Tony Craver, 85, passed away on June 1 in Caldwell, Idaho. Tony was a big man with big ideas and a big voice to match. By far, the biggest of his big characteristics was his big heart.
Craver was with the Mendocino Sheriff’s Office for over three and a half decades, including stints as a resident deputy in Laytonville and as Coastal Commander. In 1998 he was elected to the first of two terms as Sheriff of Mendocino County.
Over the years, Tony and I talked about everything and anything we found interesting. In my book, if somebody can talk intelligently and make you laugh at the same time, I listen to them. I listened to Tony a lot.
When he was Sheriff we joined forces fighting the Supervisors over their short-sighted support of the Mental Health Department’s idiotic demand to close the Psychiatric Health Facility. Craver said that police frequently encounter individuals who are not lawbreakers, but merely folks who are mentally ill. “These people we pick up on a 5150 are not criminals,”
Craver said. “They’re just mentally ill individuals who need professional help.”
As a Marine Corps veteran, he told me, “The Marines made a man out of a boy who was crossing the line too much and headed for jail.” Here’s something I wrote back in 1998 when Tony won his first election as Sheriff.
“I knew 18 months ago after talking to Tony Craver in my office that he’d be our next Sheriff. It didn’t take a political genius to figure that out. Craver had a running start on his opponents with a constituent base that cuts across every social and economic strata in the county: He can yarn with the good ‘ol boys and he can discuss self-empowerment with the Old Hippies and the New Agers. Craver’s pragmatic, down-home approach on law enforcement issues (decriminalize pot, don’t over-react with enviro demonstrators, commitment to work with a Sheriff’s citizens’ advisory committee, priority to recruit community-approved resident deputies in Round Valley, etc.), guaranteed Tuesday’s election with 58 percent of the vote. The Sheriff’s Office will be in good hands with Craver.
“He’ll be creative, responsive and accountable. The voters made the right choice for the county’s Top Cop as we head into the 21st Century.” Four years later, an astounding 79 percent of the voters re-elected him to a second term.”
R.I.P. Tony C.
Tony Craver, 85, passed away on June 1 in Caldwell, Idaho.
Tony was a big man with big ideas and a big voice to match. By far, the biggest of his big characteristics was his big heart.
Craver was with the Mendocino Sheriff’s Office for over three and a half decades, including stints as a resident deputy in Laytonville and as Coastal Commander. In 1998 he was elected to the first of two terms as Sheriff of Mendocino County.
Over the years, Tony and I talked about everything and anything we found interesting. In my book, if somebody can talk intelligently and make you laugh at the same time, I listen to them. I listened to Tony a lot.
When he was Sheriff we joined forces fighting the Supervisors over their short-sighted support of the Mental Health Department’s idiotic demand to close the Psychiatric Health Facility. Craver said that police frequently encounter individuals who are not lawbreakers, but merely folks who are mentally ill. “These people we pick up on a 5150 are not criminals,” Craver said. “They’re just mentally ill individuals who need professional help.”
As a Marine Corps veteran, he told me, “The Marines made a man out of a boy who was crossing the line too much and headed for jail.”
Here’s something I wrote back in 1998 when Tony won his first election as Sheriff.
“I knew 18 months ago after talking to Tony Craver in my office that he’d be our next Sheriff. It didn’t take a political genius to figure that out. Craver had a running start on his opponents with a constituent base that cuts across every social and economic strata in the county: He can yarn with the good ‘ol boys and he can discuss self-empowerment with the Old Hippies and the New Agers. Craver’s pragmatic, down-home approach on law enforcement issues (decriminalize pot, don’t over-react with enviro demonstrators, commitment to work with a Sheriff’s citizens’ advisory committee, priority to recruit community-approved resident deputies in Round Valley, etc.), guaranteed Tuesday’s election with 58 percent of the vote. The Sheriff’s Office will be in good hands with Craver. He’ll be creative, responsive and accountable. The voters made the right choice for the county’s Top Cop as we head into the 21st Century.”
Four years later, an astounding 79 percent of the voters re-elected him to a second term.
Here’s insights and comments from others who knew and worked with the legendary “Tony C.”
