It is time to take on the County Board of Schoolcraft County. It is REALLY wrong to have 2 relatives from the same family running rough-shod over the County. WE WILL TAKE YOU ON! It is time to re-call the county board.
Sheriff Harris inherited a HUGE MESS from the previous sheriff. He would need all of the County's budget to get it straightened out.
The mess the county jail was in was horrendous.Where was the board when the filthy mess needed to get cleaned up.This sheriff has the necessary experience to get this job done. The undersheriff has more experience in law enforcement and crime solving than any other candidate Sheriff Harris could have picked.
Now we do not have a road patrol because the board wants to have it their way. How unbelievably selfish of this board to throw it away and jeopardize the people of Schoolcraft County. We should all call them when we have an emergency and let them respond. Hey what a great idea!They did spend over $150,000+ on the airport garage for the one little snowplow that they have. Who in the county gets a chance to use the airport? A very selected few! Everyone benefits from the sheriffs patrol. And what is this with one of the board members saying that no way are we going to get the Prison for a County Jail.How did he get elected King? Let's get the recall for the County Board Members going!!!

Maybe deep within needs to look a little deeper. You do realize that there is a union at the sheriffs office and you cant just go in and get rid of people. and you can't tell me that you have never had a job that your shift might change. Big deal maybe everyone needs to grow up and start looking at the good things that have been done at the jail. start asking the board why we paid extra tax payers moneys on a stupid pole building at the air port that now has some thing wrong with it and can't be use what a waste. For a town with no money why did we need that so bad?????

What the citizens need to know is the information that only people inside local law enforcement have seen and experienced at the jail. Lets start with the past sheriff who needs no introduction, he held the office for so long becuase no one else wanted it.(It wasn't that we loved him so much) That politician designed an office that was so disfunctional and self destructive that a person would have to be insane to want to take over. Personally I respect a sheriff who stays behind the desk instead of disapearing for hours to locations unknown by everyone including his own staff or even leaving for hours to his "office" up north. When for WHATEVER reason he decided to strap his son with the impending doom of holding the sheriff position the voters did the best they could do with what they had to work with. We all hoped that Harris would use his over sized ego to make the jail less like a sleepover. I myself voted for him becuase I had hoped he would recognize those employees brought in by the Maddox(s) for what they are, low functioning YES sir, buddies. The simple truth is that Harris has NOT fulfilled his promise to the voters and he needs to put a leash on the undersheriff and remind him that this is NOT Delta county where money is no object, but he now works in Schoolcraft county where we NEED a jail to take the people that local law enforcement arrest. My feelings go out to the couple of employees who still find the strength to walk through that back door each day and put the brown uniform on and keep hope that that the citizens will continue to work for a better sheriffs department. Sheriff Harris I ask of you, please sit down and do the job we elected you to do and run the jail in the county and worry about being a law enforcement hero later. Your undersheriff had his chance to be a top cop, now remind him why he was brought here and that is to be an assistant administrator(not a cop). Mr Undersheriff you made your promises too, seperate from the Sheriff's hip and administrate when he is not working...........like you promised!

Our former Sheriff did what he could with what was given to him by the county board. I know there were many times they denied funding for things such as new patrol cars, etc and decided to spend money on much less important things. You can play the blame game all you want but I find it funny that Harris spends way more money than Maddox ever got and it still isn't enough. I don't see how anyone can blame past Sheriff's when the current one gets way more and still can't do any good?? Doesn't make much sense to me.
And also, put down Maddox all you want but were you out there the last 30 years saving lives, looking for lost people or hunters in the middle of the night, rescuing people off the ice, whether you knew them or not, and never once complaining? That's what I thought. 99% of the people in Schoolcraft Co. don't do any of that yet they still can run their mouths like they know what they are talking about. People need to learn how to RESPECT people who serve us whether you like them or not. Thanks Gary for your bravery and hard work.

Maybe this town needs to find out both sides before they jump in to get rid of someone. I think people should be asking the board alot. our sheriff works 24-7 and is tring to change things the way people wanted it to be. maybe the board is fighting him on every thing did any of you people that worte on here go and talk to the sheriff and find out his side I dont think so if you did you would know what he has done for our county in 11 months of time and how much he has saved and gotten for this county shame on any one who just hears one side and jumps in to get rid of him keep up the good job I am proud of you.

Everyone needs to Give the new Sheriff some time. He has not even been in office for a year and you want to recall him? I understand the board is having a hard time dealing with someone that will stand up to them. This is a whole new process they have to deal with. If people think they have problems at the Sheriff's Office now, can you just imagine what it would be like if one of the other candidates would of been elected? Or if the past sheriff were still in office.
You cant cure 30 years of poor management in just a few months.
If only the people that support Sheriff Harris would speak out you would be hearing 100 times the positive things about him compared to 1 negative thing.
Maybe the entire county board needs to be recalled? I bet that would cure a lot of the problems.
I am glad we have a active Sheriff, and not one who spent more time at camp then at the office.

Recall! Recall! Recall! It's about time!

Read the below comments. Manistique is full of people who just don't get it. Complain, complain, complain because they didn't get their way. Manistique excells in conspiracy theory 101.
Let him do his job and avoid this B.S.

It's a shame that it has to come to this. Had the voters done it right in the first place we wouldn't have this problem now. Yay for the recall! Put someone in that knows what they're doing.

Boy am I glad to see this story. I moved from Manistique just over a year ago. Had I voted in their election I wouldn't have voted for Harris. He thinks that all his experience is going to help him, but it's not and it shows. No offense to him but I hope this recall goes through. Schoolcraft County needs a sheriff like Joe Arpaio in Phoenix.

