I know I keep returning to that foul mess at the Benton County sheriff's office, but I can't seem to help wondering how things have become so ugly for Sheriff Kelley Cradduck.
By now, readers pretty much know the story. No need to rehash details except to say that following the outcome of a lengthy quorum court committee hearing on the grievance filed by two deputies, each claiming whistle-blower status, the sheriff has reinstated both.
From the sound of things, he could have saved himself a lot of grief by never demoting them to begin with, especially during an election year. He contends the mess he finds himself in is all politically motivated.
But he did demote them for whatever reasoning. And he chose not to attend that grievance hearing and defend himself. He did send his attorney, which to me was either a mistake or calculated; I can't tell.
So now, as someone with common sense once said: It is what it is and, like all of us, he has to live with the consequences of his choices.
Some choices in question involve Cradduck allegedly ordering his administrative assistant and Robin Holt, one of the demoted deputies, to backdate the actual starting date as a deputy for Gabriel Cox who has listed his address as the sheriff's residence.
Holt contends she refused to follow that command, and her supervisor, Jeremy Guyll, says he backed her up and contacted authorities about the matter.
The mystery man in this drama, Cox, was to join the department a couple of months back and I've yet to see or learn the connection between him and the sheriff because, well, Cradduck isn't disclosing the nature of that relationship.
But with a special prosecutor apparently investigating those allegations and others (perhaps for any possibility of criminal wrongdoing) I suspect the answer to that question and others inevitably will bubble to the surface.
I've previously characterized Cradduck's latest headline-maker as a sticky, icky mess, which may turn out to prove an understatement.
For Cradduck's sake, I hope it boils down to his contention. Yet in the interest of reality, I continue to believe this matter, and perhaps others, were poorly handled at best.
Jobs lost
So, you're among those who believe a minimum wage of $15 an hour for McDonald's employees is reasonable and beneficial; that just over $31,000 a year for a full-time worker is justified by the bottom-line economics of fast-food delivery?
I hate to break it to you, but the reality is that approach, not rooted in truth but another unrealistic, politically driven dictate from government, appears to be backfiring big time.
If you have yet to see the McDonald's stores installing customer self-service kiosks as opposed to continuing to keep high schoolers and other entry-level employees on their payroll, I'd suggest you take a look.
It's a tough lesson in economics for paid political operatives and the naïve who prefer to carry signs and scream protests rather than actually work themselves. And I suspect this minimum-wage movement will wind up costing untold thousands of young folks their part-time jobs across the entire fast-food industry and beyond, driving more onto the unemployment and welfare rolls.
That's a sad situation in my view, driven by a relative few who place the hope for political advantage above the undeniable taskmaster that is truth.
Anyone out there really believe the genuine value of preparing and serving fast food approaches anywhere near $31,000 a year? And just what do you suppose that does to the salary structures that feel the ripple effects of such hot-dog-level reasoning? Does anyone believe once these touchscreen kiosks are widely installed we ever will return to the era of employees serving our burgers and fries?
At the risk of sounding, well, cheesy, I feel compelled to advise those with such backward, naïve thinking to remember the wise advice of Kenda McCroskey: "Come on and 'catsup mustard.'"
Another pursuit death
Did you catch that story the other day about an eastbound driver--being pursued at high speed by the St. Francis County sheriff's deputy--who crossed the median into westbound traffic on Interstate 40, then swerved back into the eastbound lanes where he collided with a commercial truck at mile marker 248 near Widener? I did.
The wild driver who'd fled from a traffic stop was killed in the collision. I don't know what happened to the unfortunate and innocent truck driver.
The Arkansas State Police were investigating afterwards, and the sheriff's office wasn't commenting. Can't say as I blame them.
This adds another chapter in the book of unnecessary deaths of lots of people, including police officers, because of these high-speed chases that can make for some dramatic footage on real-life cop-related TV programs, but too often prove unwise, unnecessary and tragic in 2015 America.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 11/22/2015