of stealing from Governments, Sheriff’s Offices, citizens, businesses and disregard for the being honest on his law enforcement application and polygraph, there is NO choice as to who to vote for Sheriff.

[Unregistered]

Why did Kurt steal gas from the people he was sworn to protect. First and only question.

[Unregistered]

Your post was well written and articulated and it appears as if you are being sincere. If that is the case, then I don’t believe you are or were local law enforcement. If you were, you would know that Kurt Hoffman does not have the integrity or moral character that us required in law enforcement.

1.) He failed a polygraph for lying.

2. After failing his polygraph, he was given a very rare opportunity to law enforcement candidates, an opportunity to try again. He was given a second polygraph, by a “new” operator.

3.) Only then did Kurt admit to:
A.) stealing gas on multiple occasions for his personal car, from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. This was not a mere mistake or lack of impulse control, or a night after a few drinks, it was not a theft of opportunity. Considering it happened on multiple occasions, any normal person would be thinking about the theft in between occasions. A person with integrity would feel guilty about it and not do it again. However, thought about the thefts and still did it again and again.....Kurt continued his thieving ways from another Sheriff’s Office in order to suit his needs. He felt no guilt or remorse and he lied about these thefts on his government employment application and on his polygraph.

4.) Kurt also admitted to stealing pesticides from the Charlotte County Government, (a separate Governmental entity from the Sheriff’s Office), therefore he has stolen from multiple Government entities, stolen from multiple employers, multiple times over multiple years. More stealing. Again, he lied about these thefts on his government employment application and on his polygraph.

5.) Kurt admitted for stealing a boat, from a civilian. Another theft. Again, he lied about these thefts on his government employment application and on his polygraph.

6.) Kurt admitted to stealing pornography from a business. Another theft. Again, he lied about these thefts on his government employment application and on his polygraph.

7.) Kurt admitted to lying about the amount of alcohol he drinks.

So far, Kurt hit the Trifecta, he has admitted to stealing from:
a.) The Government (Multiple Governments, over multiple years)
b.) Private Citizens
c.) Private Businesses

Kurt May have a drinking problem, apparently he drinks so much that he is ashamed, embarrassed about it and feels it necessary to lie about it.

Kurt has done irreversible damage to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. Based possible drinking problem, predilection for deceit and his history of stealing from Governments, Sheriff’s Offices, citizens, businesses and disregard for the being honest on his law enforcement application and polygraph, there is NO choice as to who to vote for Sheriff.

I personally don’t believe his admissions on the second polygraph include all of his thefts in total and I especially don’t believe he only stole gas on “two” occasions.

Here’s the link to the Sun-Herald article written by Greg Martin, that first reported on Hoffman’s own admissions and the failed polygraph. It verifies everything I have identified here.

https://www.pdf-archive.com/2015/06/...-hoffman-news/

[Stephanie Gibson]

I am absolutely sincere in my efforts.

You are correct, I am not LE nor have I ever been. I am just a citizen interested in helping Change the status quo of our govt. I had some issues with old NPPD that kickstarted the interest.

I have been monitoring the local LE threads for the past 5 or 6 years. We all know how these threads go.. some are thoughtful and factual, some posts are plum nonsense.

It is very hard for we in the public to know what is real vs not so much.

I learned early on not to believe everything every cop says... especially in Leoaffairs land.

I was aware of some of the historical issues with Hoffman including being provided many of the original records from LE sources. I believe these incidents were very early in his career. I did many things in my early 20s that I wouldnt do 25 or 30 years later. Do you think Colonel Hoffman has the same tendencies as he did early in his career? I am not exonerating or excusing his behaviors.. just trying to weigh out who he was then versus who he may be now.

Thank you for the serious reply.

[Unregistered]

Please help the public make the best choice for Sheriff and provide your serious feedback on this thread. I have limited first hand knowledge on both candidates, and I am certain the public has even less information.

