Another former employee rips Mecklenburg Sheriff (11-14-2024--Hour1)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] First, I have to start the program with an apology. I have to apologize for an error that I made. I apologize to you. I apologize to Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gary. Not my fault, McFadden. Deeply embarrassed by the mistake that I made the other day when I was talking about how one goes about removing a sheriff from office.

[00:00:55] I thought qualified electors were people that were like the slate of electors to pick, you know, candidates inside the parties and stuff. Turns out it's just voters. That's my bad. I apologize. It's actually way easier to remove the sheriff than I thought. So sorry about that. I may have misled the sheriff. I may have misled you. So I do apologize. The language in the state statute says,

[00:01:26] qualified electors. And when I was reading through the state statute, I read that and assumed, and there is my mistake. That was my mistake. I assumed that electors was like, oh, the electoral college thing, the electors that you send right up to DC, or you have them sign their,

[00:01:49] you have them sign their, their slates or whatever, or they're like the party poobahs and such that are electors. No, no. Qualified electors just means that you are allowed to vote. So you got to be registered voters in the county.

[00:02:06] So in the state of North Carolina, according to general statute 128-16, any sheriff or police officer shall be removed from office by the judge of the superior court resident in or holding the courts of the district where said officer is resident upon charges made in writing.

[00:02:27] Okay. So the, the, the key there is that, uh, the judge, a superior court judge, uh, probably the chief judge, I guess, but doesn't say, just as the judge of the superior court, um, in obviously the county where this is, uh, where the supplies, um, would be the one to remove.

[00:02:50] Based on charges made in writing and the complaint or the petition shall be entitled in the name of the state of North Carolina and may be filed upon the relation of, so people who are relating to, right, the state or whatever.

[00:03:12] So upon the relation of any five qualified electors of the county in which the person charged is an officer.

[00:03:23] So five Mecklenburg County registered voters or qualified electors, uh, five voters can file a petition upon.

[00:03:37] So that's one way to go.

[00:03:38] Another way to go is upon the approval of the county attorney of such county.

[00:03:43] So Mecklenburg County's attorney or the district attorney of Mecklenburg County or by any such officer upon his own motion.

[00:03:58] So I don't know if that means it's unclear my reading of just that statute.

[00:04:02] It says, um, that if somebody, I guess, wants to remove themselves, they can, or is that just any officer in the sheriff's office?

[00:04:11] I don't know.

[00:04:11] It just says, or by any such officer upon his own motion, it shall be the duty of the county attorney or district attorney to appear and prosecute this proceeding.

[00:04:20] So by my understanding of this statute, five Mecklenburg County voters, registered voters can put forth a petition to have the sheriff removed from office.

[00:04:34] And then it shall be the duty of the county attorney or DA to appear and prosecute this proceeding.

[00:04:45] I got to think there are still at least five people, five registered voters in Mecklenburg County that would be willing to do that.

[00:04:54] I got to believe it.

[00:04:55] As a matter of fact, I am a registered voter of Mecklenburg County.

[00:05:02] So maybe you just need four, right?

[00:05:05] Because I, I would look, I would, I would look over a piece of paper.

[00:05:09] I would look over something like that.

[00:05:11] And look, I, I, I went and voted in the Democrat primary in order to get rid of McFadden.

[00:05:17] So this seems way easier.

[00:05:18] Um, so, all right.

[00:05:22] So my, my sincere apologies, uh, for getting that part wrong, thinking that qualified electors meant something other than registered voters.

[00:05:29] Apparently that's all it is just registered voters, qualified, uh, electors.

[00:05:34] So how can you, or, or what are the, um, the grounds to remove a sheriff from office?

[00:05:42] So the first one is willful or habitual neglect or refusal to perform the duties of his office.

[00:05:50] I, I don't know.

[00:05:52] Um, if, I don't know if it's going to be a strong case to be made for willful or habitual neglect to perform the duties of his office.

[00:06:01] I know, I know a bunch of people have died in the jail, but.

[00:06:06] But I, I, I don't know if that would, I don't know if you could prove willful or habitual neglect there.

[00:06:13] Cause he would just say, not my fault.

[00:06:16] Right.

[00:06:17] That's, that's what he always says.

[00:06:19] That's why I call him Gary, not my fault McFadden.

[00:06:22] So he would say it was, oh, some other deputies.

[00:06:25] It was somebody else that did it.

[00:06:26] And they were supposed to check on those inmates, sorry, residents of the jail.

