The most recent article from the Itemizer Observer. Click HERE
Here is the audio recording from the October 28th, 2015 Board of Commissioners meeting where each commissioner voted to appoint Sgt. Mark Garton to be your next Polk County Sheriff effective November 30th, 2015. Please listen to the audio and hear the comments directly from the Board of Commissioners. The audio clip is just under 7 minutes, but well worth listening to.
OCT 28,2015 BOC Meeting – appointment announcement of Sgt. Mark Garton
Here are some excerpts from the audio:
Commissioner Wheeler
“I appreciate that we had two very well qualified candidates. My choice is Sgt. Garton” “I appreciate the fact that he provided us a pretty good stack of letters of recommendation from people that I respect and that obviously respect him”
Commissioner Pope
“I took this job very seriously in the appointment of the highest elected law enforcement official in our county”. “I am very interested in and very concerned about continuity, I’m not interested in tipping over something that is working really well”. “We have had a commitment from Sgt. Garton and from all of the staff over the last couple years while we’ve struggled through financing improvements for law enforcement and public safety in this county and the last thing I want to do is tip all that over, break that trust and disrupt that continuity.” “Sgt. Garton is a committed individual here and has proven himself to be worthy of the leadership position, he has trust of those he would lead and does lead and I believe that he is the most qualified person” and “my vote is for Sgt. Garton
Commissioner Ainsworth, Chairman
“I would like to thank both Todd and Mark for applying for this position, I thought you both did a wonderful job in the interview process and you’re both very well qualified”. “I will say that I do agree with the continuity aspect of this job as we move forward”. “This is a very important job as we move forward in the transition from now till the election”. “But I do appreciate Mark and the work that he has done in Polk County”. “I appreciate the fact that he’s had a vested interested Polk County this entire time, he grew up here in Dallas, he knows what is going on down the hallway and I like the continuity as we move forward, as this is a very important time”. “I just believe Mark is the right person for this job and so I will go ahead and also say yea to Mark”
After the Board of Commissioners announced their unanimous decision to appoint Mark Garton as your next Polk County Sheriff, Mark had a chance to talk with the Itemizer Observer. Check out their article in today’s IO by clicking HERE.