On April 1, 2024, Travis Stolley responded to the attacks made on him via a series of Facebook posts. Stolley said in the post that if you wanna know the truth, meet me at Mugsy’s on April 18th between 6 and 8 PM. “Meet the Candidate. Ask Questions. Drink Beer.”
Here’s my take on this.
First, this post was put on Facebook on April Fool’s Day. Is it real?
Assuming that it is, this is too little, too late in my opinion. Travis will wait to respond until April 18th and then only privately. By that time, the story will have been circulating for about a month on the Internet with no rebuttal. This was done publicly, and the response should also be publicly, not privately to a bunch of folks that were not involved.
The post from Stolley reads in part:
I will not go into any more specifics of the incident being talked about on social media other than to say this.
I tried to respect the privacy of those involved when initially asked about this incident last fall and I will continue to do so now.
I am far from a perfect person or candidate, but I will always do what I believe is the right thing. I know I did the right thing in this situation given the facts and information available at the time.
Translation: I have no comment. I did the right thing.
Conclusion: what you read online is true, but I deny that I violated the law or procedure by what I did while in uniform. Oh, and if I had to do it over, I’d do the same thing.
This type of non-answer sounds suspiciously like something you might get told to say by a sympathetic lawyer wanting you to deflect without self-incrimination.
The other thing you should know is that his date at Mugsy’s (a local restaurant and watering hole) is that it directly conflicts with the candidate forum at the same date and time. This forum is for all state constitutional offices up for grabs on the May 21st Primary ballot. The most hotly contested of these races is state Senate.
Oh, my wife has been checking up on the candidates in her travels through the area. The story she gets is that Stolley is the favorite of some of the local power brokers. Stolley’s family apparently goes way back in the community. He is the choice of the good ole boys in the county. My wife was told that due to his family connections with the area that Stolley is the odds-on favorite to win with virtually no experience. The good ole boys want Stolley because they think they can control him. This belief works out like this: due to his inexperience he will need to heavily depend on their aid to be an effective sheriff.
(Note for California readers: good ole boys, and most everyone else here, have facial hair, drive four wheel drive pickups, and wear Carhartt clothing, baseball caps, and open carry pistols.)
Oh, Dave Schuman got a positive plug. My wife was told that Dave will answer the phone if you call him for help and is an asset to the community. Schuman is described as a genuinely nice guy.
My sense that both represent the status quo and “do no harm” seems to be holding up.
In gatherings where I have met the candidates, all three seem like decent folks. I would be happy to have any one of them over for a BBQ meal—if I had a barbecue. Nevertheless, I have decided to support Jon VanGesen.