Candidate Costello – Interview excerpts
By PJ Martin
Office/Reporter, Metcalfe Division
Charles Costello stopped by the Herald-News office last Thursday to discuss the events leading up to and pertaining to his Republican Committee nomination in the Sheriff’s race.
He stated that several news stations have contacted him and they all have one question, “Why do I want to run for sheriff?”
“Well, my first thought was, well I don’t! I just want to try to help the county get through this and get some decent people.”
“I started thinking about that, why, why, with all this mess and all these ungrateful people and then I thought about all the people that have been railroaded and I thought about how many other people will be railroaded? How many other people will be cheated out of their rights? And it’s pretty common for this county, for the less than well hilled to be screwed.”
“I want to be sheriff of this county to do what is right for once. Just for once let’s do what’s right.”
As for the accusations of greed he has been bombarded with since his nomination, Charles had this to say.
“Have you ever known me to be greedy? How many times have you seen me out doing things for nothing? Spending my own money. How many times have I put the flags up around the city? How many times have I bought them with my own money? You know that’s terrible that they would call me greedy. They may call me an SOB or something, that’s ok I don’t mind, but to call me greedy.”
As most know by now, with the passing of Sheriff Brooks, the Republican Party Committee met on August 6th. The Republican Party Committee Chairman Danny Holley had been notified of the need to choose a candidate for the November ballot by the Metcalfe County Court Clerk.
Around midday on Monday, August 5th, Holley ran into Committee Secretary Costello while at the secretary’s office of the County Judge and told him of the need for an emergency meeting. Costello stated that. “I proceeded to call everyone.” Holley contacted Judge/Executive Harold Stilts, who wasn’t in at the time, about the meeting.
“So that’s what happened. We had this meeting. We did what we thought was right…the law has been followed to the T, to the letter.”
In hindsight, it could have been done different but the results would have been the same. If we had waited [to meet], which we should have done, we didn’t know at the time.”