Sheriff Brave says Commissioners Chair Maglaras made 'token' comment

DOVER - Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave revealed to The Rochester Voice on Thursday that the elected official who told him he was "the token black guy and the token's gonna be up soon" was County Commissioner Chair George Maglaras.
Brave first made the remarks to WMUR on Wednesday identifying the person who said them as only "an elected official."
"When you're told you're the token black guy and the token's gonna be up soon, it scares you," he told WMUR.
In an exclusive interview with The Rochester Voice, Brave said that ever since his re-election, the Strafford County Commissioners have been "bullying him" in a political attack, because he won't "conform to their wishes."
He said the confrontational nature of the relationship spiked after his wife was arrested in Portsmouth during a DWI saturation patrol last December.
"After her arrest the commissioners took it upon themselves to hire MRI to do a private probe," Brave said. "They tried to say I used my office to get her off and I was driving and switched (seats) with her, There were rumors I was PC'd, that I was arrested."
Brave said none of it was true.
"I was in the passenger seat, I never said a word (during her arrest)," he said. "I never used my office to mitigate any of her charges, not at all."
Brave said that Maglaras and the other commissioners, Bob Watson and Deanna Rollo, used social media rumors and innuendo as the basis for beginning an internal probe.
Brave said the commissioners have been "messing" with his department more and more since the arrest, actively interfering in both his day-to-day operations and his department's budget.
He said commissioners later hired Municipal Resources Inc. to investigate his office.
"They've been throwing mud at the wall, hoping something will stick," Brave said.
He said Maglaras recused himself from the vote on hiring MRI, because he was a fact witness in the investigation.
Brave said that the morning after his wife was arrested he called Maglaras and told him what happened, including that he was in the car at the time of the arrest.
But Brave added that Maglaras later said that Brave told him he was at home with his kids when she was pulled over, "which is a lie," Brave said on Thursday.
Brave also said that commissioners allowed County Administrator Ray Bower to lead the internal investigation.
Brave, a Democrat, said on Thursday he was hopeful that HB 75 would pass, which it did by one vote later that day.
"We need a change in Strafford County," Brave added.