McFadden defends record at Mecklenburg sheriff forum amid effort to oust him
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden stood by his record but didn’t directly address the ongoing attempt to remove him from office at a Tuesday candidate forum.
McFadden appeared at the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum to take questions from voters alongside his three Democratic primary challengers, former Chief Deputy Rodney Collins, former Detention Officer Antwain Nance and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Sgt. Ricky Robbins.
The event came just over a week after state Rep. Carla Cunningham and four former Sheriff’s Office employees filed a petition to remove McFadden from office in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. The petition alleges widespread misconduct, threats and retaliation.
District Attorney Spencer Merriweather has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the petitioners’ claims, and McFadden previously called the claims in the filing “lies.”
On Tuesday, McFadden wasn’t asked directly about the investigation and only alluded to his ongoing legal matter, telling the crowd that election season brings on “noise” and “drama.”
“You can come close to it all you want to, but if you’ve never sat in the seat to be the sheriff, then you need to be careful about what you’re doing, talking about the sheriff,” he said in his closing remarks after about 90 minutes of questions. “I have served you well. I’ve never been out of your eyesight. And I take the criticism, the backstabbing and even the betrayal, but I am your sheriff.”
McFadden, first elected in 2018, leaned on his record while in office throughout the forum. He said he’s transformed the sheriff’s office from part of the “good old boy culture” into a “progressive” operation while increasing community engagement and improving services for people incarcerated in the county detention center.
He attributed jail deaths to “poor health” rather than his staff. He attributed staffing shortages to “the public and the media” talking “negatively” about the sheriff’s office as well as competition from other local law enforcement agencies.
“In 2018 when you elected me as your sheriff, I made you certain promises. And I fulfilled every one of those promises in the first 45 days of my office,” McFadden said. “In 2022, again when I sought the office of sheriff of Mecklenburg County, I made you promises. Every single one of those promises were fulfilled.”
McFadden’s opponents also didn’t directly bring up the petition to remove him from office. But most cited “leadership” when asked for their top two concerns with the sheriff’s office and said those leadership issues are contributing to issues with employee recruitment and retention.
“I believe having a different administration at the sheriff’s office will dramatically bring back more employees and retain employees,” said Nance, now a labor union representative.
Attendees also asked questions about the potential reopening of the county’s juvenile detention center, access to health care for people incarcerated in the county detention center and working with other, often more conservative sheriffs in North Carolina.
Asked about mental health care and substance abuse treatment for people in the jail, all four candidates agreed there are programs in place in need of expansion.
“There are programs in place, they just need to be better. We need to always challenge ourselves to do better, especially when it comes to mental health,” Robbins said.
Collins called for the medical providers the sheriff’s office works with “needs to be held accountable” to ensure “there’s a robust range of services surrounding mental health.”
Primary elections are scheduled for March 3. No Republicans or third-party candidates filed to run for sheriff, so the winner of the primary will take the seat.
