The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Primary heats up
Three vie for county sheriff position
By Austen Smith, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: July 17, 2008
The race for Washtenaw County sheriff includes three Democrats squaring off in the primary and a lone Republican candidate.
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Incumbent Sheriff Dan Minzey of Chelsea will take on Jerry Clayton of Ypsilanti and Iva Jo Bielec of Milan for the Democratic nomination. Barring a successful write-in campaign, Dwayne Taylor of Ypsilanti will challenge the winner in November's general election.
Below are profiles on those facing contests Aug. 5.
* * *
Name: Dan Minzey
Residence: Chelsea
Professional experience: Deputy sheriff full-time road patrol (1980-1985), promoted to detective (1985-1990), promoted to sergeant and oversaw Western Operations Road Patrol and Dexter sheriff's substation (1995-2000), elected sheriff and is now serving his second term (2000-present). Minzey attended Washtenaw Community College, where he earned an associate's degree in criminal justice and later attended Eastern Michigan University, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees.
It has been a tumultuous tenure for second-term incumbent and longtime Washtenaw County resident Dan Minzey.
Starting in 2005, Minzey found himself swept up in a lawsuit filed by three townships against county officials who wished to eliminate a police contracting subsidy and place the cost of services on local municipalities.
The townships of Augusta, Ypsilanti and Salem refused to sign a multiple-year contract, with the cost of years 2008 and 2009 undetermined, prompting several threats from the county to lay off deputies in those areas. To block the layoffs, Minzey filed a lawsuit in what turned out to be just the beginning of a long and engaged legal battle between the county and those seeking to keep current levels of deputy staffing.
Minzey claimed in the lawsuit that county officials were usurping his authority as sheriff, and a visiting Monroe County judge eventually found that the county was within its right to lay off deputies.
Fewer then six months later, in January 2007, Minzey sued the county again over its handling of overcrowding problems at Washtenaw County Jail, but eventually agreed to drop the action.
The townships' lawsuit remains in the court of appeals, but officials settled on a revised contract providing county-funded road patrol in 2007.
Despite his struggles with the county, Minzey says it was well worth the fight if it means maintaining the department's current level of deputies.
"One of my biggest issues that I will fight for in this county is to make sure that there are enough police officers to keep it safe," he said. "There are fewer police officers around the state and country then there were in 2001. I know that Ann Arbor city is down officers, but even now (the sheriff's department) is down only a few officers."
The struggle between Minzey and county officials has calmed down since the lawsuits have been resolved, but overcrowding problems at the jail persist. Minzey says Washtenaw County has the smallest per capita jail in the state and it is a constant battle to maintain proper inmate levels.
After initially refusing to enact a statute that allows jails to release non-violent inmates, which prompted one of the lawsuits, Minzey relented but says the across-the-board sentence reduction does little to help the long-term problems at the jail.
"We go through that cycle, and as soon as we get out of (overcrowding), it spikes right back again, so we go through the statute again," he said.
After failed attempts to pass a jail expansion millage, the county now has plans for a $22 million expansion in county-sponsored bonds that will increase the jail space by about 100 beds. Minzey says the $22 million plan was reduced from an originally planned $35 million plan, but he fears that even after the expansion the overcrowding will persist.
"The problem is once you increase the number of beds, you also need additional facilities like laundry and food services, which are things included in the renovation costs," Minzey said. "I think by the time this project is done, which all should be finalized soon, we will be overcrowded again. Then I guess we will move onto the next phase."
Minzey says his team has been heavily involved in the jail planning and they have been working closely with county officials.
"That's why my folks have worked really hard. I think the planning process is coming along," he said.
•
Name: Jerry Clayton
Residence: Ypsilanti Township
Professional experience: More than a 20-year career at the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department, Clayton worked as a corrections officer, deputy sheriff, shift sergeant and first lieutenant, retiring in 2006. He also is a former Special Weapons and Tactics team member and former executive team member of the Washtenaw County Sheriff Office Administration. He is a part-time instructor at Washtenaw Community College and faculty member of the National Sheriff Association.
Living in Ypsilanti Township and the Washtenaw County area for the past 20 years, retired Sheriff's Department employee Jerry Clayton has seen many changes in the area and in the police force. Some of those changes, he says, aren't for the better.
"I've seen the good things that the sheriff's office can do for the community. I've seen how it can positively impact people's lives in a number of different ways," he said. "Focusing on community partnerships, local impact and the things that are critical to law enforcement hasn't been the focus of the sheriff's department over the past eight years. I want to change that focus."
Clayton, who started as a corrections officer and then deputy sheriff until he was eventually promoted to first lieutenant, says his message is bringing back community policing and promoting the sheriff's department as a positive influence in the community at large.
He says the idea of community policing has been lost under the current sheriff, and what that comes down to is leadership.
"I think that there was a failure of leadership when the county and the townships tried to address the issue of police contracting," Clayton said. "I think that the sheriff and the sheriff's administration should have taken more of a lead in that overall process."
A lawsuit filed by the townships of Ypsilanti, Salem and Augusta over the issue of police contracting is currently in the court of appeals after several years of legal struggle. Sheriff Dan Minzey was swept into the fray after county officials threatened to lay off deputies in the three townships because of budget constraints. The suing municipalities refused to sign a multiple-year contract in which costs were undetermined for years 2008 and 2009.
Clayton says the process would have been better facilitated if Minzey and his administration would have taken a more collaborative role.
"(The sheriff's office) has been asking how can we work through this process and deliver a solution that is best for all county residents?" Clayton said. "They had to go through litigation and that is not in the best interest in sheriff's office or the community."
If elected, Clayton said that he would immediately start the process rebuilding relationships around the county and with residents with an emphasis on neighborhood organizations and faith-based groups.
"I think successful law enforcement is predicated on having a mutual respect between the officers and the community members," Clayton said.
"Right now, I believe we have a lot of fractured relationships and I think that is counter-productive to properly serving the residents of Washtenaw County. There needs to be that willingness to sit down and talk, and I have to question whether those residents are being fully served by the sheriff's office."
Editor's Note: Democratic candidate Iva Jo Bielec could not be reached for this article despite repeated attempts and the reporter chose not to interview Taylor since he doesn't face opposition in the primary.
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