Current MCSO Sheriff Matt Kendall: “Tony served the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office for 34 years in various assignments. Tony was the Coastal Commander for many years until he was elected and assumed office as Sheriff in 1999. Tony served as sheriff until his retirement in 2005. Tony was the Lieutenant on the coast which was my first patrol assignment following my service in the jail. He later promoted me to the rank of Sergeant in 1999. Tony had an incredible sense of humor and he truly cared about people. Tony also had a business side which was no nonsense. If you were ever called to his office he would make his points clearly and without mincing words. Tony always ensured his directions were known and followed by his deputies. Tony also made a point that everyone who walked out of his office left with their dignity intact. He clearly showed how kind a person can be when they are strong and able. I remember as a very young deputy working the Redwood Summer protests during the early 1990s. We received briefings and directions from Tony prior to deployments to the protests. I was always impressed with his ability to calm things in heated situations and to hear both sides. During those times Tony often reminded us, we don’t have a side and to simply enforce the law with respect for all. He would also remind us we all had friends on both sides of the line and to treat folks accordingly without being walked on. These were lessons that have served me well and for that I am very grateful.”
Tom Allman, former MCSO Sheriff: “Some people are bigger than life. Some people use wisdom (and experience) to help other people become better. I truly believe that everyone was put here for a specific purpose. Tony Craver was bigger than life: His voice, his stature, his reasoning ability and his humor. He was a leader, he was a family-man and he was a friend. I had never put any thought into not having the ability to call him up and get an answer to a question. But, now that is a fact. Tony's death is being discussed throughout our county (and beyond), but I hope people talk about his life. He had the ability to mediate, negotiate and to honestly tell people when they were about to make a mistake. And yes, sometimes, he had the innate ability to ‘read’ and express his opinion of them. His choice of words often emphasized his feelings (enough said on that) and he had no problem telling anyone his opinion. However, and very importantly, he actively listened and would change his mind if he agreed with whomever he was speaking with.”
Kevin Bailey, forrmer Sheriff’s detective; former DA investigator: “Tony Craver was a man with many sides. I remember as a young deputy on the coast I totaled a new patrol car. I was still on probation and told my wife the best we could hope for was for me to be transferred back to the jail. My Sergeant asked me to write a memo detailing the accident and I wrote a long memo on how my accident was a result of driving to fast for the road conditions and that as a result I was unavailable to provide response to the citizens and backup for my fellow officers, thus jeopardizing the safety of everyone on the coast. Tony called me into his office and I steadied myself for the firing or transfer that I deserved. Tony had my memo in his hand when I sat in front of his desk. He looked at me and said ‘Jesus Christ you’re too hard on yourself. I just want to know how the damn accident happened.’ He crumpled up the memo and threw it into the trash. I wrote him a new, much shorter one, and we never spoke of the accident again. I returned to patrol and the rest is history. Tony had my career in his hands, but I think he saw something in me that I didn’t necessarily see in myself. I will always be thankful for how he handled that. He had his warts like we all do, but I’m sad he’s gone.’”
Bruce Anderson, Anderson Valley Advertiser Editor: “Tony Craver was the first Mendo sheriff to understand that the county demographic had radically changed to include a large segment, if not a slight majority, of hippie-liberal-commies. Craver not only understood that the times had done changed in reluctant-to-change Mendocino County, he treated the enemy as full citizens. He was a professional who went about his work impartially. Previous top cops, Tim Shea especially, would practically hyperventilate at the mere mention of “those nuts,” nevermind invite them in for a chat. I suspected that Craver was faking his big tent embrace of the previously untouchable, many of them, I confess, I would have liked to club myself, but his masterful peacekeeping missions when confrontations between large groups of eco-demonstrators and large groups of irate loggers threatened to leave bodies on the forest floor, Craver not only kept the peace he miraculously accomplished his peacekeeping mission without seriously outraging either side. I once asked Craver when we could expect to see the Mendo Sheriff's Department on COPS. He laughed. “Are you kidding? Never. I can't believe some the stuff those guys put on national television.”
(Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, observer@pacific.net, the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District, and is also chairman of the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at 12 noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org)
Tony & The Wolf
Over the years, Tony and I talked about everything and anything we found interesting. In my book, if somebody can talk intelligently and make you laugh at the same time, I listen to them. I listened to Tony a lot.
When he was Sheriff we joined forces fighting the Supervisors over their short-sighted support of the Mental Health Department’s idiotic demand to close the Psychiatric Health Facility. Craver said that police frequently encounter individuals who are not lawbreakers, but merely folks who are mentally ill. “These people we pick up on a 5150 are not criminals,” Craver said. “They’re just mentally ill individuals who need professional help.”
