One Candidate for Sheriff Demoted, Others in Race to Take Leave of Absence
Kevin Creasman, a longtime Sheriff's Office administrator and one of four deputies running to replace Sheriff David Mahoney, offers a response to his suspension and demotion.
BREVARD — Former Capt. Kevin Creasman, one of four Transylvania County Sheriff’s deputies running to replace Sheriff David Mahoney, released a statement suggesting recent disciplinary action taken against him was rooted in politics — but didn’t explain why.
Since announcing his candidacy, he wrote, “I have been written up twice, to include a suspension from duty and a demotion from captain to patrol deputy.”
At an unspecified time, he continued, “Sheriff Mahoney told me that ‘politics are dirty.’ I thought about this, and I believe that it is a personal choice to make politics dirty and I will refuse to make that choice. I have nothing bad to say about any candidate.”
The disciplinary actions against Creasman and a requirement that all four deputy/candidates take a leave of absence until after the May 17 primary has upended the race to replace Mahoney, who announced last year that he will retire after 16 years on the job.
It is the only countywide race to result in a primary, which will feature three Republican candidates from the agency — Creasman, Lt. Chase Owen and Lt. Chuck Owenby. Earlier this week, Transylvania Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Benny Frady was still gathering signatures for a planned run as an unaffiliated candidate, according to Jeff Storey, county elections director. William Hemphill, a retired master trooper with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, is the only Democrat in the race.
The demotion of Creasman is unrelated to the leave requirement, which Mohoney said had been previously planned and discussed with all candidates in the agency and is designed to eliminate potential conflicts between the demands of their law enforcement duties and their campaigns. State law forbids public employees from using taxpayers’ resources in campaigns or to work on races while on the job.
“As you might imagine, it becomes increasingly difficult for candidates to separate work from their personal pursuit of elected office,” he wrote in a statement explaining the leave requirement, which, along with Creasman’s demotion, was first reported by the Transylvania Times.
Because of the broad legal protections covering personnel information about public employees, Mahoney said he could only say that Creasman, 52, had been suspended without pay and demoted from the rank of captain on March 4.
Creasman had previously said that his primary advantage over the other candidates who work at the agency was his long experience and high rank. He reasserted this in his statement, which he sent to NewsBeat on Thursday:
“I have worked at the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office for 30 years, with the past 25 years being in one or more supervisory roles. For the past 16 years I have worked as part of Sheriff Mahoney’s executive level administration in the role of Operations Captain.”
He did not respond to an email requesting more information about the actions taken against him.
Owen, 37, the agency’s chief detective, touted his work managing both the agency’s investigative staff and Connestee Fire Rescue, which he serves as volunteer chief. Owenby, 46, who oversees Professional Standards and Training, said he has more involvement in community organizations than the other two Republican candidates and is the only one with a college degree.
Mahoney’s statement said the deputies will be allowed to use accumulated vacation time during their leaves. The agency already had plans in place to cover duties of its high-ranking deputies and these will be implemented starting on Monday, when all four will be on leave, he wrote.
“Each of these positions have individuals under them that are extremely qualified to fill those roles. This cross-training has allowed us to cover those positions in the past due to pandemic issues, sickness, or other reasons.”