Decision 2024: Meet Slate Simons, candidate for Houston County Sheriff
Early voting begins April 29 and ends on May 17. Election Day will be May 21.
HOUSTON COUNTY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Four Republican candidates are qualified for the upcoming Houston County Sheriff election. Arthur Harris is running unopposed as a Democrat.
Matt Moulton, Will Kendall, Jimmy Dunn, and Slate Simons are competing to win the Republican nomination in the upcoming primary election.
41NBC’s Monica Diaz-Meek spoke with each candidate ahead of the May 21 election.
Candidate name: Slate Simons
Running for: Houston County Sheriff
Occupation: President and Owner, Reece Heating and Air, LLC
Campaign Website: slateforsheriff.com
MONICA- Good Afternoon. Today we have Slate Simons joining us. He’s running for Houston County Sheriff. Thanks for joining us.
SLATE- Thanks for having me.
MONICA- First off, What is the biggest issue or challenge facing the Sheriff’s Office over the next four years and how do you plan on solving it?
SLATE- Well, I have to say the common denominator is obviously staffing and retention. Retention has kinda been pushed off to the side a little but, but we’ve lost about 20% of our staffing that has 10 years or more. Staffing is actually going to be pretty simple. There’s a lot of technology that we can use. Also, there’s a lot of that we can do at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Some people, men and women, who go through post academy and sometimes self funded or through grants go across the stage and they are ready to go. All we have to do is show up and recruit. We can do that and bring them tot he Houston County Sheriff’s Office, where they go through the application process and they can simply go through the FTO program and he or she and we can decide whether or not it’s the suitable career for them. So that is one of the biggest things we can do and it will be without taxpayer expense. So besides that, social media. We have to do a little bit more than just take photographs and say hey this is how much it pays for an hour. We gotta make it more exciting and inviting, because we used to be the most sought out agency around and it’s just not so much anymore. So that’s some of the things that I seek to do within my first 90 days.
MONICA- Alright. Now what data are you going to consider most heavily to make sure that Houston County is moving towards a safer community ?
SLATE- That’s a great question. What I’ve researched on FBI.org is that some of the things we don’t report on are the crimes committed in Kathleen and Bonaire. So per capita, we’re actually doing worse than Fulton County, which is a shocker to a lot of people. But if you really delve into it and do your homework, that’s going to couple with the fact that of your first question. So once we get it up to staff and retain these men and women, we’ll be able to be more proactive in the neighborhoods. There are network systems that we have within the computers that network to the police departments and the Sheriff’s Office so we can all be on board. One thing that we need to do is, we need to have quarterly meetings. So if I was the Sheriff, my chief and I would meet with other chiefs and their designees and their possibly even mayors. And we need quarterly meetings so we can all be in communication. I think we can agree that number one attribute to most relationships is communication. We can all stick together and find common pulse of what’s going on in Houston County.
MONICA- Alright. Now how do you plan on making Houston County safer? Is it using that data or what is your plan to make it a safer community?
SLATE- Well, let’s just be honest. We need to staff up the Sheriff’s Office. I know we’re 11 or 12 short on patrol, 40 overall at the Houston County Sheriff’s Office. You think collaboratively, if we can staff up the Sheriff’s Office then there’s going to be more men and women patrolling your neighborhoods, your businesses. And then, networking. I mean, simply meeting and just knowing what’s going on in the city of Warner Robins, Perry, Centerville. And all of us being on the same page. One of the things I kind of use as my catchphrase is Bring Back Brotherhood. Basically I knew the other officers, I knew the other deputies and I knew their families. If we can literally have that relationship of camaraderie and community and then establish our relationship with the citizens of Houston County, they’re going to more apt and proactive to give us more information so we can be proactive instead of reactive.
MONICA- Alright. Now, there are four candidates in this race. Why do you do you think you’re the best or most qualified for this position?
SLATE- Well I definitely think I’m the most qualified for this position because I have more years of service at the Houston County Sheriff’s Office than all the candidates combined. I have more hours of law enforcement training than all candidates combined as well. I’m a two time national K-9 award winner. I’ve seized over 2 million dollars in assets and drugs and contraband from 175 being the sergeant on the interstate criminal enforcement team. When you consider the totality of circumstances , I’ve worked at almost every level at the Sheriff’s Office. I started at the jail, so I know what it’s like to be a slick sleeve deputy. I know the things they are going through. I was a patrolman. I was the first to ever graduate the drug recognition expert program on patrol. Then I went to criminal investigations . I worked at narcotics. I worked undercover. I worked in uniform narcotics. So I’ve been in almost every facet. I was the SWAT team entry leader. So I really, the entire career path that Sheriff Talton allowed me to pursue and accomplish really set the precedence for me, building up to these events and there’s no doubt I am the best candidate for the Houston County Sheriff’s race.
MONICA- Alright, thanks Slate. Now to find out more about Mr. Simons or the other candidates running for Houston County Sheriff, head on over to our website 41nbc.com. Thank you for being here today.
SLATE- Thank you for having me.
Snippets from all candidates’ interviews will air on 41NBC News at 6 p.m., 11 p.m., DayBreak and 41Today. All interviews will also be posted in full on 41NBC.com on the following days:
Monday, April 22 – Matt Moulton
Tuesday, April 23– Will Kendall
Wednesday, April 24 – Jimmy Dunn
Thursday, April 25 – Slate Simons