Craver told me that when he was assigned to the Coast Patrol (1980s-90s), “there was this guy who whenever we had a full moon he would go into this pasture just off Highway 1 and howl at the moon. He thought he was a wolf. He’d go into that pasture just as naked as the day he was born. He’d be down on all fours, howling and snarling, but he never bothered anybody, didn’t cause any trouble. So, if there was a full moon and I was on duty, I’d stop by that pasture and check on him, just to make sure everything was ok and he didn’t need any help. One night I got out of my rig and walked up to the fence and called out to him, ‘Hey Mr. Wolf, how you doing, everything all right?’ He was probably about 20 yards away still howling at the moon. He turns towards me, keep in mind he’s naked, and hot-foots it over to me on all fours. He stops right by the fence where I am, lifts his hind leg and pisses on the ground, and then scampers away on all fours again, I just laughed and told him good night. Now could I have 5150’d him? Sure, but why do that? He was no harm to himself or others, hell there was never anybody around at that time of night. So, anyway you just have to use a little bit of horse sense when you’re dealing with people who may be a little mentally off. You never want to over-react, that’s how you can lose control of the situation and it’s escalated to a point that’s not called for.”
WHILE EVERYONE is praising the late former Sheriff Tony Craver, let’s look back to 2005 when Craver retired. Make no mistake, we liked Craver and thought he was a good Sheriff. But his allegiance to Gary Hudson as his successor was misguided and it became quite a political controversy. In December of 2005 we wrote extensively about the Sheriff’s Department leadership crisis and the Supervisors’ role in who would succeed Craver. Then-Ukiah Daily Journal reporter Seth Freedland wrote about it as well. (Mark Scaramella)
First, here’s Freedland:
CAPTAIN KEVIN BROIN was appointed interim County Sheriff by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors Friday, against the explicitly stated wishes of retiring Sheriff Tony Craver. Supervisors tapped Broin, the sheriff department's field operations commander, for fear of anointing Craver's permanent successor by choosing Undersheriff Gary Hudson, a candidate in the June 2006 election. After being sworn in, Broin — who will serve through the election to January 2007 — told the assembled crowd he had “no plans for running for sheriff, at least this time around.” Despite noting the startling chain of events since Craver's surprise early medical retirement Thursday, Broin predicted a smooth transition for county law enforcement. But in an emotional oratory before the vote, Craver told the supervisors the transition would have been much smoother had they appointed Hudson. In an odd coincidence, the decision forced upon the supervisors mirrors that of Craver's when he took office seven years previously. At that juncture, Craver decided to alter the current system of having two second-in-command officers and was forced to choose between Broin and Hudson. “I agonized my first year I was in office as to who should be that person,” Craver said. “After sleepless nights, I had one of my most difficult decisions in appointing Gary Hudson as undersheriff.” Craver proceeded to list Hudson's strengths, including his ability to step into the role of sheriff and “provide uninterrupted service.” Craver's preference for his successor has been known in certain circles since his announcement, and he said he had heard concerns that such a move would elevate Hudson's standing with the electorate to an extent that would be unfair to the other two candidates for sheriff: Donald L. Miller, coast area commander and Tom Allman, north county area commander. Dismissing the idea that an incumbent sheriff is so easily re-elected, Craver implored the supervisors to follow the chain of command he created seven years ago. “I put together an organization that ain't broke — there's no need to fix it,” Craver said. “I take this as serious as I would a heart attack right now. I beg you to respect my judgment, my chain of command.” But the supervisors — noting they were about to make a decision normally made by 48,000 voters — were loathe to form a de facto endorsement for the upcoming election. Supervisor Hal Wagenet moved to appoint Broin as acting sheriff, noting that Craver's work in strengthening his department led him to believe either man could fill the role equally well. Supervisor Jim Wattenburger seconded the motion, calling the decision to create the most level playing field possible for the three candidates “a matter of business, not a matter of politics.” Supervisors David Colfax and Kendall Smith disagreed, however, as both expressed desires to keep political decisions from hindering the best possible law enforcement service to county residents. Smith reiterated Craver's point that, though both men carry the rank of captain, only Hudson took part in some critical decision-making. “To alter the chain of command politicizes the decision making,” Smith said. “We have to make the decision based on who's in the chain of command currently. (Craver is) telling us the reasons it should remain that way. We shouldn't pull into community sentiment (and make this) a political process, because I don't believe it is.” But Delbar, the last supervisor to speak, turned the tide against Hudson. He added his desire for “someone who can focus on the office and not be worried about knocking on doors and campaigning for (re-election).” After the vote, Craver told the supervisors he respected their “courage” to make a decision in one hour he about decision he anguished over for a year. But despite their decision to reject his wishes, Craver said emphatically he trusted Broin to perform well the duties handed him. Later in the day, Broin assured the Superviosrs that he will emphasize “consistency and calmness” while also working with the three candidates, who are all still high-level members in the department. He said he viewed the day's debate as an understandable chapter of a hectic process. “Everybody is trying to go through this and remove politics as much as they can,” Broin said. “In an office that is politically chosen it's hard to remove it completely.” Asked if he might subconsciously curtail his role as sheriff because he was appointed and not elected by the voters, Broin said he would simply continue the work he has done for years. Broin will earn an annual salary of $105,558. Craver will collect 100 percent compensation of the salary in his retirement package for his 34 years of county work. — Seth Freedland. (Courtesy, The Ukiah Daily Journal.)
