Hillsdale County August 6th Election Endorsements

The Statewide primary is Tuesday. Here is who has my endorsements in key local races.

Hillsdale County needs to put criminals in jail. That should be the overriding concern of every voter this primary. We need candidates who will help reduce the 500+ active felony warrants in our community. The local crime wave spike is dangerous and it needs to be dealt with.

To that end, I believe we need a jail expansion so that these criminals will be punished. That is my sole concern in the races where I have made endorsements. We need a whole new set of county commissioners who take the crime problem seriously and we need Adam Stockford in Lansing to fight to undo the dangerous bail reforms implemented over the last several years.

Millages:

NO on all three.

I will be voting NO on the “Hillsdale County Medical Care Facility Millage Renewal Proposal,” the “Public Safety Communications Bond Proposition,” and the “Hillsdale County Emergency Medical Services And Emergency Medical Services Equipment And Capital Expenses Millage Proposal.”

There is a lot that could be said over these three millages, especially the Public Safety Communications one. I have spoken to Sheriff Scott Hodshire and he kindly allowed me to put his comments supporting that millage on the record. I am including them below as a service to my readers. Sheriff Hodshire wants the taxpayers to fund the creation of new radio infrastructure in the 800 MHz band. The cost of this millage is $16 million over 10 years.

Personally, I am not opposed to having newer, high quality equipment for law enforcement, but I refuse to vote for any new tax increases until the county starts putting criminals in jail. If we don’t have room for these scumbags then we need to build more space or we need to kick them up to the Department of Corrections. It is that simple.

Criminals in our community are getting bolder and more violent. In the past two years, I have had two attempted murders occur within a block of my house. The Camden Marijuana Dispensary robbery by 5 Black males from Battle Creek that ended in a high speed chase. None of us will be able to forget Deputy Butler’s murder, either.

I want these criminals in jail. That means we need to have the space to put them away and judges who are actually willing to do so (this is a matter for a different piece).

Below is my communication with Sheriff Hodshire about the millage. I have included my original email and his comments. Again, I find much of what he says compelling. I differ only on priorities. If the County funds a jail expansion or otherwise reduces crime in a meaningful way then I will vote for new radio infrastructure, but I cannot do so in good conscience for this election cycle when the bigger problem of lawlessness is unresolved.

The Sheriff’s responses are in bold.

Sheriff Hodshire,

Good afternoon. I am currently writing a report on crime in Hillsdale County. I have a question I was hoping you would answer on the record for both my own edification and that of voters more broadly in Hillsdale County. 

Why should voters support a millage for a new radio system when the county is desperately in need of more jail space? If we are going to spend money on law and order why not spend it on putting criminals away or even on raising salaries for your deputies? 

The need for an 800 MHZ system is way overdue. Each and every County around us use the 800 system. Hillsdale County is sitting on an Island…. We are always the last County to improve on anything. VHF is the system that is currently being used by 80% of Law Enforcement, EMS and Fire. This system is outdated and to be honest with you, is not safe due to the dead zones. Our SAFETY depends on good communication tools, if we cannot communicate with our neighboring Counties when we have an emergency, then we are on our own. Thank God we were using our 800 MHZ radios when my Deputy was murdered on June 27, 2024. All of our surrounding Counties heard the radio traffic that a Deputy was shot and responded immediately. Do we need more jail space, absolutely we do, we also need to do away with the new bail reform, stiffer penalties, longer sentencing and better prosecution on criminals that pose a threat to our community. The new bail reform has made it easier for criminals to get out of jail (posting bail) most of them get a PR Bond (Personal recognizance bond) which puts them back out on the street and the community at risk. I currently have 75 inmates in my jail, we are arresting bad people and making room for them. The problem I see is that no one accounted for Hillsdale County to grow. We are a very conservative County (which is good) but no one wanted to save money for jail expansion. I don’t want to pay any more taxes than I have to, but when it comes to SAFETY, what is the price? If I were not the Sheriff, I would still vote for this proposal. I am pro law enforcement, pro firefighter and pro first responder, period.

If the communications network needs to be improved, why not spend money on a different communications pathway like new satellite phones that could be used in times of crisis when radio coverage isn't available? Right now, Iridium SATPHONES are going for about $1,000 per device and monthly fees based on use. Getting one for every single one of your deputies would take up maybe 1% of the funds required to build this radio system.

On these satellite phones, do you think a criminal that wants to kill me is going to wait for me to call 911 and hope that they answer to ask for back up? With a RADIO system, all you do is squeeze a button and advise that you need back up. There isn’t any dialing or waiting for the 911 operator to pick up, it is immediate.

Why isn't this an option? What are the benefits that this radio system provides compared to what we have now? Why is this the priority over jail space and higher salaries for deputies? 