Ms. Stephanie Gibson,

Thank you for your inquiry into the Sarasota Sheriff's Office and thank you for exercising due diligence. This article hows that Kurt Hoffman lied on a law enforcement polygraph, up until he was caught. He did not tell the truth until after he was caught lying:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VFg...ew?usp=sharing

What 3 questions would you ask each of the Sheriff candidates?

Question: Mr. Kurt Hoffman, why did you lie during an official law enforcement polygraph and why should you be trusted to tell the truth today?

[Unregistered]

I am absolutely sincere in my efforts.

You are correct, I am not LE nor have I ever been. I am just a citizen interested in helping Change the status quo of our govt. I had some issues with old NPPD that kickstarted the interest.

I have been monitoring the local LE threads for the past 5 or 6 years. We all know how these threads go.. some are thoughtful and factual, some posts are plum nonsense.

It is very hard for we in the public to know what is real vs not so much.

I learned early on not to believe everything every cop says... especially in Leoaffairs land.

I was aware of some of the historical issues with Hoffman including being provided many of the original records from LE sources. I believe these incidents were very early in his career. I did many things in my early 20s that I wouldnt do 25 or 30 years later. Do you think Colonel Hoffman has the same tendencies as he did early in his career? I am not exonerating or excusing his behaviors.. just trying to weigh out who he was then versus who he may be now.

Thank you for the serious reply.

Thank you for the serious reply.[/QUOTE]

My name is Shawn Keeffe, I am a former detective/deputy, with respect to the most recent threads discussing Kurt and this administrations unethical and inconsistent behavior, as disturbing and far fetched as they seem, most of the information is accurate.

I can appreciate your skepticism and if I were an outsider, I would have the same cautious apprehensions you’ve identified. Unlike Kurt, i don’t hide behind bureaucratic walls of silence, I believe in transparency and my integrity is in check and has never been called into question during my career. So, with respect to transparency, I have a deep visceral disdain for Kurt. With that being said up front, I can and will substantiate EVERYTHING I have said or will say about him.

Kurt is a lawyer and his behavior over the past few years has revealed his inability to lead a LAW ENFORCEMENT agency, as he continually behaves more like a criminal defense attorney, willing to do whatever he must to protect his career.

After suffering for 2 years under sociciopathic supervisors, who fabricated stories, lied on my personnel file, harassed, retaliated, intentionally and repeatedly had me going to priority 1, life and death calls without back-up, and created an extremely hostile work environment, I filed 34 page complaint. The report was written by a cop/former detective and was outlined and detailed with dates, times, case numbers and detailed narratives.

As per agency policy, Human Resources investigated the complaint first. At the conclusion of their investigation, they found Sergeant Neil Wilson HAD in fact VIOLATED the AGENCIES a HARASSMENT POLICY and that he is viewed throughout the agency as brash and disrespectful. It further stated there was a breakdown in supervision as my supervisors were aware of the hostile relationship and FAILED to intervene. MAJOR JON GOETLUCK and SHERIFF TOM KNIGHT, both reviewed the report, concurred with the report and SIGNED OFF ON THE REPORT. Sheriff Knight ordered Internal Affairs to further investigate these issues as well as many others including VIOLATIONS OF BOTH FEDERAL and STATE LAWS AND DOZENS OF AGECNY POLICIES.

IA reports directly and ONLY to KURT A. HOFFMAN. LT MIKE MECURIO a of IA (is a specialty Lieutenant, that’s another unethical issue dealing with DURESS), came to my home unannounced and uninvited before he even began his investigation to tell me “if this investigation doesn’t go your way, don’t give up”, there are other avenues you can take this, just “don’t give up” (said that 3 times). He was essentially admitting to me that his investigation had already been predetermined for him prior to even starting it. Again, he reports directly and ONLY to KURT HOFFMAN.

The supervisors committed multiple counts of perjury during multiple official agency investigations, (each instance a separate count and a separate FELONY). I provided Kurt with audio recordings, which are indisputable and direct evidence that several supervisors and possibly others were in fact GUILTY, not possibly guilty, GUILTY of numerous FELONIES and VIOLATED both FEDERAL and STATE laws and dozens of agency policies.

