Updates from our Campaign Journey

From the Trail with Mike:

March 15, 2024

This will be my last update until after the election which is in four days.  During the past two weeks, I’ve enjoyed the door-to-door campaign and enjoyed the conversations. Being my first political campaign, I do have to say I’ve a learned a lot about “true politicians” versus a person who is truly trying to obtain an office to make it better for the community. I truly love this community which I grew up in and the office for which I worked at for the majority of my adult life. Regardless of which way you vote, please vote for the candidate who you truly believe is best for the office, for you, for your family and the entire county. With that being said, below you find a couple of questions which have been posed to me during these last two weeks, as well as, other information which you should consider when making your final decision as to who to vote for.

 

Question – I’ve heard you changed your last name to run for sheriff is that true? – No. That is not true.

                Answer: I was born with the last name of Justice. My mother and father got a divorce when I was

                an infant. My biological father was Klaus Peter Justice who lived in London, Ohio. While growing up,

I would visit him every other week, two weeks in the summer time and alternating holidays. When I

was approximately 12 to 13 years old, there were things that happened to me during my summer

visit. After returning to my mother’s house, I discussed the events that took place, and I was given

permission to call my father, and to tell him I no longer wanted to go to his residence. I was then

adopted by my step-father and I assumed his last name.  This would have been approximately 1983

or 1984. In 2004, after personal issues involving my family, I chose to change my last name back to

my biological name of Justice which I'm proud to have.

 

Question – Will you be “double dipping” if you are elected Sheriff?

                Answer: I will be drawing a retirement check as well as the Sheriff’s salary.

                I have been very transparent in this matter.  I retired on November 30^th, 2023, and after receiving

phone calls from additional deputies who were planning on leaving the office, I decided to turn

down a job offer which paid more than the Sheriff’s salary. I turned this job offer down to try to

  make a change at the office to stop the amount of people leaving for other agencies. This final

  decision was made on December 6, 2023 after talking with my wife and the employees who called

me.

FACT: My opponent is in a similar situation regarding the “double dipping”. Staff learned in

2023 that my opponent was going to retire at the end of his current term and had planned

on rerunning for Sheriff for another 10 to 12 years to get him to the Medicare/Medicaid age. I 

know this is true, but moreover, my opponent filed paperwork with the Union County Board of

Elections on December 20, 2023 informing them of his intentions. You may obtain a copy of the

Sheriff’s Letterhead attached to his petitions which were filed, through a public records request with

the Board of Elections. You will find that my opponent wrote, “…This letter provides written notice, …

of my intent to exercise my option to retire on the last day of my current term in office…”

My previous Update for March 3, 2024 (below) vetted out information which was portrayed differently from the candidates. Once again, I’m finding myself having to do the same thing! On March 15, 2024, my opponent shared a post from a family encouraging constituents to re-elect him. The post started with “A couple of years ago, the Union County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Office (PSO) serving Paris Township saved my life from a massive heart attack until the emergency squad could arrive….”. This actually took place in early 2017, and it was not a PSO who saved the life, but it was a patrol deputy with the rank of Sergeant. You can view further down in this update section (February 12, 2024) as to my stance regarding the PSO program, but this is a perfect example of the service provided by our non PSO deputies.

When going to the polls to vote, please consider that I’m the only candidate endorsed by our local FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) Lodge, as well as, the endorsements which have been received from other law enforcement officers. All the endorsements can be viewed under the Endorsements tab of this website. Please consider all the updates and the corrected information which also includes retired Marysville Police Chief Floyd Golden’s endorsement regarding the establishment of the local drug task force.

 

Please don’t forget to vote on March 19^th!  I want to thank everyone who has helped me during this journey, and those who requested a sign, sent support, and/or donated to the campaign. 

 

mj

March 5, 2024

The last couple of weeks have been very busy on the campaign trail.  I’ve visited several areas door to door, and plan on walking more in the next couple of weeks, so I hope I get a chance to meet with you.  I attended a Meet the Candidate night at URE which was sponsored by the Union County Chamber of Commerce, as well as, attended several meetings. We continue to put out signs which have been requested from this website, and I want to thank everyone for showing their support! We have more signs if you would still like to have one!

There are a couple of things I would like to address this week:

1) The Ohio Gun Owners released their SUPPORT for my candidacy for Union County Sheriff.

 

2) Recently at the Meet the Candidate night, a question was asked “How many open deputy positions are there?” I shared that I thought there were still 9 open deputy positions, but deferred the question to my opponent. His response was similar to “We only have two open funded positions”. Now the rest.....

There are two open deputy positions as he spoke about; however, he did not include the 6 positions he agreed to give up in 2024, to give raises to deputies after I announced my retirement in 2023.  These 6 positions are to be available in 2025. So, that’s 8 open positions. The 9^th position was absorbed due to the Mental Health and Recovery Board pulling there fully funded grant position from the sheriff’s office, and transferring the funds and the position to the Marysville Police Department.