[00:06:31] That's what he prefers to call them.

[00:06:32] So, um, he would just say that.

[00:06:36] And that would probably pass muster as a defense.

[00:06:40] All right.

[00:06:40] So the second, uh, category or, or ground for removal, corruption.

[00:06:46] I don't know if there's any evidence of that.

[00:06:49] I haven't seen evidence of corruption, but I'm open.

[00:06:54] If you have evidence, I'm open to checking it out.

[00:06:56] Pete at the Pete calendar show.com.

[00:06:58] Um, extortion.

[00:07:02] Not aware of that either.

[00:07:04] No stories being reported about McFadden extorting anybody.

[00:07:08] So don't think that would fly.

[00:07:10] Hasn't been convicted of a felony and, um, don't have any reports of intoxication or conviction of being intoxicated.

[00:07:21] Notwithstanding his, you know, public speaking abilities.

[00:07:24] I'm, I'm, I'm not sure that you could prove intoxication.

[00:07:27] So that leaves the final ground for, uh, removal for what offenses would be willful misconduct or maladministration in office.

[00:07:41] I think that's the one maladministration.

[00:07:46] Maybe willful misconduct.

[00:07:48] Because one of the allegations that has been brought against Gary McFadden by his former employees and, um, over the last, uh, few weeks, it's really ramped up.

[00:08:01] But this has been, um, a pattern since McFadden has been in office.

[00:08:07] He's been there six years.

[00:08:09] He's won two elections.

[00:08:11] And, uh, one of the problems is that he not just is abusive towards his staff, uh, at all levels, but that he usurps the chain of command.

[00:08:23] But also that he uses essentially internal affairs to go after people.

[00:08:32] That, to me, might be willful misconduct or, at the very least, maladministration in the office.

[00:08:41] Again, not a lawyer here, not a law enforcement officer, just a little old radio host looking at the law as it's written.

[00:08:51] Um, we have another former Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office employee who has come forward now to talk about how poorly the sheriff is running the sheriff's office to the detriment of the employees there.

[00:09:08] But also, um, the residents and the residents of Mecklenburg County.

[00:09:15] The inmates in the jail and the inmates of Mecklenburg County, right?

[00:09:19] Or the residents of Mecklenburg County.

[00:09:21] See, it's so confusing.

[00:09:22] You just call them residents.

[00:09:25] It's like, how do I know that you're talking about just people that live outside the jail versus people who are living in the jail?

[00:09:31] If I just call them inmates, then I don't have to say of the Mecklenburg County jail.

[00:09:35] Anyway, another former employee has now come forward.

[00:09:39] In fact, she was on Vince Coakley's show just before I came on the air.

[00:09:45] Vince does a show 10 a.m. to noon.

[00:09:47] And, um, this former employee named Aileen Maddox joined Vince's show and talked with Vince.

[00:09:56] And she also spoke with WSOC TV about her experience.

[00:10:02] And she was a supporter of McFadden's.

[00:10:06] Helped get him elected.

[00:10:08] Went to work for him.

[00:10:09] And she said that she observed a change in McFadden's behavior almost immediately.

[00:10:17] Like, on election night.

[00:10:21] She said that when she went to, and this is, by the way, she was the sheriff's office chaplain.

[00:10:29] She's a chaplain.

[00:10:31] And she had to quit because she said she was afraid she was going to get a heart attack from the stress of working for him.

[00:10:39] She said she would try to satisfy his demands as, you know, he's making all of these demands on employees.

[00:10:47] But he could never articulate what he wanted.

[00:10:51] That's a problem.

[00:10:53] That's maladministration.

[00:10:56] But also that he would weaponize essentially the Internal Affairs Division to go after people inside the sheriff's office.

[00:11:09] Like, that's a problem.

[00:11:11] I don't know if that rises to the level of corruption, but it definitely checks the box next to maladministration.

[00:11:18] All right, we'll pick it up there in a minute.

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[00:12:23] Email is Pete at thepetecalendorshow.com.

[00:12:29] You can also find me on Twitter, at Pete Callender.

[00:12:32] By the way, you can also find not just me on Twitter, formerly known as X, but you can find Sheriff NotMyFaultMcFadden on Twitter as well.

[00:12:44] He goes by the name SugarFreeTalk.

[00:12:48] Sugar.

[00:12:49] Free.

[00:12:51] Talk.

[00:12:51] Talk.

