More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
Review of Republican Spartanburg County Sheriff's Forum with Hannah Miller
What makes a sheriff worthy of your vote? Dr. Robert Jackson and Hannah Miller from the Hannah Miller Show Podcast takes you inside the electrifying Republican Sheriff's Forum in Spartanburg County, where eight qualified candidates squared off amidst literal thunder and lightning. This wasn't just a political event—it was a revealing look at the men who might become the constitutional firewall between citizens and government overreach.
We break down how each candidate handled the forum's four critical questions: department culture, community concerns, constitutional rights, and creative solutions to difficult problems. The most heated moments came during discussions of the controversial "Rolling Thunder" initiative and civil asset forfeiture, revealing clear philosophical differences among candidates. Rick Stevens boldly declared "Rolling Thunder violates people's rights," while Bill Ryan demonstrated impressive constitutional knowledge, explaining how various amendments interconnect to protect citizens from government overreach.
Beyond policy positions, we analyze what makes each candidate unique. Bill Ryan emerged as the polished statesman with commanding presence, Rick Stevens projected fearlessness drawn from international crime-fighting experience, and Joseph Palato established himself as the innovative problem-solver. Meanwhile, veterans like Rusty Clevenger and Randy Holyfield carry decades of institutional knowledge and name recognition that newer candidates must overcome. Robert Cheeks showed promise as a rising political star with genuine passion for Spartanburg.
Whether you're concerned about constitutional rights, department morale, or community safety, this sheriff's race deserves your attention. Check candidate websites, attend upcoming forums, and ask tough questions before making this crucial decision. Your sheriff is the last line of defense for your constitutional freedoms—choose wisely.
http://Robertcheeksforsheriff.com
http://Clevengerforsheriff.com
http://BillRhyneforsheriff.com
http://Hollifieldforsheriff.com
http://NickDuncanforsheriff.com
http://Spartanburgcountysheriffelection2025.com
https://www.jacksonfamilyministry.com
https://bobslone.com/home/podcast-production/
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country.
Intro:Hosted by author and physician, dr Robert Jackson and his wife. Carlotta and daughter Hannah Miller so listen up, because the doctor is in.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Welcome to More Than Medicine. I'm your host, Dr Robert Jackson, bringing to you biblical insights and stories from the country doctor's rusty, dusty scrapbook. Well, what an exciting week. I'm here with my daughter, Hannah Miller. Welcome, Ms Hannah.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Thanks, dad, it's always a pleasure.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Well, today we're going to discuss the Republican Party Sheriff's Forum in Spartanburg County. We had eight highly qualified Republican candidates at a forum just last night that were all vying for the sheriff's position here in Spartanburg County. And, man, it was electric. Well, it was electric partly because there was a thunderstorm and there was lightning and thunder and three inches of rain fell during the program. But the auditorium was packed. There was probably, oh, I don't know, six or seven hundred people there. And, man, I'm telling you, our moderator was Bill Frady from WORD 98.9. He did an excellent job and the candidates, I'm telling you, all eight of them, would make a good sheriff.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Yeah, I think it's actually going to be very difficult. And again, we have to say you know, one of the candidates, adam Criss, wasn't there, so he's excluded from all of our commentary. Don't have anything that we could say about him, so we're going to be talking about the other eight, though, and the eight that were there Robert Cheeks, andy Clark, rusty Clevenger, nick Duncan, randy Holyfield, joseph Pilato, bill Ryan and Rick Stevens. As you said, all strong candidates. I was impressed. I was very impressed too.
Dr. Robert Jackson:It makes it harder for the voter it does it's very impressive to know that these are the men that want to serve spartanburg county and it makes me very grateful. I I liked all of them for various reasons. I really wish you could just kind of ball them all up, make one guy, because they had so many great, great ideas.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Yeah, and good characteristics.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Yes, and good characteristics across the board.
Dr.Robert Jackson:So well, let me do. Let me say this now All of them have served in law enforcement. All of them have worked at one time or another in the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department. All of them have been, you know, beat cops work, traffic work, vice. You know. They've all worked at various parts of the Sheriff's Department. Some of them have gone on to work in the highway patrol, not all. So there's a large, broad spectrum of experience. That was on the stage. All of them had a personal vision for what they could do to help improve the sheriff's department and how they could be a good sheriff for Spartanburg County. All of them are well-spoken. Sheriff for Spartanburg County. All of them are well-spoken. All of them are pretty passionate about what needs to be done. So let me ask you a question, ms Hannah.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Oh, wait, before we go into the questions. I was going to say down in the notes for both of our podcasts is that we're going to have every candidate's website linked there. So, listeners, if you want more information and I encourage you to go to their websites to find more information there's a link down there for you to click for each of the candidates so you can go there and find more information about their work experience, their history, their vision, all that kind of stuff.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Yep, very good Shoot shooter, all right.