KURT threatened me with criminal actions, in an attempt to silence me. In fact, by doin this KURT violated FEDERAL LAW. So this is the wAy KURT handles victims and covers-up criminal actions of law enforcement officers. Again, a criminal defense attorney mentality, NOT a law enforcement BOSS mentality.

I have said it before, hiring qualified law enforcement officers is a very difficult process. The goal shouldn’t be to try and find the “perfect” person, because they are almost non-existent in this day and age. I’ve made my share of mistakes as have most of the men and women I had the honor of working along side with. What separates us from the “KURT’S” of the world, is, acknowledging the mistakes, identifying them ON the application and TELLING the TRUTH during your polygraph examination. His first instinct is to lie, that’s NOT something you grow out of.

KURT refused to acknowledge his mistakes, which actually is another crime in itself, obtaining a governmental position under fraud. Then he lied about it. Everyone knows in the academy, they pound in your head ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH, ONCE YOU LIE, YOU ARE DONE.

Unfortunately for the citizens of Sarasota County, this old adage is a unicorn. Perjury, seems to be upward mobility under this administration and a prerequisite to be included in the inner sanctum. If you stop and think about it, it makes sense, liars want to be assured they are surrounded by other liars who are willing to forgo their integrity, if they have any left, or any to even begin with, all in an effort to save the supreme leader and protect their political aspirations. This is not conjecture, if you have been following as you said, you will know what I am saying is true and factual.

He is not fit to wear a badge and he is a disgrace to the uniform, and he knows it. He is a SHEEP in wolves clothing, yes, you read that correctly.

There is A LOT more to this, but for now, this will have to do. You can get a hold of me through FB on RESTORING INTEGRITY. You can also find out more information about KURT and his unethical, reprehensible and
cowardice behavior.

[Unregistered]

Ms. Gibson,

I am happy to see someone who is interested in learning the truth about who is running for Sheriff of Sarasota County.

My name is Shawn Keeffe, I am a former detective/deputy, with respect to the most recent threads discussing Kurt and this administrations unethical and inconsistent behavior, as disturbing and far fetched as they seem, most of the information is accurate.

I can appreciate your skepticism and if I were an outsider, I would have the same cautious apprehensions you’ve identified. Unlike Kurt, i don’t hide behind bureaucratic walls of silence, I believe in transparency and my integrity is in check and has never been called into question during my career. So, with respect to transparency, I have a deep visceral disdain for Kurt. With that being said up front, I can and will substantiate EVERYTHING I have said or will say about him.

Kurt is a lawyer and his behavior over the past few years has revealed his inability to lead a LAW ENFORCEMENT agency, as he continually behaves more like a criminal defense attorney, willing to do whatever he must to protect his career.

After suffering for 2 years under sociciopathic supervisors, who fabricated stories, lied on my personnel file, harassed, retaliated, intentionally and repeatedly had me going to priority 1, life and death calls without back-up, and created an extremely hostile work environment, I filed 34 page complaint. The report was written by a cop/former detective and was outlined and detailed with dates, times, case numbers and detailed narratives.

As per agency policy, Human Resources investigated the complaint first. At the conclusion of their investigation, they found Sergeant Neil Wilson HAD in fact VIOLATED the AGENCIES a HARASSMENT POLICY and that he is viewed throughout the agency as brash and disrespectful. It further stated there was a breakdown in supervision as my supervisors were aware of the hostile relationship and FAILED to intervene. MAJOR JON GOETLUCK and SHERIFF TOM KNIGHT, both reviewed the report, concurred with the report and SIGNED OFF ON THE REPORT. Sheriff Knight ordered Internal Affairs to further investigate these issues as well as many others including VIOLATIONS OF BOTH FEDERAL and STATE LAWS AND DOZENS OF AGECNY POLICIES.

