Correcting A Big Lie

Fellow Citizens of Worcester County:

I’ve grown accustomed to the mud slinging in our political contests these days and the current battle for State’s Attorney in Worcester County is no different.  While this is the third time Beau Oglesby has challenged Joel Todd for the office, this time around is by far the one that has taken the cake when it comes to the depths of lies and deceit an incumbent will go to just to hang on to his job.  There are quite a few lies being thrown around about Beau.  Here are just a handful of some of the most outlandish lies:

1. Skipping out on paying for campaign debts.  Completely untrue.  Local businessman and printer, Tom Gulyas, offered to print mailers for Beau back in the 2006 election.  When it came time for payment, Tom wanted to donate his portion of the work to Beau’s campaign.  Gulyas claims this isn’t the case, but desperate men will do desperate things during desperate times.  Funny how Gulyas waits four years to file a claim.  This is totally politically motivated and the truth will come out in court.
2. Running afoul of Campaign Finance Laws.  A huge lie.  This is related to the Gulyas matter, but again, the facts presented by those trying to trash Beau make him look like he can’t manage the campaign budget and blows off finance laws.  In fact, if anyone bothers to call the board of elections and seek the truth, they’ll know that Beau properly closed his account; properly to reopened the account to deal with the Gulyas matter; and followed all of the laws in place.  Further, Beau is not on any kind of monthly repayment plan.  This is all nonsense and babble directed by Beau’s opponent to try to discredit Beau.
3. Trying to Fool Voters by Misrepresenting His Legal Career.  Just another lie. Beau’s 13 year legal career has been dominated by his public service as a career prosecutor – that is a fact.  Beau has never once tried to hide any part of his legal career.  Of course he’s going to highlight his prosecutorial experience – as would anyone running for State’s Attorney.  On the flipside, after losing the 2006 election, Beau did some defense work and civil practice in Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties, often times without receiving payment for his legal work.  This broadened Beau’s experiences in the practice of law and gave Beau an appreciation for the rights of the accused that he would not have had otherwise.  How is this bad for Beau or bad for you, the citizens of Worcester County? 
4. Wants Voters to believe he doesn’t do plea bargains.  Another lie.  All prosecutors, in appropriate cases, allow the defendant to plead guilty in exchange for dismissing some charges or agreeing to less stringent sentencing.  Without this tool, prosecutors everywhere would be tied up trying traffic cases that are four years old!  The key here is to know when to allow for a plea and when to properly try a case.  High profile cases should be tried and not pleaded.  And even more importantly, high profile cases shouldn’t be tried in a different jurisdiction just because you don’t think the citizens of Worcester County can reach the right decision in a jury case.  Ask Joel Todd why he joined in a defense motion to move the Sifrit case out of Worcester County?  Talk about deceiving the voters of the county?  Todd didn’t trust the voters of this county to sit in judgment because he thought Sifrit wouldn’t get a fair trial.
5. Discredits a Victims Rights Group.  Just a lie to make Beau look like he doesn’t care about victims.  Beau stated that he wouldn’t allow the use of victims’ endorsements just to support his campaign.  This was Beau’s response when asked about Todd’s use of a victim’s facebook page, not a victims rights group, endorsing Todd.  Beau would rather that the victims not live through their grief once more for someone’s political gain.  While Todd wants to use victims’ endorsements as a means to promote himself, Beau has total respect for the rights of the victims to their privacy.  If a victim wants to post up a facebook page supporting Beau, that’s fine, you just won’t find a link from Beau’s page or a big deal being made about it in deference to that victim and their family.
6. That he was admonished by the Maryland Supreme Court.  ABSOLUTE LIE.  I should know.  I represented Beau in the matter of Oglesby vs. Williams, 372 Md. 360 (2002).  First of all, Maryland doesn’t have a supreme court, so anyone saying so obviously doesn’t have an understanding of how our court system works.  The highest court in this state is the Court of Appeals, which also handles attorney misconduct and the practice of law.  No where in the opinion did Beau Oglesby get admonished by the court for anything having to do with his attempt to justify his residency during the 2002 campaign.  But don’t take my word for it.  Instead, Google the court opinion on the internet and read it for yourself. 

One thing that isn’t a lie is Beau Oglesby’s endorsement by all of the Fraternal Orders of Police.  These groups represent ALL of the police officers in the county and each one had an open forum where members could come out and support one candidate or the other and ask the candidates questions.  This was a thorough vetting process that has gone the other way in past election contests.  Upon voting within each group, they determined, among themselves, who they would support.  Now, individual officers within each group may come out and support whomever they wish individually, but it is a fact that these groups as a whole support and endorse Beau.  Contact them and ask them about it:

Ocean City FOP Lodge 10 – (410) 723-7160

Berlin FOP Lodge 136 –  (410) 641-1333

Maryland State Police FOP – (410) 288-2244

Worcester County FOP Lodge 50 – http://www.worcesterfop.org/

The bottom line is that Beau has a ton of support from the community.  He’s honest, hard working, and will do the right thing by the citizens of Worcester County if elected.  Beau’s experienced, has handled many high profile cases, and is supported far and wide by the vast majority of law enforcement officers in the county.  If Joel was doing such a great job, don’t you think they’d line up behind him?  Don’t let the smear campaign by the incumbent cloud the issues.  The future safety of Worcester County citizens, like you, depends upon your vote. 

Steve Rakow