Dr. Robert Jackson:So what were the topics that were discussed that Bill Frady asked each of the candidates. Okay, so these were the topics that were compiled from the most asked questions from voters in Spartanburg County. So they took these questions up and then compiled them. They broke it down into four questions and the first one was culture in the sheriff's department and of course this is all about restoring trust and integrity to the office. This was employee morale. A lot of people have concerns about the morale in the department. Then you've got communications, transparency and engagement with the citizens, county government and community partners. So all of that's kind of lumped into that first question and you're already beginning to see with that first question. This was, you got eight candidates responding to four questions all like this.
Dr. Robert Jackson:It was a lengthy night. We're going to try to, you know, kind of compress all the information the best that we can, uh, but number question number two was concerns in our community and this had to do with, you know, criminal illegal aliens in our community, fraud and scams targeted at seniors, dui theft, human trafficking, drugs, fentanyl, homelessness, all of those kind of criminal activities that we see happening in Spartanburg County, and ask these guys to spend three minutes responding to that. Then the third question was safeguarding the rights of the people, and this was the constitutional question. And well, we'll get into that in a minute, but this was a constitutional protections and enforcement. What do you think about your? What's your perspective on rolling thunder specifically?
Dr.Robert Jackson:Oh, that was a big one and that was a big one, uh, or other initiatives in the department.
Dr. Robert Jackson:And then the last question was creative solutions to difficult problems, and this had to do with the detention center issues, the long response time, recruitment, deputy retention, the best use of a $33 million annual budget so all of that, and God bless these guys. You know you've only got three minutes and you've got to respond to a question like that. It's hard to do, and so they all did more or less a really great job trying to respond to these things, but there's aspects of each one that, know, probably wasn't answered perfectly, uh, but that's just the nature of you've got eight guys up there and they can only they only have three minutes you know.
Dr.Robert Jackson:But I have to say they all had a good answer. They all did well in answering the questions, um, and and it was very interesting meeting and it went by fast.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Yeah, it did. It went by very fast. I was very intrigued and of course, this is something that I don't think a lot of people realize the importance of the sheriff's department and who your sheriff is in your county. And this was one of the things that was highlighted during COVID. To me and to a lot of folks was how important it is for you to make sure that your sheriff is not somebody who's going to shut down your, your business, or enforce masking or you know they're going to follow through If you get you get fired because of not taking the shot, things like that. You know making sure that black lives matters riots weren't happening in our city things Black Lives Matter riots weren't happening in our city.
Dr. Robert Jackson:It became very close to home to a lot of folks who have not had a lot of brushing up against criminal activity, and so it is very important and so this was a very to me. I was very interested to hear what these guys had to say.
Dr.Robert Jackson:So Well, tell me, tell me now. You were there and you were taking, and I saw you taking notes on everything. So who did you think was the strongest candidate on? Let's just pick one. Um, the thing that I thought was that people were the most passionate about was this rolling thunder question. Yeah, um, I mean, the audience was obviously very interested in those answers. Um, so what did you think?
Dr. Robert Jackson:well, for our listeners sake, refresh their memories on what rolling thunder is All right.
Dr.Robert Jackson:If everybody knows, we're on the interstate I-95 well, 85 for us and I-26 goes right through our county.
Dr. Robert Jackson:As the sheriff's candidate said, all the drugs move from the south to the north and all the cash moves from the north to the south Cuts right through Spartanburg County.
Dr.Robert Jackson:That's right, and so, once a year, there's an influx of extra deputies that comes to help us execute what they've called Rolling Thunder.
Dr. Robert Jackson:This initiative, yeah.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Yep, and there's a lot of traffic stops. Some of them we, some people, consider unnecessary, but usually there's a cause and the vehicles are searched and of course, they're searching for sex trafficked individuals, searching for illicit cash and illicit drugs. Where the rub comes in is when there's the seizure of assets. Yes, civil asset forfeiture is a technical term.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Say it again Civil asset forfeiture, that's right Civil asset forfeiture and sometimes people who are not drug abusers drug sellers, I guess you'd call them traffickers are caught up in that and their assets are forfeited and they have a hard time getting their money back. And the illustration that was given was if someone's got $15,000 in their automobile and they're going to buy a boat or another vehicle and they're stopped for, say, a tail, light this out and somebody questions why they have fifteen thousand dollars in cash and they end up forfeiting their cash for a vehicle and they're not a drug runner they're just going to get a boat.