The VHF system we use is again,  outdated. If Camden Firefighters get dispatched to Fremont Indiana for a full assist, our firefighters are not allowed to go inside the burning structure due to us not having the same system (800) as the Counties surrounding us. Our firefighters are then used to do ground work instead of taking someone’s spot inside the burning structure. I was in Grand Rapids and I could hear my Deputies talking with Central Dispatch crystal clear. If we were on the VHF system, we would not be able to hear any traffic from that distance. You may or may not know that I applied for and received a $420,000.00 grant so that I could purchase all new (800 MHZ) handheld and car radios for every Deputy and car that we have. So when I tell you that this system is needed in Hillsdale County and that our safety depends on Communication, I am being very honest with you. What we need is the infrastructure. We can use our radios, but if each entity purchases the 800 radios and tries to use them, it will blow out the system at our Central Dispatch. They have enough frequency to handle the MSP and the Sheriff’s Office ONLY!!

I would love to hear your thoughts on this before I cast my ballot and before I conclude my report. 

Respectfully,

Josiah Lippincott

State Representative:

Adam Stockford

I have known Adam for a decade now. He has done a good job as Mayor and he takes law and order seriously. He listens when constituents talk and he has a good sense of local and state politics. Adam appointed me to the Homelessness Task Force and has been engaged on important local issues. I think he is the right man for the job in Lansing. I am sick of Consumer’s Energy buying up our state rep seat. Jennifer Wortz, who received their influx of money, is automatically suspect in my view.

County Commissioners:

Kevin Slack, District 1

Doug Corona, District 2

Gina Fosdick, District 3

Lance Lashaway, District 4

Dan Stevick, District 5 

I am voting for the America First slate for County Commissioner. When I brought up the problem of lawlessness in Hillsdale County, the commissioners laughed. Two days later, a meth-head shot and killed a Deputy. No one is laughing now. Hillsdale needs to re-establish law and order. I believe a key component in this fight is finding money for a jail expansion. These candidates have pledged to deliver.

EDIT: Why I am not endorsing anyone for Sheriff

After publishing, I decided I needed to include reasoning for why I am not endorsing in the Sheriff’s race. I talked about the need for law and order but made no endorsement in a race that is seemingly all about crime and punishment.

As it stands, I know who I am going to vote for, but I am not going to be giving an endorsement here. For one, neither candidate has asked me to support them publicly. Second, neither candidate has fully embraced the priority issues—increasing jail space and jury trials—that would earn my endorsement. Third, I do not think the Sheriff’s Department is a catastrophe that demands immediate attention or drastic reform. The Sheriff’s Department is arresting criminals and responding to calls. The problems happen after the Sheriff’s deputies do their job.

The District Attorney’s office and the Courts, especially, are the real source of the problem. The Prosecutors give out way too many and too generous plea deals, and even worse, Sara Lisznyai, the 1st Circuit Court Judge, accepts those plea deals and then assigns extremely lenient sentences for violent crime. This has resulted in a full blown crisis. Lawlessness is becoming way more endemic in our communities.

As it stands, a candidate for Sheriff would need to make increasing the amount of jail space and the number of jury trials in the County the political and rhetorical priority in order to earn my endorsement. Neither Hodshire nor Rutan are doing so. You can read the Fox47 interview with both men here.

Hodshire is running on his long experience in law enforcement and his competence. He is touting his record of arresting drug dealers, acquiring state grants, and creating high school diploma and community service programs at the jail. Rutan is running on decreasing expenditures on gear in order to raise salaries for deputies and on letting lower-level criminals out of the jail in order to make room for more dangerous criminals.

Again, I want to emphasize that while I am not making an endorsement in this race, I am also not attacking either candidate’s character or principles. Sheriff Hodshire has done a solid job in office. He is pro-Trump. He didn’t harass people over COVID mandates from the state. He answers questions when I ask. His department arrests real dirtbags and responds in a timely fashion to calls. Good.

The bad part is the hundreds of active warrants and rising crime in the County. Community service programs, high school diplomas for inmates, and high tech new radios are not my priority for solving that problem. My priorities are more jail space, more jury trials instead of plea deals, and raising salaries for deputies in order to increase retention—in that order.

As for Jon Rutan, I think he is a patriot. He has treated me well when we’ve interacted. I do not think, however, that our problems are so simple that just reclassifying inmates at the jail will meaningfully solve the problem of crime. I think Rutan is right to say that there are problems in the county but he should tighten his focus on the issues at the judicial and prosecutorial level I highlighted above.

As it stands, I have enough information to make an informed vote, but this race is not critical enough that I feel the need to make an endorsement.