Progressives of Washtenaw

By Conan Smith
Since his election in 2000, Dan Minzey has presided over a Sheriff’s Department rife with budgetary and disciplinary problems. Unfortunately, Minzey has proven unable to handle these problems with any grace or efficacy.
Since taking office, Minzey has run more than $13 million over budget. That averages out to just over $1.7 million a year between 2000 and 2007. During that same period, the county has steadily increased the Sheriff’s budget to keep up with his overspending; but it never seems to be enough. In 1999, before Dan Minzey was Sheriff, the budget for running the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department (WCSD) was $21,784,861 (this was the last year that the Sheriff’s Department spent less than was budgeted). The 2007 budget for the WCSD was $35,976,210, (an increase double the rate of inflation) but Minzey still spent over 1.8 million more than that.
The greatest portion of Minzey’s multi-million dollar budget surprises have been for employee overtime. Of course, law enforcement is an unpredictable enterprise. Consequently, every year the county budgets for substantial amounts of overtime. However, under Minzey overtime expenses have routinely been well over expectations. One significant cause of this unbudgeted overtime is the unusually high number of Sheriff employees sidelined for disciplinary problems. Through much of 2007, eight deputies were on administrative leave and seven were still collecting paychecks while under investigation for various criminal charges. As a result, other deputies worked up to 70-80 hours a week; that’s a result that is destructive to both our finances and to the quality of public safety.
Unfortunately, our Sheriff has also lost some expensive legal battles. Minzey has racked up six figure legal expenses related to the two lawsuits he initiated, one of which he withdrew and the other of which he lost. Perhaps most frustrating is that these lawsuits were against the county itself, guaranteeing that the people of Washtenaw were on the losing side of the transaction. Also, as a result of an incident that ended in the death of Clifton Lee, Jr., the County and our insurers settled out of court for $4 million. Minzey’s missteps, and the actions of his team, represent a pattern of budget-busting blunders.
In addition to Minzey’s skyrocketing expenditures, he has steadfastly refused to answer even basic questions posed by the taxpayers about that spending. Most obvious is his continued refusal to address the questions of the Board of Commissioners.  During the spring of 2006, when Minzey was unilaterally sending inmates to county jails as far away as Leelanau County, the Board of Commissioners requested that Minzey attend a public meeting to discuss why so many inmates had to be sent so far away.  More precisely, the Commissioners were concerned that these inmates were being housed without contracts and outside of the county’s procurement policy. When Minzey would not attend a meeting, the Board prepared questions in writing – questions that Minzey never answered. Overspending and poor fiscal control in the Sheriff’s department is a problem, but nothing is more troubling than a public official who shirks his responsibility and refuses accountability for decisions made on our behalf.
Minzey’s disrespect doesn’t end with refusing to answer the Board of Commissioner’s questions about his spending. Minzey has similarly shirked his responsibility to answer questions from citizens. Throughout 2007 and 2008, a group of citizen volunteers – organized as the Citizen Review Board for Law Enforcement – has been attempting to get answers from Dan Minzey in response to citizen complaints to their body. Unfortunately, their repeated attempts to garner answers to simple questions have been met with silence or outright refusal to dialog. Perhaps most strikingly, Minzey has been absent from every public candidate forum during this election. His repeated reluctance to take accountability and offer answers to the public is troubling.
Of course, if you need a Sheriff to show up at the parade, he’ll be there. He’ll arrive all decked-out; complete with horses, police cruisers, armored personal carriers and plenty of glad-handed-pleasantries. However, if you want a Sheriff who can keep on budget, handle disciplinary issues appropriately and run a department that we can be proud of every day, Vote CLAYTON.
(Conan Smith is a Washtenaw County commissioner and guest writer for POW! .)