Dr. Robert Jackson:They're just going to buy a boat, happy to stop them, and they will.
Dr.Robert Jackson:You know they'll take that asset, they'll take the money and then you've got all this saga trying to get it. It takes them a year or two to get their $15,000 back. So anyway, there's issues like that that go on. And they're not drug runners, so there's just issues that private citizens in our county have with that whole civil asset forfeiture. So anyway, the deputies were all had strong feelings about that. So what was your opinion about their answers?
Dr. Robert Jackson:Most all of them had the stance that it started out okay. The idea behind Rolling Thunder hey, we need to be responding to the drug trafficking that's cutting through our county because of I-85, we've got to address this. Most everybody said well, I think actually everybody except for one guy said it started out okay, but we need to make some changes. We need to make sure that this is a program that's operating with integrity and is operating well.
Dr. Robert Jackson:There was Nick Duncan said that we should end Rolling Thunder, but his argument was that because deputies are already doing that, it's just, you know, throughout the year. And he said we just need to have more, we need to focus on the county versus the interstate. And then he so that was kind of his argument and just it train the deputies better to do this all of the time throughout the County, not just the interstate. So, but he did I want to give credit where credit's due he did say we just we needed to end, uh, rolling thunder, although I don't think he was thinking we need to end it for the reasons that a lot of people would say we need to end it. The one candidate that, um, bill Ryan, said it was okay but it became problematic. And then he gave a very strong argument against civil asset forfeiture and then, quickly following him, was Rick Stevens, and Rick Stevens was the only candidate that said Rolling Thunder violates people's rights.
Dr. Robert Jackson:And he got a rousing applause to that and he said it possibly started out okay. So he kind of agreed with the others, but you could tell he really thinks that Rolling Thunder is very problematic and he spoke the most strongly against Rolling Thunder and he spoke the strongest on protecting constitutional rights and spoke very strongly against the civil asset forfeiture that's happened because of Rolling Thunder.
Dr. Robert Jackson:And so I think on the topic of Rolling Thunder, there Rick Stevens his passion on that and I think his knowledge on that wins him edges him out above Bill Ryan on it. But, Bill Ryan was strong on it as well as well.
Dr.Robert Jackson:I got you Now talk about the whole issue of protecting the constitutional rights of the citizens. That was a big issue and there were some that spoke well, some not so well.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Yeah, I think that this was actually the question that I was most interested to see, because you and I both know what's the purpose of the Constitution is to limit the federal government, and it's not just you know, we use the term a lot. Protect the, protect Americans' rights and that kind of thing, but from who?
Dr. Robert Jackson:And most people think of it as a protection against criminals, against you know, from other countries, that kind of thing. But from who? And most people think of it as a protection against criminals, against you know, from other countries, that kind of thing. But it's really about protecting American citizens from a federal government overreach and even state government overreach. And so I was very intrigued to see who was going to know the correct answer for this question and who was going to be able to pull that apart?
Dr. Robert Jackson:Unfortunately, I thought that Robert Cheeks. This was the weakest answer for him. Andy Clark, rusty Clevenger all three were weak on this one, as was Randy Holifield, and not that their answers were bad or anything like that. I just thought, when I've got to list these guys on a scale of 1 to 10, and I've got eight of them, some guys just had a really strong answer and some were less strong. They weren't bad answers, they were just their weakest answer.
Dr. Robert Jackson:And so for those guys, I would say Nick Duncan. His phrase was that the sheriff is the last line of defense. So for those guys I would say Nick Duncan was he did. His phrase was that the sheriff is the last line of defense against an overreaching, overreaching government. He was, I thought, nick Duncan. Probably this was the question that he shone on. Yeah, he shone on this one. He had a real grasp of that. He understood the Constitution. Constitution, like I said, is to limit the government, not citizens. And so I I thought this one for him was the time that he actually shown in the evening, right, um, but joseph palato, bill ryan and rick stevens all had a real good grasp of that, as well um and so I'll.
Dr. Robert Jackson:But I I want to give Nick Duncan credit, because that's where I think he's shown the best of the evening.
Dr. Robert Jackson:So but Bill Ryan, he was the one when he when he gave his answer, he really demonstrated his knowledge of the constitution because he took it, you know, he said it's it is to, said it is to protect the United States citizens from federal government, state government, those things. He knew what it's actually there for. But then he took it a step further and he talked about how you know you protect. If the Second Amendment is taken away, then you have the Fourth Amendment is violated and then the Sixth Amendment is violated. And he went all through that and he demonstrated and he shown by demonstrating his knowledge of the constitution and not just the second amendment, because every police officer knows the second amendment.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Um, they all do. They all spoke to the second amendment, they all defended the second amendment and that's where most of these guys went with that question was defending the second amendment. But he understood the implications for if you don't, and then demonstrated his knowledge of the entirety of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. So I very much appreciated that and I thought Bill shone on that one as well.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Now, who's the most passionate?
