Helicopter Industry Executive runs for Sheriff's Office

[SASless]

The founder of a very well known US based helicopter flight training organization and other helicopter related operations has decided to run for election to the Sheriff's Office in Las Vegas, Nevada.

His decision to run follows a life long dream to be the Sheriff of his home county in California however he has settled in Nevada and now considers it his home.

He has the support of many in the helicopter industry and from other sectors as well. The Endorsements page of his website makes for interesting reading and proves the high regard that he receives from his notable efforts in the helicopter training industry.:ok:

The website can be found at this link......

http://jerryforsheriff.com/Default.aspx?PageID=9

[Islandcrazy]

I guess thats how the USA system works.

I wonder if there are any helicopter outfits that would let a sheriffs deputy with no aviation experience become a chief pilot. Seems fair doesnt it...after all I am sure there wil be many deputies out there who want to be a chief pilot.

No experience necessary I am sure.


:E

[Whirlygig]

The Endorsements page of his website makes for interesting reading
That's a bit of an understatement - I thought some of them were hysterical!

Cheers

Whirls

....hang on a cotton-picking minute Sassy! Does this mean you had to endorse ol' Jerry in order for us to be able to see that screen? Well, greater love hath no man ......

So..... which one were you?

[SASless]

Whirls dear Lady,

I know you have threatened me with a premature death and would take great delight in seeing that it was a prolonged process if you could be the attending physican and your motivation for such is not without basis. However, that is one cut too severe even for you.:=

No Maam....I am merely a reporter of fact in this and not a participant. I can assure you I would not endorse this candidate for any public office. One might say a candidate can be judged by the quality and numbers of his endorsers just as much as one can be judged by the company one keeps.:uhoh:

My name does not appear anywhere there, nor shall it.

[Revolutionary]

I was surprised to see that he did not receive an endorsement from Heywood Yablowme.

[Whirlygig]

Sassy dahling, I know you are a man of honour and integrity BUT the following line appears at the top of your link. I had a little play around on that website and discovered that one cannot get to page ID 9 without having registered your own endorsement.

Thank you for endorsing me in my run for Sheriff of State.

Therefore, if you were sent the link by a "friend", you wanna keep an eye on them!!

I thought about an endorsement from Bishop Bonner - do you think Jerry would appreciate that!

Cheers

Whirls

Revolutionary - off you go - you be the first!

[SASless]

I think he would love an endorsement from the Bishop and any other notable that would support him in his bid for office.:D

[Whirlygig]

Oh no!!! :{ :{

Jerry's wised up and removed all the spoof endorsements! No more Wun Hung Lo etc etc.

We'll have to see what we can do!

Cheers

Whirls

OK guys! Job done! - if you want to add any comments, then fill them in under the Company Name field!

Hang on! Bishop Bonner was there a few minutes ago! Now they've all gone.

Ian Corrigible, can you paste a copy of the cache version?

[Ian Corrigible]

If anyone wants a cached copy, just send me a PM... :E

I/C

[Revolutionary]

Whirls, to use a mixed metaphor: I wouldn't blow Mr. Airola with a 10 foot pole

[Whirlygig]

So I gather!! Not you, personally, per se, if you see what I mean but ...er... I understand the sentiment! A little bearded birdie told me (but not a Bearded Tit!).

Obviously Jerry's sense of humour circuit has shorted out given the removal of the erstwhile spoof endorsements! I would have thought he would have appreciated the support of Bishop Bonner (on whom the Baby Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells character was based).

Cheers

Whirls

[Ned-Air2Air]

By January 2002, Jerry decided to focus on building Silver State Helicopters into a viable business. Today, Silver State Helicopters is still owned and operated by Jerry and has become one of the most respected helicopter companies in the world.

Most respected helicopter company, where did he get this crap from. All you have to do is read the amount of lawsuits past and present students have going against him and thats hardly the sign of a well respected company := := :=

[topendtorque]

as much as one can be judged by the company one keeps.:uhoh:


i'd say you're in good company now sas
tet

[Ian Corrigible]

Ian Corrigible, can you paste a copy of the cache version?

I never say no to a lady (especially if she’s armed).

(All rights reserved, please don’t sue Danny, ad nauseum...)

http://turboshafts.com/db3/00218/turboshafts.com/_uimages/VoteforJerry.JPG

I/C

[Whirlygig]

Thanks I/C, I'm pleased that you would hate to disappoint a lady! Sadly, this was taken before the Bishop Bonner endorsement but I see that Revolutionary DID get in there!

I am sure that Jerry will be thrilled to know that you have been kind enough to archive the support he has received!

Cheers

Whirls

I wonder if that is the REAL Charles Bukowski? Who wrote Factotum?

[el @]

Hardly. Henry Charles Bukowski died in 1994.

[SASless]

George Knapp, Investigative Reporter
A Closer Look at Sheriff's Candidate Jerry Airola
July 24, 2006 11:17 PM CDT

Sheriff's candidate Jerry Airola has used the TV airwaves to tout his business successes and his law enforcement credentials as he tries to convince voters to put him in charge of Metro.

There's little doubt that Airola's company, Silver State Helicopters, has made him a millionaire. But is he really a cop, as he claims?

When the I-Team interviewed Jerry Airola, we found him to be bright, energetic, and telegenic, but is he telling the truth about his law enforcement credentials? In a nutshell, no.

Click here to see the letter the I-Team received from Merced County.

His slogan is pretty familiar by now. His ads say he's a cop, a father, and a businessman. Call this a case of two out of three.

Jerry Airola said, "My goal is, I'm going to be sheriff for the next 20 years. I'm not going to go to work for a casino in four years."