[00:12:54] He doesn't post a lot, though, I will say.

[00:12:56] Like, this is the last post that he's got up there.

[00:13:01] It's from Labor Day, where he says,

[00:13:04] Happy Labor Day.

[00:13:05] If no one talks behind your back, that means you're not doing enough.

[00:13:16] That's what that means.

[00:13:17] If no one talks behind your back, that means you're not doing enough.

[00:13:23] Okay.

[00:13:25] Okay.

[00:13:25] Think about the worldview and the interpersonal relationship dynamic one must have, right?

[00:13:34] To think that.

[00:13:35] And then to post it.

[00:13:38] Like, that's...

[00:13:39] You think that's the reason people are talking behind your back?

[00:13:43] Is that it's because you're doing too much?

[00:13:45] Is that you're doing all of this stuff?

[00:13:47] That you're so awesome, right?

[00:13:50] And if no one's talking behind your back, it's not because, say, you're a good person,

[00:13:55] or you're appreciated, or you're, you know, not very involved in stuff, or you don't have

[00:14:02] a lot of close friends, or whatever.

[00:14:04] Like, there are a whole bunch of reasons why nobody would talk behind your back.

[00:14:08] I mean, the biggest one would be that, like, you're not wronging a bunch of people.

[00:14:14] That could be it, too.

[00:14:15] But, no, in his view, it's because he's the victim.

[00:14:19] And this is what shines through and what's shown through in his remarks on Friday at the graduation

[00:14:28] ceremony or promotion ceremony for seven new employees who were there with all their families.

[00:14:36] And if you want to go back and listen to it, I pulled a bunch of audio out of his unscripted, rambling comments.

[00:14:43] And the thing that shines through is that he is a hero victim.

[00:14:49] That's what he sees himself as.

[00:14:51] Never the villain.

[00:14:53] Always the hero and victim.

[00:14:57] So, now we've got another former Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office employee coming forward to confirm

[00:15:05] that basically he's a bad sheriff.

[00:15:07] He's a bad administrator.

[00:15:10] He's a bad leader.

[00:15:11] That's really what this comes down to.

[00:15:13] He's a bad leader.

[00:15:14] And it's got nothing to do with his race.

[00:15:15] The two people that have so far come out on the record, they're both black.

[00:15:19] And so is he.

[00:15:20] But he still wants to portray this as, you know, he's the victim of racism.

[00:15:25] And that's not the case.

[00:15:28] You're a victim of your own actions, of your own leadership.

[00:15:32] Well, I was going to say ability, but your own leadership inability or lack of skills.

[00:15:39] That's what's happening.

[00:15:42] And it's just building and building and building.

[00:15:44] And people that signed on and joined the force thinking that they were getting something got something else

[00:15:54] and don't want to continue working in that environment.

[00:15:57] And if you've ever worked in this kind of an environment, you know how toxic it is.

[00:16:01] I've been in a workplace like this.

[00:16:04] It's not fun.

[00:16:05] And I left because it's not a fun place to work.

[00:16:08] There's a psychological abuse component at play, and you should not subject yourself to that.

[00:16:15] And then you should warn other people, particularly in a position like Sheriff.

[00:16:21] 704-570-1110.

[00:16:23] Email is Pete at the Pete Calendar show dot com.

[00:16:27] And hit me up on Twitter, formerly X at Pete Calendar.

[00:16:32] That's K-A-L-I-N-E-R.

[00:16:35] So here's the story from WSOC-TV by Jonathan Lowe.

[00:16:42] Quote,

[00:16:43] My stress level was so high that I was afraid of having a heart attack, said Aileen Maddox, who now works and lives in Ohio.

[00:16:53] She served as the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office chaplain for 13 years.

[00:17:00] Maddox told Channel 9's Jonathan Lowe about the source of her stress.

[00:17:04] Quote,

[00:17:06] The sheriff and the way that he ran the agency.

[00:17:09] Not only what happened to me as the chaplain, but as the person who heard from those affected.

[00:17:16] Think about what she's saying right there.

[00:17:19] It's not just what she dealt with, with McFadden.

[00:17:23] She was the sounding board for all the people that couldn't go to internal affairs or the sheriff.

[00:17:33] They didn't feel comfortable doing it.

[00:17:35] They were afraid of doing it.

[00:17:36] They were worried about retribution.

[00:17:38] They would go and talk to the chaplain.

[00:17:40] So she's hearing all of these stories in confidence from all of these employees.

[00:17:48] She said,

[00:17:49] When he came into office, we wanted him there.

[00:17:52] When he got there, I kept waiting for this great day that has not come.

[00:17:59] That's got to be disappointing.

[00:18:01] That's got to be discouraging.

[00:18:03] She said,

[00:18:14] Later on, she says,

[00:18:31] So this is corroboration.

[00:18:38] Right?

[00:18:39] This phrase that he keeps using, this way that he describes employees about how they're on the plantation.

[00:18:45] He has apparently been using this all the time in front of all different people for six years.

[00:18:55] Maddox said that the sheriff was extremely verbally abusive towards her and other employees.

[00:19:03] Quote,

[00:19:04] He didn't have an issue with putting people down in front of other people.

[00:19:08] I said this the other day.

[00:19:10] In management, you chastise in private and you praise in public.

[00:19:18] That's like fundamental management stuff.

[00:19:21] You don't dress people down in front of all of their colleagues.

[00:19:25] And you damn sure don't do it in front of inmates.

[00:19:27] Because now, like when the sheriff apparently goes around talking trash about corrections officers and sheriff's deputies and employees at the jail.

[00:19:41] And you're talking crap about these employees to the inmates.

[00:19:46] What do you think the inmates then do?

[00:19:52] Like you're actually putting people's lives in jeopardy when you do that sort of stuff.

[00:19:58] And people know this, that they can just usurp the chain of command.

[00:20:01] They can go right to the sheriff with stuff.

[00:20:03] And if the sheriff likes you and you're buddy-buddy with the sheriff, then the sheriff will get you what you want.

[00:20:14] Everything from letting the residents of the detention center know that he didn't trust staff at all, which is a danger to those who are working.

[00:20:21] There it is.

[00:20:22] He would tell inmates that he did not trust his own staff.

[00:20:29] What the hell are you doing, man?

[00:20:31] Why are you telling inmates that?

[00:20:34] Sorry.

[00:20:36] Residents.

[00:20:40] Maddox, the chaplain, like Kevin Canty, who also quit after less than a year on the job.

[00:20:47] And I'm going to come back to him because I've got his resignation letter.

[00:20:52] And by the way, if you know Kevin Canty, door is open here.

[00:20:54] I would love to have him on the program.

[00:20:56] I went looking for a way to contact him and I can't find a way to contact him.

[00:20:59] But would love to have him come in and talk about his experience.

[00:21:06] He's done interviews with other media outlets.

[00:21:10] Maddox said that she believes the sheriff deserves more scrutiny by the North Carolina Sheriff's Association.

[00:21:19] She said she never witnessed the sheriff doing anything criminal, but he needs more scrutiny.

[00:21:25] Quote, I think they need to investigate all that they can.

[00:21:28] And my prayer is that the people who are still there, who know of his inconsistencies, and they are there, that they would be open enough to say what they need to say because he does threaten within.

[00:21:40] Right.

[00:21:42] The residents of Mecklenburg County, the taxpayers, the citizens.

[00:21:46] Right.

[00:21:47] The officers of the court, the courthouse employees, all the people that rely on the sheriff's office to be a professional and effective organization.

[00:21:58] All of us need whistleblowers inside the sheriff's office to come forward and tell the public what they know and what they have seen, what they have experienced.

[00:22:09] The time is now.

[00:22:10] You're not going to get a better time to come forward and build on this momentum that's already started.

[00:22:18] There's a thing called the preference cascade.

[00:22:20] I talk about it in all sorts of areas.

[00:22:26] You can see it manifest.

[00:22:27] Once you know what you're looking for, you can see it all over the place, which is, you know, resistance at first.

[00:22:33] You know, denial, resistance and then acceptance.

[00:22:39] And then you get some followers to an idea or a person or like a new technology or something.

[00:22:45] And then once sort of the dam breaks, then all of a sudden everybody jumps on board.

[00:22:51] That's called the preference cascade.

[00:22:54] The thing that was not preferred becomes preferred.

[00:22:57] And the old line is that slowly at first and then very quickly.

[00:23:02] And that's the dam breaking.

[00:23:04] And all of a sudden, everybody is standing around with you, whereas you initially thought you were alone.

[00:23:10] The preference cascade.

[00:23:12] I think what we are seeing right now is the beginning of a preference cascade.

[00:23:17] And it requires more people to just tell the truth.

[00:23:22] And let the public help you.

[00:23:25] I want to be very clear.