Dr. Robert Jackson:This was probably a tie for well. Rick Stevens and then Joseph Palato. Both were very passionate, joseph Palato.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Yeah.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Both were very passionate. Joseph Palato I've not talked about him a lot. He has a lot of experience from Florida and Texas, from outside of the state of South Carolina in addition to Spartanburg County, and he's the new idea guy.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Yeah.
Dr. Robert Jackson:You definitely got the vibe that he was from outside of, or he was a bit of the outsider but he'd been here 14 years in here for a long time.
Dr. Robert Jackson:I think his ideas were just. I just came across that he's the guy that's been in the department that's putting forth a lot of ideas that some people are like now you got to get rid of that, but then some of them are really good ideas and so he was very passionate about those things about and a lot of the ideas that he had. I really appreciated that about Joseph he did a great job putting his ideas out there. Rick Stevens is the guy and I know we haven't given everybody's work history he's. He's the one who has a lot of. He's done a lot of time working internationally. He's done a lot of working with mafia gangs, all kinds of things, and it was very interesting to hear his work background. He came across he is unafraid man.
Outro:Fearless.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Fearless is the right word for Rick Stevens, and that passion and that fearlessness really came through. So I think it's kind of a toss up between when you're just saying hey, who is the most passionate, Pallotto or Stevens? Would you agree with that?
Dr.Robert Jackson:Yeah, maybe, yeah, I would agree that those two guys were the most passionate and I definitely put Rick Stevens as the most courageous and most fearless Now, as far as the most statesman. Now, as far as the most statesman, I'd give that to Bill Ryan.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Yeah.
Dr.Robert Jackson:You know, a sheriff has to be somebody who can speak to the, to the public, speak to the media and, as far as being polished, being a statesman, somebody who I think would represent the county well. I'd give Bill Ryan that position.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Yeah, I think Bill Ryan is the candidate to beat, and it may be too early in the show to be saying that, but yeah, no, but I think you're right. That's my assessment too, he had presentation, he had execution, he was execution, he was polished he was professional and articulate Very articulate, he was passionate in the right places.
Dr. Robert Jackson:He was very knowledgeable, he knew a lot of the terminology, the correct terminology. Now, sometimes knowing the correct terminology leaves some folks behind because there's other folks who they don't know what civil asset forfeiture is, so for them they're resonating with these guys who are describing it, not using the term. But I appreciated that he did know the term and not only was he able to explain it, he knew the term, used the term, so that kind of thing. And I think he has a presence, and I think he has that leadership presence and that's probably from his time in the Marines yeah, he does, he, does he.
Dr.Robert Jackson:I mean, he's got his short cropped hair, he's tall yeah he's handsome. Um he just. He just looks like he's a lieutenant general in the Marine Corps you know he also and not to I don't know.
Dr. Robert Jackson:You know he, everybody was really nice and polished last night, but he also had this very nice suit that was. He wore the suit. The suit didn't wear him.
Dr.Robert Jackson:You know what I mean. Yeah, I know what you mean.
Dr. Robert Jackson:And I thought his presence there in all that. And one of the things they talked a lot about was the morale in the police department. He spoke a lot about servant leadership, as did Palato, Joseph Palato they both used that term a lot about servant leadership, as did Palato, joseph Palato they both use that term a lot, but Bill Ryan did and he's the guy you know when I'm watching him up there speaking and talking, he's the one that I could see having those leadership qualities where people, he inspires people.
Dr.Robert Jackson:He's able to inspire people now. I think you're right.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Whether he inspires them to be men full of integrity or men who just look the other way. It's too early to say yet you know, everything that you see last night and I heard last night seems to indicate that he would be a man that inspires people to greatness and to be men of integrity and to be men who follow the Lord's way and that kind of thing. But you know, but I have never met most any of these men before in real life, so they could just be putting on behind I don't think they were.
Dr. Robert Jackson:I think there was a lot of folks who knew them in the audience, so they seem to be very authentic and genuine men. But you know, so it all seemed to be, I do think Bill Ryan's the guy to beat, because he seems like he could really rally that leadership and be the man that men in the department would rally behind yeah, so I'm thinking you're right, I think.
