My name is James Maillette and I am running for the office of Vilas County Sheriff. I am asking for your vote in the upcoming Republican primary on September 14th. I am a constitutional conservative, a strong leader, and a vocal advocate for fiscal responsibility at all levels of government. I am running because I believe outside of the box thinking and a business like management philosophy will be required to effectively run the Sheriff's Department in the coming years. Whether it is impending budget shortfalls, or evolving criminal practices, I believe we can no longer afford to maintain a reactionary posture when addressing upcoming problems.
What is the job of the Sheriff?
“To uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution is our primary duty and our sworn responsibility.”
~Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County, Arizona
Like Sheriff Joe, I believe that understanding and protecting the Constitution is the most important duty of the county sheriff. I have been endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus specifically because I understand the Constitution better than anyone else in this race. As your Sheriff, my priority will be to ensure that in Vilas County the Constitution of the United States is upheld as the supreme law of the land, and that your rights are protected from anyone who would seek to infringe upon them.
Secondly, I believe your Sheriff should be a man of the people; approachable, involved in the community, respectful, and trustworthy. The sheriff is your representative in the law enforcement community, accountable only to you, the citizens of Vilas County. As a department outsider, I believe I am the candidate that can truly represent your best interests.
What I am offering you:
Proactive Leadership: The job of sheriff isn’t about being a cop; it is about being a good leader. The sheriff must be proactive, not reactive. He must understand what challenges the future has in store, and preemptively prepare for them. As the holder of the highest degree attainable in the intelligence field (Masters of Strategic Intelligence - with honors); I am the only candidate capable of preparing our officers for the law enforcement demands of the uncertain future we are facing, as I am the only one who has taken the initiative and advanced my understanding of today’s complex security environment. For over seven years, I dedicated my time and money to the study of areas such as Terrorism & Counterterrorism, Homeland Security, Industrial Espionage, Criminal Law, Threat Analysis, Tactical Intelligence, and Counternarcotics Operations, so that I would have the knowledge base needed to make good decisions on your behalf.
I am also the only candidate that brings with him the discipline and sense of duty gained by serving one’s country in the military. I will apply at your department the leadership skills I learned in the Army, where I served as a Scout/Sniper and Sniper Team Leader in 1/508th Airborne Battalion Combat Team (ABCT); as an Assistant Reconnaissance Team Leader in the 82nd Airborne Division’s Long Range Surveillance Detachment (LRSD), and as an Intelligence Analyst in the 397th Engineer Battalion in Eau Claire. Having conducted extensive training with police and military personnel from around the world, I believe I am uniquely suited to identify and correct the training deficiencies that currently exist in our department. I will work to properly fund and train your tactical response team, which is currently underfunded and under trained, and will work to put in place much needed physical fitness standards for all department personnel.
Protect You From Intrusive Government: You need to look no further than my opponent to find the threat of increasing government intrusion, as he has expressed the desire to issue more citations in order to increase department revenue! Despite a 9.8% increase in union salary costs over the last two years, or the $17,000+ per year health insurance coverage he receives, my opponent maintains that it should be you the taxpayer who foots the bill for the department’s irresponsible spending habits. Despite his 33 years of police experience and his 18 years as a union representative, my opponent still fails to differentiate between what is, and is not, the proper role of government in our lives. I believe that in a free country, law enforcement should only be used to ensure the peace, and should always attempt to have as minimal an impact on society as possible. Law enforcement should never be used as a tool to collect revenue for the purpose of offsetting budget shortfalls! If elected, I will work to protect you from unreasonable revenue collection efforts such as that which my opponent is proposing, I will fight on your behalf when my opponent and his union negotiate their new contract next year, and I will stand up for your rights when outside government agencies come here to Vilas County.
To Run Your Department Like a Business: My opponent has continually said throughout this campaign that “You can’t run the Sheriff’s Department like a business, because a business can fail, and the Sheriff’s Department can never fail.” I adamantly disagree. Just like businesses, governments can and do fail; and if we don’t make major changes in the way we do things at all levels, ours will fail as well. Budget cuts are coming whether we like it or not, and I believe we must be proactive in planning for them. I plan on adopting a lean business model at the sheriff’s department, and promise to cut costs at the administrative level before terminating the positions of the people we need the most- our deputies and detectives.
Contrast this with my opponent, who despite all the evidence to the contrary, has continually refused to even acknowledge that the economic situation we are facing will have any effect on us here in Vilas County. He has steadfastly taken a hard line approach, saying time and again that the “department is run as bare bone and as efficient as possible.” And in typical union fashion, my opponent has promised that if faced with budget constraints, he will first move to eliminate the positions we value most as a community, such as our prescription drug detective. In short, he is using fear as a tool against you, attempting to scare you into thinking you will be “unsafe” if you don’t give him the funding he is demanding. It is an old and effective tactic, but one that I believe has been used one too many times. What my opponent fails to even recognize or acknowledge, what we in the free market have known for some time now, is that there is no more money to give!
Having owned and operated two businesses here in the Northwoods over the last nine years, and having served in a consulting capacity with a number of others, I know what it is like to run on a tight budget. I will value every dollar allocated to the Sheriff’s Department as if it were my own, and will establish a culture of fiscal frugality. In the business world, we know how to distinguish between luxuries and necessities, and I believe it is time for those who know only government to learn the difference between the two as well.
In Closing, I am running for this office because I truly believe we are living through historic, atypical times. More than anything else, your next Sheriff will have to be proactive and creative; he must be able to think outside the box, as the problems of tomorrow will be much more complex than those encountered in recent years. I believe that the combination of my military experience, educational background, and time spent in the business world make me the candidate best suited to deal with the uncertain times ahead. Because of this, I am asking for your support and for your vote in the upcoming republican primary on Sept. 14th.
Your friend in Liberty,
James Maillette
Endorsed By: Republican Liberty Caucus, Wisconsin Family Action PAC, Republican Woman of the North
Recipient of 86% of the votes in a recent Northwoods Patriots Straw Poll - I am the Tea Party Candidate!
Paid for by citizens for James Maillette, Juliana Martin Treasurer, PO Box 2197, Eagle River, WI 54521 715-889-3550
Republican Women of the North, Northern WI, rwotnorth@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment