WE’RE READY TO GO!
SHERIFF REVEREND
JAMES GILL, JR.

—-By Frederick A. Hurst—-

The excitement in his voice was palpable and the fear that one would expect from him for making the weighty decision to run against the chosen candidate of the “powers-that-be” was nonexistent. Reverend James Gill, Jr., who has served in corrections and related fields for many years, is about to announce his candidacy for sheriff of Hampden County, Massachusetts. And, as he told me on the phone, he and his team are “…ready to go!”
And from what he described, his team understands what “readiness” means in politics: fundraising strategy, bumper stickers, television commercial set and ready to begin running the first week in June, announcement event scheduled for June 19th at 5:30 p.m. at the Castle of Knights Banquet Hall located in Chicopee at 1599 Memorial Avenue and more. No question about it, Reverend Gill and his solid team have been quietly preparing for what he clearly understands will be a bruising 2016 election battle with the most powerful political machine in Western Massachusetts.
And even though the typical Black folks, who are always recruited by White machine candidates to discourage Black opponents from running against them, have urged him to back off, Reverend Gill never wavered. And from what I observed from several discussions with him and a review of his credentials, he has no reason to waver and every reason to run. The only test he had yet to pass, from my earlier observations, was whether or not he had the courage to run. And I think it’s fair to say that he has passed that test and some.
It’s easy to jump into a political race when you have nothing to lose like many of the new candidates in current races who have nothing to lose except the races they jumped into late in the game with little preparation other than loads of untutored enthusiasm. It’s a combination that rarely works in politics, which is why we shouldn’t expect any surprises in September and November of 2015.
Reverend Gill is an exceptional guy with a lot on the line including his job at the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department and Correctional Center in Ludlow. Nobody would ever tell him straight out that his job is on the line. But the message that his job is on the line – though nonverbal – has not been subtle. He has a family to support which is one of the primary reasons he had to give serious thought to the run for sheriff. It helps that he is spiritually motivated, which is why his final, well-thought-out decision to run was based on his conclusion that, in spite of the predictably rough road ahead, it was the right thing to do. So, more than a year and a half ahead of the November 2016 election, he formed a team that he is comfortable with and they put together a plan of attack that places Reverend Gill into a very competitive position to emerge victorious. But most significantly, Reverend Gill is superbly qualified to be sheriff. He has worked in corrections since 1991 and worked up to his current position as Deputy Superintendent. As his title suggests, the scope of his supervisory responsibilities are substantial. He also serves as the Sheriff Department’s Commander of Hostage Negotiations Team and as its Notary Public. And along with his job responsibilities, Reverend Gill serves as the Chaplain for the Springfield Police Department, as an adjunct instructor at the Massachusetts Law Enforcement Training Academy at Westover Air Force Base, and he is board certified to teach curriculum for law enforcement officers in hostage negotiation and survival, stress management, human relations and crisis intervention. And he is the founder and Senior Pastor of Harvest Fellowship Church in Springfield.

And Reverend Gill is well educated. He earned a Master of Science Degree with honors in Criminal Justice from Westfield State College (University) and a Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Divinity degrees from J. W. Teamer School of Religion, which also awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. And he is certified as a Behavioral Counselor from The Institute of Motivational Living and he is licensed as a Christian Counselor by the National Christian Counselors Association of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Reverend Gill is as well prepared, if not more so, for the job of sheriff of Hampden County as the current Sheriff Michael Ashe, Jr. was when he first won the office in 1974.
But, even so, if I was offering him my thoughts about his entrance into the race that many suggested was already locked up by Nick Cocchi, who announced his candidacy at a rousing revival on June 6, 2014 where he was endorsed by retiring Sheriff Ashe and so many other well known and well-connected people, I would simply advise him: “Be prepared. The folks you are going up against play to win. And they don’t play fair. What they are going to throw at you will be more lethal than the kitchen sink and they’ll hide much of their shenanigans behind a veil of Black folks from your own community, some of whom are their normal lackeys and many others of whom are simply too afraid to speak out and buck the “system.””
But clearly Reverend Gill is not afraid. And he has many friends in his church and many other area churches and on the more than half dozen boards he serves on. And he has the full support of his wife, Betty and their six adult children and grandchildren.
And he is not naïve. Anticipating that the former mayor of Springfield, Michael Albano, will be jumping into the race for sheriff – as has been strongly rumored and makes sense for Albano – Reverend Gill, following the strategy of former Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni, has changed his status to “un-enrolled,” which means he can let Cocchi and Albano spend their money and fight it out in the September primary and take on the weakened winner in November.
His strategy has merit. Albano is another fearless fighter and won’t hold back in a one-on-one run against Cocchi. And both have well-known vulnerabilities that could emerge during a September 2016 primary fight that could cause the winner to emerge sufficiently weakened to be defeated by Reverend Gill in November 2016 if he does his political homework, which it appears he is well on his way to doing. The one weakness to his strategy he will need to offset is the name recognition that a primary fight would give him which means a second crucial part of his strategy will require even more face-to-face work with the voting public whether or not Cocchi has significant primary opposition.
Welcome to the sheriff’s race, Reverend Gill. You’ve added a new level of excitement to the race. That the race for sheriff will not be a walkover is good for all of Hampden County. And you will serve as an important example to African Americans and other minorities that they should not fear running for the higher elective offices.