Dr.Robert Jackson:I if I, if I, had to make an assessment, I think that, uh, bill Ryan, rick Stevens and Palato those three are probably going to come out on top. Now I have to say that a lot of these guys have been around a long time and they probably have a large following, like Randy Holifield. I've known Randy for 40 years. Rusty Clevenger's been around, for I've known him. His father was a patient of mine for probably 30 years.
Dr. Robert Jackson:That's right, I can't wait to say it. He was an investigator, he's a coroner. Yeah, yeah, rusty's done a lot.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Rusty's got a lot of name recognition, yes, and he's been in the community and he's done a lot to update that department. For a long time Bring it up to speed.
Dr.Robert Jackson:He had real vision for the sheriff's department. I appreciated that. So it's gonna be as hard as could be hard for some of these guys to overcome the name recognition for rusty yep, and you know, rusty's got a lot of savvy, having been the coroner for a long time. And then randy holofield has been in in the force for 40 years, you know, and he's very competent and he knows all the officers. Now, robert, what was it?
Dr. Robert Jackson:Robert.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Cheeks, Cheeks. He's a lieutenant in the force and he probably has a lot of respect from all the guys that are there, and you know that's going to be hard to overcome too. Yeah.
Dr. Robert Jackson:My vibe with him is that he's going to be back. I don know that's going to be hard to overcome too. Yeah, my vibe with him is that he's going to be back. I don't think he's going to take it this time, but I think he's probably a rising star within, if not our department, then somewhere. He's been born and raised here in Spartanburg. If I remember correctly, at least lived most all of his life in Spartanburg.
Dr.Robert Jackson:I think he's born and raised though.
Dr. Robert Jackson:And his passion and love for Spartanburg really came through, and I think that he is going to be one of those ones to watch politically because I don't know if it's time for his star to shine yet.
Dr.Robert Jackson:But I think it's going to Okay. All right, we're running out of time. Any last comments?
Dr. Robert Jackson:No, I just think Bill Ryan, he's got a strong campaign already. I mean, he hit the ground running faster than everybody else did, and I think this is something that he's probably had on his heart for a long time. He spoke to that last night.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Well, this podcast is a week from now. We're recording this because it's all very, very fresh, so we're recording this next day, but it'll have been a week when you guys hear this. So, anyway, but a lot of really good men I think the ones that really shone were that really shined last night were Nick Duncan, bill Ryan, rick Stevens and Joseph Palato.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Not that the other guys were inconsequential or wrong or just way out of left field. I just think when you got a pick, those were the four that really shone. But there's going to be other opportunities for you to hear.
Dr. Robert Jackson:So stay tuned to those things. There's, I think, at least two other forums of some sort that's going to happen this summer for you to hear from these guys. So I encourage you because you know we want to look for information for all of those and I will try to keep you guys updated as much as possible, dad and I, because this is a very important race and there's a lot of candidates and it's hard. They're good candidates so we'll try to think very critically about all of them and help keep you guys informed as the as the race kind of progresses yep, I encourage you to take advantage of other forums and debates that are coming up.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Uh, go and meet these guys personally, shake their hands, look them in the eye, ask them questions, check out their websites. I think all of these times are important for you to get face-to-face with them and ask them your questions. All of that's important.
Dr. Robert Jackson:I think there's also a podcast out there, and is it the Get to Steppin'?
Dr.Robert Jackson:Yep Get to Steppin' the Freedom's.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Fence Line Get to Steppin' podcast that is interviewing every candidate except for one. I don't know if they got him lined up yet, but the last I saw there was eight of the nine candidates were going to be interviewed personally, individually on that podcast. So I encourage you to go listen to find the Get to Steppin' podcast, and I think it's Luna Specka and Brian Elverson Is that the other guy who hosts that one.
Dr.Robert Jackson:I believe that's correct.
Dr. Robert Jackson:I knew two Brians. I don't want to make sure I had the right one, right last name and they are hosting that one. So if you want to hear from any of these guys individually, find that podcast and take the time to listen to those so very important race. A lot of good men. It's going to be a difficult choice for Spartanburg County but we'll keep you guys informed as we're moving forward and the race progresses All right.
Dr.Robert Jackson:You're listening to More Than Medicine. I'm your host, Dr Robert Jackson. We'll be back again next week. Until then, may the Lord bless you real good.
Outro:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. Also, don't forget to check out Dr Jackson's books that are available on Amazon His third book Turkey Tales and Bible Truths, and his father's biography on Laughter Silvered Wings the story of a country doctor, a family man, a patriot and a political activist. This podcast is produced by Bob Slone Audio Productions.
