There’s an old adage that says when you get thrown off a horse you need to get back in the saddle right away, and it’s now looking a lot like former Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes has adopted that philosophy: Sources close to Barnes say he is strongly considering running for mayor of Summerfield this year.
Barnes, a Republican who served as the sheriff of Guilford County for nearly a quarter of a century before losing that seat in November to Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers, said immediately after that loss that he might very well run for office again. At that time, he suggested running for mayor of Summerfield as a possibility.
On Thursday, March 7 – amid strong rumors that Barnes would do just that – the former sheriff would not confirm that he is running for the seat but he did acknowledge he was considering it.
“I have had many people ask me to run,” Barnes said. “I am giving it some thought.”
Barnes said it certainly is the case that right now Summerfield needs a mayor who can help guide the town through the rough patch it’s been going through lately.
“We have got to get this town headed back in the right direction,” Barnes said.
Since 2017, two political factions in Summerfield have been at war over everything from development and zoning questions to whether the Town Council should serve a cake at the council meeting in December.
The main dispute centers largely around the removal of former Summerfield Town Councilmember Todd Rotruck, who lost his seat on the council in April 2018 after the Guilford County Board of Elections determined he didn’t live in Summerfield. Summerfield’s current mayor, Gail Dunham, has been critical of the way the Summerfield Town Council and town staff have handled the matter.
Dena Barnes, the wife of the former sheriff who serves on the Summerfield Town Council and has served as mayor of Summerfield before, said Summerfield citizens have told her they want to see BJ Barnes in that race.
“I have had people say, ‘Tell your husband to run,’” she said.
She said that they had also encouraged him to run for the US Senate but she added that her husband doesn’t really care much for Washington DC.
Hope he loses. Go play checkers at the fire station or nursing home! With his attitude since he lost the last election I have little respect for the man. He could have left gracefully and proud knowing he had been in office longer than any other sheriff in the history of the county but chose to act like a child instead.
I have yet to see a positive word from Mr. Barnes about our new sheriff. While Rogers may be going a different direction than Barnes are we stupid enough to believe that everything was just as great as Barnes wants us to believe it was prior to December? It is because of Barnes’ complacency that Randy Powers was allowed to run the place into the ground by way of nepotism & failed policies.
Yes folks, Powers ruined your sheriffs office but Barnes held the rubber stamp that allowed it to happen. They hired folks of ill repute as long as their relatives could help them politically. They promoted idiots over seasoned deputies as long as they paid their lodge dues to the same place.
Don’t believe the lies and please dont give Barnes the safisfaction of winning another election.
This guy was an effective sheriff, but he’s an arrogant, condescending, imperious jerk. Just because he’s 6′ 8″ or whatever, he thinks it’s his right to look down on everyone, in every sense. Dreadful bully.
I don’t know where I stand with Sheriff BJ Barnes but he is a good man. I know people are mad at him but he does not look down on people, he is good hearted and cares.