 

3) I've been asked if it is true that more than 75% of the local FOP lodge was not present during the endorsement vote? Here are the actual numbers that were fact checked:

At the time of the vote, there were 82 members of the local FOP lodge and they were polled to see if they wanted to endorse a candidate for Sheriff. The voting membership voted to endorse a candidate.

A Questionnaire was sent to each candidate to answer questions derived from the membership.

An In-Person vote was required to keep the integrity of the vote. Each voting member was able to read the answers provided by both candidates prior to the vote.

30 In-Person votes were casted. 24 were for Mike Justice, 2 were blank and 4 were for my opponent. (I did not attend the In-Person vote, but my opponent did.)

Those voting In-Person were Marysville Police Department members and the Union County Sheriff’s Office members. 19 were actually from the Sheriff’s Office. Although the members from the Richwood Police Department, Plain City Police Department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol were not present, they had to opportunity to attend.   

 

 

February 19,2024

 

 

 

During this past week, I had the privilege to attend the Richwood Village Council meeting, the Richwood Area Business Association meeting, the Lincoln Day Dinner and to meet additional citizens while campaigning door to door. Additionally, I was able to schedule another Meet and Greet that will take place this Friday, February 23rd from 5:00pm to 7:00pm at the Richwood Library.

I was honored and humbled yet again to receive additional endorsements this past week from previous employees of the UCSO. With these endorsements nearly every division has been represented from the UCSO; the patrol division to include the PSO program, the investigation division, the support services division, the communications division, court services division (past command staff member), as well as, family members, friends, the public, representatives from other law enforcement agencies and previous supervisors. So, I ask "Can all these people be wrong?", and the answer in my opinion is "NO!". Each of these endorsements are explaining in their own words why a change is needed.

Question of the week:

What are the Top 5 actions to improve the overall safety and service?

(These are answered; however, they may not necessarily be in any particular order of importance.)

2. I would like to examine the idea of additional remote reports. We have township officers who report to their assigned townships at the beginning of their shifts already; however, I would like to consider expanding this.  We have deputies who live in the northern part of the county, they drive past locations where a cruiser could be staged. They can begin their shift immediately after preparing their cruisers, so if an emergency comes in, they would not be responding from Marysville and have additional drive time to get back up to the northern part of county.  This would be the same for deputies traveling from Delaware or Franklin counties. Their cruisers could potentially be parked at secured locations outside the city, so they too would begin their shift already out in the county. This would reduce the amount of time to respond to a call at the beginning of their shift.

3. Currently, the UCSO is required to take all the vehicle crash reports if they are not already on a call. I would like to see the State Highway Patrol be dispatched to crashes first, and if there is a delayed response for them then our units would be dispatched. Often, by taking crash reports, our units are tied up for several minutes to hours which prevents them from being in our neighborhoods and on rural roads. In the event of an injury crash, both agencies as well as EMS/Fire need to be dispatched immediately. In addition to this, I would like to have designated traffic officers who can investigate and work enforcement for traffic complaints which are received, as well as, to focus on the TOP 10 roadways in the county that have the most crashes, and to proactively work with the schools to enforce Red Light violations with the school buses.

4. Being involved in the community is more than just when we are working, so there needs to be discussions as to benefits for the employees when they are engaged after hours in the public such as coaching little league sports, mentoring programs, civic groups, and other non-profit groups that give back to the community.

5. The one thing that I encouraged when I was at the office was for staff to share their ideas and provide the research behind the idea. Not only did it bring good ideas to the table, but it also developed the employee. I would encourage additional input from the staff and the community for additional ideas. We had a very successful Employee Appreciation Day in 2023 which was an idea of an employee. I would like to see this expanded to include another day which could be the Community Appreciation Day.

Reminder:

Early voting starts this Wednesday, February 21^st, at the Board of Elections located at 835 East 5th St., Suite A, Marysville, OH 43040; Phone: (937) 642-2836.

Regardless of your choice of candidates, please respect others’ opinions and there is no need to be overbearing or disrespectful. Choose the Candidate that you think will be the best choice for you, your family and the county.

I would be honored to have your consideration for Union County Sheriff in this Primary. 

 

February 12, 2024

I was blessed during this past week to meet the leadership team and some of the members of our local Moose Lodge, residents and staff of the Bluebird Retirement Community, individuals while campaigning door to door, and those that attended the Meet and Greet this past Saturday. There has certainly been a lot of good conversations and questions asked.  THANK YOU!!!!

I have been asked, “How can I help?”  -

Continue to share the Facebook posts.

Continue to share the website – Especially the “Endorsement” tab of the website. There are several endorsements from retired UCSO staff, employees who left for other agencies, individuals who have either worked with me and/or have known me for a period of time. Who better to hear from than those working in the law enforcement field and those who have retired from law enforcement?