Jerry Airola certainly doesn't lack confidence. He says he expects to be elected to five terms as sheriff based on his experience as a businessman and as a cop.

On his campaign website, he' says he is "currently a sworn deputy sheriff" in California's Merced County. On his company website, he says the same. In campaign mailers sent out just a few days ago, he says he's a cop. And in television interviews, he doesn't hesitate to whip out his cop ID.

On Face to Face With Jon Ralston, Airola said, "I was sworn back in as a police officer in November 2004 and if you notice, it says Jerry Airola, Deputy Sheriff."

In an interview with the I-Team earlier this month, we asked the question about Merced several different ways just to make sure there was no mistake.

George Knapp: "If I call the department, they will tell me you are a cop there?"

Jerry Airola: "Absolutely. Matter of fact, you can call the sheriff there."

We did. The answer we got: Jerry Airola is not a deputy or a reserve deputy.

Undersheriff Bill Blake told the I-Team the department had to suspend the relationship with Airola last year. A follow-up letter from the department spelled it out. Airola was never a deputy. For 10 months he was a reserve deputy and even that ended last September after an audit revealed he wasn't qualified. He was then "separated" from the department.

How did Airola hook up with the Merced office in the first place?

His helicopter company has expanded into law enforcement support activities and he saw a lucrative market in providing choppers to small police agencies. Airola says he offered to give a helicopter to the North Las Vegas Police Department. NLVPD turned it down because they didn't want their department to be used by Airola as a marketing tool. Airola then went to Merced with the same offer, but there was one other condition.

Jerry Airola said, "And with the sheriff I said, what I'd really like, with the Homeland Security Act of 2003, which allows any peace officer to carry his weapon anywhere in the nation, I'd like to go back to full time status as a peace officer. So he said. Let's do that."

In exchange for a free helicopter, Sheriff Mark Pazin agreed to make Airola a reserve deputy. But Airola says he had another goal in mind as well.

"I told him Mark I'm going to run for sheriff in Clark County and he knew that. I need to get my foot back in the door of law enforcement. I've been doing this stuff with helicopters. I need to take it to the next level and be sworn in again," he stated.

Airola admits he needed to beef up his law enforcement credentials in order to run for sheriff, and, for a time, he was allowed to visit Merced a few times each month to fly helicopters for the department. That all stopped earlier this year, he says, when his campaign began.

"I didn't want anything coming back on the sheriff's office overall, so I took a leave of absence," he explained.

According to the sheriff's office, Airola isn't on a leave. He's not there because he doesn't qualify, and for an obvious reason he lives in Nevada.

George Knapp: "You can be a full time resident of Las Vegas and still be a cop in Merced?"

Jerry Airola: "Yes."

No. California law is clear. Only residents of that state can be deputies.

One reason for that is they need to have a valid California driver's license. Neither applies to Airola. When Merced ran an audit, they realized that it was against the law to have Airola as a reserve deputy. Thus, the relationship ended.

Airola has worked as a police officer. In 1991, he became a patrol officer in the town of Los Banos, California -- population back then around 28,000 -- known for its dairy farms and almond orchards. Two years later, he was fired after leading an effort to oust the chief of police. He admits he might have jumped the gun.

"If I could do anything differently, if I hadn't, I'd still be there today. So, maybe it was the best thing," he claimed

After Airola was fired for his union acitivites, he filed a wrongful termination lawsuit and won a monetary award, although he never returned to full time duty as an officer in Los Banos or anywhere else.

Airola called Monday night and said the Merced sheriff assured him that he was on leave, not suspended, and that the California law barring non-residents from serving would be changed by the legislature. To date, that has not happened, nor have we heard from the Merced sheriff.

[B Sousa]

"The founder of a very well known US based helicopter flight training organization and other helicopter related operations has decided to run for election to the Sheriff's Office in Las Vegas, Nevada."

Its Vegas, 24/7, Sin City........Anything goes and if you have enough coins you can get any office you need......Half of the duds are in jail or in court everyday for Bribery etc........All screaming I did nothing wrong yet cutting a deal with the Feds as quick as they can before someone else rats them off.
Beyond that I saw that Las Vegas Metro ranked 1184/1200 Departments nationwide. Shows you what a great bunch they have there.
I feeel sorry for those who are honest hard working cops and have to bear the brunt of all the crooks in that town....
The Mayor was personal Attorney for one of the bigest Mob boys in Vegas . Still invites the remaining family to his home..Just Business of course.
See the Movie Casino its about the dude who got whacked. Mayor O gets a walk in in the movie as Joe Pesches Atty. Folks in Vegas love the guy, go figure.......

[Heliport]

Looks like he's got some opposition.

Link (http://www.swiftchopper.com/)

[John Eacott]

From the KVOA Tucson (http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5593806&nav=HMO6) news page:

Students sue Williams helicopter school

MESA, Ariz. A helicopter flight school in Mesa is being sued by nine students who accuse it of promising training it couldn't provide.

The federal lawsuit alleges that Las Vegas-based Silver State Helicopters and its owner, Jerry Airola, promised students they would receive enough training in 18 months to earn a pilot's license.

The suit alleges, however, that Silver State signed up more students for the 47-thousand-dollar course than it could train with the instructors and helicopters it had available when it opened in 2003 at Williams Gateway Airport.

An Airola spokeswoman, when first asked for comment, said she wasn't aware of the suit then didn't return repeated followup phone calls.

The suit seeks recovery of tuition, plus five (m) million dollars in punitive damages.

[Stan Switek]

This guys ads for pilot training via Silver State Helicopters stink. Bogus beyond words in what they promise. Some law enforcement personnel need to attend one of his informational training seminars. I'd also bet that this guy does not qualify as a police officer under the requirements of the California Comission Police Officers Standards & Training.