Dear Editor:
This is an open letter to the citizens of Rio Blanco County:
I am supporting Mike Joos for sheriff. He came to Meeker in 1990 to work for the Meeker Police Department. Previously he worked at the Federal Heights Police Department for 11 years.
In Federal Heights, Mike started as a dispatcher and then became a police officer. He had assignments as a detective, K-9 officer, traffic investigator, crime prevention officer, public information officer and as a state instructor by the Colorado Peace Officer’s Standards and Training Board.
After four years with Meeker police, Mike was promoted to lieutenant. He also became the department’s field training officer, agency instructor and an internationally certified traffic accident reconstructionist. In 1998, he was presented with a Professional Certificate in Law Enforcement Science and Criminal Justice by the National Association of Chiefs of Police. In December 2002, after 12 years with the Meeker police, Mike chose to leave and become the sheriff’s office’s new undersheriff.
Since taking office in January 2003 as the undersheriff, Mike prepares and maintains the nine separate sheriff’s office budgets. Mike also oversees day-to-day operations, and, in my absence, manages the budgets and responds to and manages major incidents and issues within the county.
In his 35 years of experience, Mike has more than 18 years as a law enforcement leader. He attended countless hours of management and leadership training including an Advanced Threat Assessment and Management Academy in California. Mike, as a certified instructor, has taught in Colorado and Wyoming law enforcement academies and has taught Substantive Criminal Law in college. He has been instrumental in the county’s concealed weapon permit process and has assisted with instructing on the laws on carrying concealed weapons and the use of deadly force. He is also a member of the National Rifle Association.
The undersheriff is a salaried and non-exempt position, but since becoming the undersheriff Mike has worked an average of 50 to 60 hours a week unless he is on vacation, which isn’t very often. Mike has devoted the past 25 years of his life, of his career, to protecting and caring about the people of this county day and night on holidays and weekends.
Mike and I have enjoyed the time we spend in Rangely and in Piceance Creek since taking office. Both of us spend time driving through Piceance Creek and in Rangely. We both spend time in Rangely every month and most times on at least a weekly basis. We have both been welcomed by the citizens in Rangely and Piceance Creek. Has any prior sheriff and undersheriff made this a priority or done this?
Mike will continue to be present in all areas of the county as your sheriff. Will the other candidate promise to do so and then actually follow through?
Mike Joos and I as well as the entire sheriff’s office have improved the working relationship with the other departments and agencies in the county and we all assist each other when in need. The sheriff’s office works closer with County Road and Bridge than it ever has before.
I have for the past 12 years deputized all of the police officers in the county so that they are protected and can respond out in the county to provide help when they might be closer than a deputy. Mike will continue to do so; will the other candidate promise to do so?
Will the other candidate promise he and his undersheriff will devote equal time in Rangely and in the Piceance Creek area as we have?
Will any other candidate come close to the broad knowledge, training, experience, leadership abilities or the dedication and devotion to duty to the citizens of this county that Mike Joos has displayed and proven the past 25 years?
Do we citizens of Rio Blanco County want a sheriff who has spent his whole adult life working towards this point in his law enforcement career? Then Mike Joos is our candidate. Mike is the most knowledgeable and devoted law enforcement officer I have ever worked with or employed. His experience and background are not limited to a few different duties or assignments.
Si Woodruff
Sheriff
Rio Blanco County