AVA:
KEVIN BROIN is a good choice for interim Sheriff because he’s a pretty straight shooter and a decent cop. But he will have a tricky tightrope to walk having only one year to serve as a kind of caretaker. How will promotions be decided for top staffers? Departmental policies shouldn’t be too difficult unless there’s some major disagreement on something not previously worked on. Internal discipline might be a problem, As a cop’s cop, Broin might be tougher than Hudson. Budgeting might also be tricky, especially when it comes to time to make funding priorities and justify them to the Board, priorities Hudson may disagree with.
LOST in the farewell flurries for Mendo’s top cop, Tony Craver, is Craver’s breakthrough election strategy, BC (Before Craver) the county’s sheriffs had ignored, out of hostility for or ignorance of roughly half the county’s voting population — the libs. Craver was the first cop candidate to, figuratively speaking, pat Beth Bosk/Norman DeVall on the head while he cooed platitudes into their always fraught, inattentive intake lobes. In fact, Craver was the first local law enforcement candidate to at least pretend to be interested in what the libs wanted in the way of uniformed arrest priorities. What the libs wanted, mostly, was a sensible marijuana policy. (Scratch a contemporary liberal bigwig anywhere in Mendocino County, from your local school board all the way up to the boys and girls sitting as a superior court judges, and, likely as not, you’ll find a former pot planter, if not a planter, a dedicated huffer.)
THE LIBS, at the time of the Vroman-Craver revolution, also lauded belated recognition of the county’s new, basic demographic fact: Mendocino County was no longer a kind of free range redneck preserve wholly dedicated to stopping the hippies at Cloverdale. When Craver and District Attorney Norman Vroman began their savvy dual campaigns based on convincing the libs they weren’t the usual neanderthals who occupied the sheriff’s and district attorney’s chairs, Mendocino County was probably the last place in America where a sizable number of voters still saw themselves in a to-the-death struggle against the counterculture which, by then (around 1998) had been extinct for 25 years: well, not extinct, but retooled as school teachers and school administrators, lawyers, social workers and, of course, “helping professionals.” But, by the time of the Vro-Crave election, it simply would no longer do to have the county’s justice system aimed at liberals because the liberals were not enemies of the state and Wal-Mart: in it Mendocino County, as Vro-Crave recognize, liberals were the state. Hell, the libs had invited Wal-Mart to Ukiah.
CRAVER’S and Vroman’s electoral opponents still didn’t understand that not only were there now lots of libs in Mendocino County, they tended to vote in numbers larger than the ’necks voted. Candidates who promised a sensible pot policy would have built in support from the libs. Craver swept into office by huge margins, Vroman squeaked by in his first election then, when the libs knew he was rational about pot enforcement, Vroman, too, was re-elected District Attorney by a wide margin. And both were accessible. Vroman even gave any old body his home phone number — and name another DA anywhere in the country who has done that.
I HAPPENED to be several times on the receiving end of pre- and post- Vro-Crave law enforcement and I am here to testify that in the Vro-Crave period the county jail was so bad — literally falling apart and perennially overcrowded — that the state was threatening to bulldoze it, while District Attorney Susan Massini (and before her Vivian Rackauckas), prosecuted people based on the political-social-psycho hostilities of America’s most primitive electorate — Ukiah Republicans. Worse, the county’s judges, primarily James Luther, pretended that the jail was just fine.
DURING the Vro-Crave reign, county law enforcement’s class based policies no longer exempted people like Dominic Affinito and the wayward sons of savings bank officials from prosecution. Under Craver, the county jail, although it was also functioning as the county’s primary mental health facility, was run in a manner that would be recognized as generally first world.
I DOUBT that the known crooks who burned the heart out of Fort Bragg when Susan Massini was District Attorney would have gone unprosecuted under Vro-Crave, and I like to think that the literal Fort Bragg witchhunt of the early 1980s would not have picked up the evil momentum it did if a sensible, strong person had been functioning as sheriff.