IA reports directly and ONLY to KURT A. HOFFMAN. LT MIKE MECURIO a of IA (is a specialty Lieutenant, that’s another unethical issue dealing with DURESS), came to my home unannounced and uninvited before he even began his investigation to tell me “if this investigation doesn’t go your way, don’t give up”, there are other avenues you can take this, just “don’t give up” (said that 3 times). He was essentially admitting to me that his investigation had already been predetermined for him prior to even starting it. Again, he reports directly and ONLY to KURT HOFFMAN.

The supervisors committed multiple counts of perjury during multiple official agency investigations, (each instance a separate count and a separate FELONY). I provided Kurt with audio recordings, which are indisputable and direct evidence that several supervisors and possibly others were in fact GUILTY, not possibly guilty, GUILTY of numerous FELONIES and VIOLATED both FEDERAL and STATE laws and dozens of agency policies.

KURT threatened me with criminal actions, in an attempt to silence me. In fact, by doin this KURT violated FEDERAL LAW. So this is the wAy KURT handles victims and covers-up criminal actions of law enforcement officers. Again, a criminal defense attorney mentality, NOT a law enforcement BOSS mentality.

I have said it before, hiring qualified law enforcement officers is a very difficult process. The goal shouldn’t be to try and find the “perfect” person, because they are almost non-existent in this day and age. I’ve made my share of mistakes as have most of the men and women I had the honor of working along side with. What separates us from the “KURT’S” of the world, is, acknowledging the mistakes, identifying them ON the application and TELLING the TRUTH during your polygraph examination. His first instinct is to lie, that’s NOT something you grow out of.

KURT refused to acknowledge his mistakes, which actually is another crime in itself, obtaining a governmental position under fraud. Then he lied about it. Everyone knows in the academy, they pound in your head ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH, ONCE YOU LIE, YOU ARE DONE.

Unfortunately for the citizens of Sarasota County, this old adage is a unicorn. Perjury, seems to be upward mobility under this administration and a prerequisite to be included in the inner sanctum. If you stop and think about it, it makes sense, liars want to be assured they are surrounded by other liars who are willing to forgo their integrity, if they have any left, or any to even begin with, all in an effort to save the supreme leader and protect their political aspirations. This is not conjecture, if you have been following as you said, you will know what I am saying is true and factual.

He is not fit to wear a badge and he is a disgrace to the uniform, and he knows it. He is a SHEEP in wolves clothing, yes, you read that correctly.

There is A LOT more to this, but for now, this will have to do.
You can get a hold of me through FB on RESTORING INTEGRITY. You can also find out more information about KURT and his unethical, reprehensible and
cowardice behavior.

[Unregistered]

Someone asked me the other day what my “deal with Hoffman” was. As in Kurt A. Hoffman, who is running for Sheriff of Sarasota County.

The list is long, but for now I will identify one of my biggest issues. He’s a politician, NOT a cop. The first group of photos are from the second funeral I attended in a span of just a few months. Both funerals were for incidents where TWO cops were murdered. This one was in St. Petersburg and the other was in Tampa. Both agencies are considered our neighbors and are less than a hours drive from Sarasota. Kurt couldn’t be bothered with going to either funeral. Furthermore, I never saw him at a single law enforcement officers funeral. Not even here at the Sheriff’s Office or in the city of Sarasota.

Take a long hard look at the first photo and see the pain in the family’s faces. Cops from all over the world travel to funerals like this as a sign of solidarity and to show support for their fallen brethren.

We volunteer to attend these funerals and go on our own time and for most, they take a lot out of us. It doesn’t matter how big, tough or seasoned cops are, there’s very rarely a dry eye at these services. They are extremely emotional despite never having met the fallen. They are emotional because true cops automatically share a bond, a brotherhood/sisterhood that is supposed to rise above anything else, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

More and more law enforcement agencies are becoming infested with politicians who have never had to place their lives in immediate and extreme danger for their partner and they have never had to trust their partner to do the same. They cant comprehend what it means to know when you are in a bad spot, your brother is on the way. They also cannot comprehend the devastation of knowing help isn’t coming, that you are “on your own, an island”.