        Continue to request signs.

Continue to talk with neighbors, friends, family, everyone you can.

 

I have been asked, “What differences can I expect to see?”

                I hope that the differences are too subtle to notice initially, but I would expect that you would see more differences further down the road when staffing issues can be stabilized and we can retain current employees.  The programming that has been established needs to continue, but needs to be evaluated for effectiveness and efficiency.

                Public Safety Officer (PSO) program – This program was developed years ago when there were more volunteer and part time fire departments within the county.  Deputies were trained to be EMTs and Firefighters to help with the delayed responses. Now, there are more full-time fire departments within the county, and some of the departments have more than one station to better serve the community. Our current deputies are 1^st Aid and CPR certified, carry AEDs and trained in trauma dressings. It's time to review this program and reconsider the role of the PSO. If a township wants additional law enforcement coverage, then they should have that choice; however, the added cost of a deputy being EMT and Fire certified is not yielding additional benefits just additional costs for the taxpayer. There needs to be discussions with the townships.

                School Resource Officer (SRO) program – This program needs to continue. There have been DARE Officers in the schools for years.  In 2016, myself and other FOP members met with the Union County Commissioners and supplied them information related to additional staffing needs. The following year, the Sheriff’s Office was able to hire additional staff that included the North Union and Fairbanks SROs. This allowed the SRO to remain in the school more than just the DARE classes. We must continue to invest in our children and their safety should be the upmost importance.

Thank you and have a good week. Hopefully, we will get a chance to meet or talk with each other.

 

February 5, 2024 

While being on the campaign trail, I've heard "What are you going to do for the community? All I see is what you want to do for the office."

  I do feel that the office and it's staff has to be my number priority.

Why do I feel this way?

If we can't take care of those who serve you, who will be left to serve you in your time of need?

  Since 2017, there have been over 60 employees that have came and gone from the UCSO. This is a problem. First, the expense. Hiring people is not cheap! Costs such as polygraphs, uniforms, equipment, and health screenings all add up. Second, the UCSO invested time and money into the professional development of these employees, when the employees leave it hurts our agency, community and the level of service. Third, we have to have the staff in which to fulfill the services to the community. 

  The Sheriff's Office is currently faced with these challenges. Most recently, on January 30, 2024, the Marysville Journal Tribune printed an article written by Mac Cordell titled, "Marysville to provide crisis coordinator". The Mental Health and Recovery Board pulled their fully funded grant position from the Sheriff's Office due to the deputy being reassigned, and now the Marysville Police Department will be fulfilling that grant position. The UCSO DJFS Investigator has not been fulfilling those duties for over a year now due to a reassignment, there is only one drug detective working with the Marysville Police Department on the MADE task force the other has been reassigned to general detective duties, and the Raymond SRO deputy has been reassigned to another part of the county. So, as you can see, no matter what services you want to provide to the community, it will not matter if we can't hire quality applicants and/or retain our current employees. 

   I have talked with members from the surrounding agencies, more specifically, the Marysville Police Department, the Plain City Police Department, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, the Marion County Sheriff's Office, the Logan County Sheriff's Office, the Champaign County Sheriff's Office and the Madison County Sheriff's Office. None of the these agencies are facing the shortage of personnel to the extent of that at the UCSO. The UCSO has in the past paid a higher salary then some of these agencies, but yet their employees are not knocking down the UCSO doors to apply. If the money is the only reason for people to leave, then the UCSO should have a waiting list from interested law enforcement officers from lower paying agencies; however, that is not happening. 

   How do we fix it? 

Like anything, we first have to acknowledge that there is an issue and be willing to tackle it. So, listening to people is a start. If we listen, we will learn "It's not all about the money". Sometimes people lose their passion, sometimes people stay to long in a position and staleness sets in, sometimes a change in Leadership just needs to take place to get back on track. Change is not always bad.

If the turnover rate at the UCSO has not convinced you yet, please consider that the local FOP Lodge has given their endorsement.

  During the opening statement provided to the FOP, prior to the endorsement vote, I provided "I would like to remind the voting members that the vote should be for the person who can and should take the office in the needed direction to support its employees, to have the best working relationship for the whole law enforcement community, as well as, to continue to improve the relationship between the office and the community." The closing of the opening statement included, "You have a very difficult choice ahead of you tonight. Please vote for the person whom you believe will lead the office out of its staffing crisis, who can improve the low morale, and change the culture of the office for a better future."

  I have found very quickly that people are very passionate about their politics. So, I ask, regardless of who you vote for in this primary, you make the best choice for you, your family and your community.

I will try to give periodic updates to this page, and if you have a question and would like to have it answered, you can contact us through the website with the question. I will do my best to answer as many questions as I can.

 

MJ