07-12-2007, 11:23 PM
It's about safety, not politics, chief says
North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis used to be Sheriff Bill Balkwill's second-in-command at the Sheriff's Office. And Balkwill must run for re-election next year.
So when Lewis wrote an e-mail to County Commissioner Paul Mercier last week critical of Balkwill's decision to close the South County jail, saying it would mean fewer officers on patrol, he made sure nobody misread his jab as an indication he plans to run against the sheriff.
"P.S. In the event someone thinks I am making a political statement," Lewis wrote, "my next job is in a scuba dive shop in the Caribbean (St. Martin) where I will be teaching tourists from Ohio and New York how to scuba dive and avoid sunburn."
North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis used to be Sheriff Bill Balkwill's second-in-command at the Sheriff's Office. And Balkwill must run for re-election next year.
So when Lewis wrote an e-mail to County Commissioner Paul Mercier last week critical of Balkwill's decision to close the South County jail, saying it would mean fewer officers on patrol, he made sure nobody misread his jab as an indication he plans to run against the sheriff.
"P.S. In the event someone thinks I am making a political statement," Lewis wrote, "my next job is in a scuba dive shop in the Caribbean (St. Martin) where I will be teaching tourists from Ohio and New York how to scuba dive and avoid sunburn."