COME, take my hand for a stroll down Memory Lane and a buyer-beware advisory for sheriff’s candidate Gary Hudson. Some of us will recall, back in the middle 1980s, that the more credulous sectors of the community (and those of much of the country) was swept by wild rumors that the devil was ritually, systematically violating their children. In Fort Bragg, the preposterous allegation went, a pair of newcomers, Barbara and Sharon Orr, were renting toddlers out of their day care center on Airport Road to “satanist child molesters.” The satanists, so the gossip went, and the gossip was not only prevalent among the usual dummies and hysterics but sanctioned and promulgated by employees of the Mendocino County Department of Social Services, notably a crackpot named Pam Hudson, would somehow ferry the children from the Orr sisters’ daycare center during daylight hours to a vague site north of town where the hapless preschoolers would be ceremonially molested. Having finished services for the day, the satanists would ferry the mangled tots back to the Orr sisters in time for their parents to pick them up after work, the children none the worse for their hours as the devil’s playthings, their parents unaware of their children’s foul exploitation. But, and at the same time as satan was getting lots of time on prime-time television because a Los Angeles daycare center was also allegedly functioning as the devil’s playground, in no time at all Mendocino County had become the netherworld’s favorite rural retreat.
IN ONE locally prevalent version of this jaw-dropping credulousness, a Georgia-Pacific helicopter was employed by the satanists to fly the children back and forth from Fort Bragg day care to Beelzebub’s busy altar somewhere up around Westport! The Orr sisters didn’t know what hit them until they were ruined. They were threatened by many locals, lost their home, their business and the two properties that housed them, and Sharon Orr’s eight year-old daughter was taken away from her mother by Mendocino County’s historically inept Department of Social Services and placed at Trinity School in Ukiah where she was raped several times by adolescent residents. The child was confined to an institutional setting with older children, Social Services would say, because Trinity had the professional staff to sort out the psychic damage done to her by her mother and Mr. Beelzebub.
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN so much as an apology to the Orr sisters from anybody in authority for the great harm done to them by this latter-day witch hunt. The Orr sisters were utterly destroyed by their experience they couldn’t muster the energy to sue for damages.
THE MENDOCINO County Sheriff’s Department will not allow anyone to see the files on the Orr case. Speaking through, as we shall see, the self-interested Gary Hudson, the cops say because there were allegations of murder, the case is technically still under investigation. Which is what Hudson says. He doesn’t say the case isn’t active or inactive because there is not a shred of evidence that a single child was ever harmed in any way in any context involving mythical constructs drawn from the Old Testament or because he got free trips to seminars and trainings to beat the devil back from the kids, he just says because a murder may have been committed involving satanists no one outside law enforcement can see the files. The true reason the files are sequestered is that a local cop, Hudson, and his boss at the time, bought the non-existent phenomenon all the way to the point of obtaining a grant for Hudson, presently a candidate for sheriff favored by the county’s “liberal” block, to attend training seminars on satanist child abuse. The files will also indicate the county’s mental health apparatus, various investigators, Fort Bragg nutballs and snitches, and various other people who’d prefer that the public not know how gullible they are and how crummy they can be when a whole county gangs up on a pair of undefended women. The satanist hysteria in Mendocino County was so widespread, and the political pressure brought by its propagandists so strong, that Hudson and the Sheriff’s Department bought all the way into it. Tom Allman is your best bet for Sheriff. You want someone who will stand up to crazy people, not join forces with them.
Well the passing of T.C. certainly gives us a moment to reflect back on our County’s colorful history; there are names here I’d almost forgotten! But Tony, he was an EPIC local character; many of my interactions with him ; were in the 90’s when we were actively protesting rapacious timber companies like Louisiana Pacific in Albion with tree sits, early morning logging gate blockades , etc; but I really respected Tony, because he respected everybody; these were tense scenes, passionate earth loving locals trying to save some trees and bio diversity, vs, passionate locals who just wanted too get to F-ing work! But I Never one time saw Tony lose his patience or be disrespectful to anyone! Oh sure he’d scatter us off, make an arrest if he had to, but he was always calm and clear; in fact I remember him once saying “ just because you have to make an arrest, doesn’t mean you have to take someone’s dignity away” What a marvelous template to conduct law enforcement activity through; I’d like to think that legacy is alive and well at MCSO! RIP Tony; you will be remembered The great Bruce Lee has been quoted thusly”the secret to immortality is “living a life worth remembering” I think you nailed it!