Kurt’s failures to attend any officer funeral in the past coupled with shamelessly promoting himself and his campaign (while getting paid by the taxpayers), shouldn’t be difficult to understand where the visceral disdain comes from. He had the audacity to travel to Tallahassee, while getting paid, so he can have a photo op showing he “cares” for fallen officers. He’s pointing at Deputy Michael Wilson, who was a husband and father of three children and was murdered in the line of duty in 2013. He was a deputy in Charlotte County. The same Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Kurt A. Hoffman admitted to stealing gasoline on multiple occasions for his personal vehicle. I don’t recall Kurt going to this funeral either. He is willing to use dead cops to further his political agenda, but somehow absent and unable to be bothered with attending their funerals. This shows the level that he operates at.

Kurt didn’t include that theft or other thefts on his application, nor did he admit it during his FIRST polygraph examination, resulting in a FAIL. Due to some apparent political connections, Kurt was given a very unique opportunity to submit to a second polygraph with a NEW EXAMINER.

It was only after failing the first polygraph, Kurt admitted to lying. He later would admit to stealing gas from the Charlotte County Sheriffs Office, stealing pesticides from the Charlotte County Government, stealing a boat, stealing pornography and lying about the amount of alcohol he consumes.

If Hoffman cared about officer safety, he would have condemned and put an immediate stop to SGT, Neil Wilson, SGT Chris Felix and Lt. Charles Kasper for their illegal and immoral actions spanning almost two years that placed cops lives in MUCH GREATER DANGER than necessary. Once again, he ignored those actions in order to avoid “media scrutiny” for fear of how it may have affected his campaign.


(You can see the photos and this post on RESTORING INTEGRITY on FB. There is no money associated with this or any YouTube account or anything else I have created or am involved in to shed light on the corruption.)

https://www.facebook.com/12314714908...1534457578165/



https://www.facebook.com/12314714908...1418781589733/ (Here you can hear actual audio recorded evidence of Sergeant Neil Wilson committing PERJURY) KURT still protects him and uses the Sheriff’s Office and his badge to threaten and a failed attempt at intimidation.


https://youtu.be/sAObtAa0z1w (This is who Kurt is protecting and this is who will be responsible for ending Kurt’s career, possibly his law degree and possibly his freedom.)

[Unregistered]

I am absolutely sincere in my efforts.

You are correct, I am not LE nor have I ever been. I am just a citizen interested in helping Change the status quo of our govt. I had some issues with old NPPD that kickstarted the interest.

I have been monitoring the local LE threads for the past 5 or 6 years. We all know how these threads go.. some are thoughtful and factual, some posts are plum nonsense.

It is very hard for we in the public to know what is real vs not so much.

I learned early on not to believe everything every cop says... especially in Leoaffairs land.

I was aware of some of the historical issues with Hoffman including being provided many of the original records from LE sources. I believe these incidents were very early in his career. I did many things in my early 20s that I wouldnt do 25 or 30 years later. Do you think Colonel Hoffman has the same tendencies as he did early in his career? I am not exonerating or excusing his behaviors.. just trying to weigh out who he was then versus who he may be now.

Thank you for the serious reply.

Hi Stephanie,

It is incumbent on Kurt to provide public answers to specific identifiable events that he is accused of committing because he is running for public office to be an elected sheriff of Sarasota County. There seems to be a consistent pattern of deceit, which is deeply disturbing.

Kurt Hoffman reportedly stole gas from CCSO (twice) while he was on-duty and working as a Reserve CCSO deputy. If that is true, then he committed two acts of theft, as an adult, and as a sworn officer who is supposed to be upholding the law. Kurt reportedly provided an asinine answer, as justification for taking gas without paying for it. However, if other Reserve CCSO deputies are not taking CCSO gas (without paying for it), then it is highly unlikely that Kurt will be able to provide a believable answer that justifies taking gas.

He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he
who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. (Luke 16:10)