[00:23:27] I am not quitting.

[00:23:28] I'm going to read to you a resignation letter.

[00:23:31] But it's not mine.

[00:23:33] Because I know sometimes people are like, oh, if I'm, you know, out sick or I take a day off.

[00:23:38] I'm just kidding.

[00:23:39] I don't ever do that.

[00:23:40] Actually, I am going to do that next Monday.

[00:23:42] So I won't be here, I think, on Monday.

[00:23:45] So, yeah, because I got to go.

[00:23:47] Yeah, just stupid.

[00:23:49] Have you got your driver's license renewed recently?

[00:23:51] Holy smokes.

[00:23:52] Don't even get me started.

[00:23:53] I'll do that show on Tuesday probably.

[00:23:55] But anyway.

[00:23:59] So when I'm out, if I'm off on vacation or something or I'm sick,

[00:24:03] I get usually about half a dozen messages that ask me if I've been fired because I work in radio.

[00:24:10] And so if you're missing one day, everybody thinks you got fired.

[00:24:12] And I get it.

[00:24:13] I totally understand.

[00:24:16] Which is why you should follow me on Twitter because I would let you know there.

[00:24:21] But I'm going to read this.

[00:24:23] Yeah, I'm going to read this letter.

[00:24:25] This came from Kevin Canty, who was the chief deputy at the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office.

[00:24:30] His letter of resignation.

[00:24:33] Right.

[00:24:34] He said that he is submitting this letter after it has become painfully obvious that you intend to run this agency into the ground

[00:24:41] and completely demoralize the men and women of this agency.

[00:24:45] This is incredibly disappointing because as one of your constituents and a resident of this great county,

[00:24:50] I voted for you not once but twice.

[00:24:53] I did so the second time after receiving detailed and damning information about you from the Charlotte chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police

[00:25:03] when I was the special agent in charge of the Charlotte Field Office of North Carolina SBI.

[00:25:08] I thought for sure the allegations had to be exaggerations.

[00:25:13] By the way, this addresses the question as to why would he take this job with McFadden if he knew about this stuff.

[00:25:21] He addresses it right there.

[00:25:22] He says, I thought they had to be exaggerations.

[00:25:25] There's no way this could have been true.

[00:25:27] The matters raised were civil and EEOC in nature but not criminal.

[00:25:32] Sadly, I am ashamed to say that the allegations were 100% accurate.

[00:25:36] I've witnessed firsthand your denigrating and unprofessional comments to your command and executive staff.

[00:25:42] I've witnessed your blatant insecurities on full display as you accepted credit for all success and deflected blame

[00:25:48] and attributed all problems and issues to the staff.

[00:25:51] I've also witnessed you lie effortlessly, then throw a temper tantrum and attack the messenger when confronted with evidence that proved that you lied.

[00:25:59] The failures of this agency are due to your lack of professionalism, leadership, and managerial abilities.

[00:26:07] Or as I call it, and the law calls it, maladministration.

[00:26:10] He says, you often mention the culture and imply that it is somehow attributable to your predecessors.

[00:26:17] That works the first year or two after you became the leader, but after six, the culture is your culture.

[00:26:23] It functions like a third world dictatorship with no one following the chain of command,

[00:26:29] which you openly and repeatedly flaunt and encourage staff not to follow.

[00:26:34] This has resulted in pure chaos.

[00:26:36] In my 33 years of law enforcement experience with now four agencies, I've never witnessed such dysfunction.

[00:26:42] I have never worked in such a toxic and abusive environment and have never seen an agency head conduct himself in such a classless and abusive manner as you.

[00:26:54] The way you conduct yourself should be embarrassing to you, and you frankly should be ashamed of yourself.

[00:27:01] The citizens of Mecklenburg County deserve better, as do the employees of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office.

[00:27:08] The thing is, I was proud the day you asked me to be your chief deputy.

[00:27:13] You being the first black sheriff of my home county, I thought I would be allowed to do my job and help professionalize the office

[00:27:19] and help it return to a well-functioning agency, but it soon became obvious to me that you did not want a chief deputy.

[00:27:25] You wanted a yes man, something I told you I was not hired to do, nor would ever be.

[00:27:34] Yeah, I don't see how people can keep turning a blind eye to McFadden.

[00:27:40] I really don't.

[00:27:44] All right, that'll do it for this episode.

[00:27:46] Thank you so much for listening.

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[00:28:01] Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.