Im an older resident of schoolcraft county. I can remember when our current sheriff worked for public safety in manistique. I didnt like him 20yrs ago. Now he is trying to run our county bankrupt. I just dont know how he can do all these things. I just wish the guy could tell the truth about something. As far as i know we havent passed any jail inspections at 100% or cut down on overtime. Im just an old timer so what do i know, but whoever voted for this guy have fun for the next 3 yrs

Bring back Maddox! A lot of people in the county may not have liked him but he was a great sheriff. He was able to do good with the money he got from the county. The county board was the problem during Maddox's reign, not him.

Grant Harris promised us a lot of things during the election and I haven't seen many of them come true. He said he would pass jail inspections at 100% and that didn't come true. He said he would work with the county board. I don't think a lawsuit defines that; do you? It's a mistake that the voters made and hopefully they will get to fix it.

Well Sheriff, I guess it's time to worry about your retirement from the state. Something tells me you aren't going to get yourself out of this hole.

From the rumors I have heard the Undersheriff in Schoolcraft County lives in Delta County. Now I'm by no means a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure you can't do that. Not one of Harris' greatest moves if that is the case. And if he can't make that decision right then how do the voters of that county think he can run the Department?

I have to say that i voted for Harris in the election. It's the only vote i made during the election that i regret. If i get a chance to vote again it ain't gonna be for Harris. The administration is just not what i was hoping for.

Sheriff Harris is wasting the money of tax payers in Schoolcraft County. We can't afford this lawsuit he is filing. He needs to understand that there are tough economic times in Michigan and money is scarce. The County Board is only doing what is necessary with the budget that they were given.

i support this recall. the work van inmates help us at the senior center almost everyday. they say the sheriff is trying to do away with this program. i think that this is sad

Well said and yes this Sheriff has lied to the people, in quotes in the papers and in the candidate debates. I still have some of the paperwork he so gladly provided us during the election cycle that says he’ll pass 100% of jail inspections, and then he says a few months later that the current jail will never pass an inspection. It makes me laugh how this guy operates. He tells the Commission that the undersheriff needs to be full time and they guy he has chosen will work opposite shift. LIES! Tisk tisk.

Has anyone ever looked into this matter a little more, seems like the ones stirring all the trouble for Sheriff Harris don't like anyone to stand up to them. The sheriff's office was always run by "yes men" and someone stands up to them and he gets recalled??? Come on Manisitique!!

re call the shriff or wasting taxpayer money?? where have you been the last 20+ yrs????

under the last sheriffs 20+ yrs in office we had way more money wasted, illegal hiring practices, used his postion and the department for his personal needs, not mentioning not passing even one jail inspection in 10+ Yrs. why wasnt he recalled??

no one likes Mr.Harris becasue he wants to change how things are.

I don't even know how the sheriff won the election. He can sure talk a good talk at a debate, but when the real truth comes out he just wants another pention. He is running the Sheriffs Dept into the ground. This would not have happened if anybody else would have won. As far as im concerned i hope that petition goes forward on NOV 8 because i would be the first to sign it, and im sure there are lots of other people that feel the same way. As far as the under sheriff working a different shift then the sheriff, thats the way it should be. Last time I was down there, there was five people running around. Boo Hoo he doesn't want to work afteroons. Their is not alot of jobs that you can pick your own shift and that job is one of them. If the sheriff wanted to cut down on overtime why dont the undersheriff work some of those shifts.

Sheriff Harris hasn’t helped relations with the county board or the citizens of Schoolcraft County. Sheriff Harris is a bully and I commend this board for not taking it. I gave him a chance, I gave him my support and he has done nothing but cost the tax payers of this county more than any public official ever has or ever should. The odd part is what he is fighting for…a under sheriff that I’ve been told doesn’t even live in Schoolcraft County! Anyone who has followed this story since the beginning can see just how bad the sheriff wants the county to pay his attorney fees in this bs legal action that he filed against the board. In last weeks paper they report that he sent a letter to the county board saying their regular county attorney was a conflict unless they agreed to pay his legal fees. If they did pay then he would allow the county to use their regular attorney. What? Can he be serious? There is only a conflict if the county refused to pay for his legal fees? He is trying to strong arm this county board into giving in, which is something I hope they don’t do. You can see the desperation from Gulliver.

Now all the idiots who voted for him can realize what a mistake they made. That's what you get for voting in a guy who doesn't know the first thing about running a jail. Sheriff Maddox was a great sheriff who did what he could with a county board who didn't want to give out any money. It's pretty bad when Harris gets even more handed to him and can't even do any good for Schoolcraft County.

I think it's time for all parties to stop making this personal! The voters sent all parties involved to represent what's in the best interest of the county! Clearly what is going on is not what is in the best interest of the voters who pay your salaries and just as important the future of our County. The County has many financial challenges, and it's clearly not in the best interest of the tax payers to create more debt with legal costs, overtime, recall petitions, and use of the courts to strong arm participants into compliance. I think the general public is looking at this situation and drawing conclusions that may not be true, or true, causing more descent with our community. It is time to put away the pride, step up and be the bigger person by reaching out too everyone involved and work out the many problems with our aging jail, shrinking revenue, high suicides, failed health inspections, failed MDOC inspections, and doing more with less with the loss of revenue sharing and our declining tax base. It is important to remember the next election cycle, as people will vote on what they remember today. Do you want us to remember the negative activities of all parties involved, or how all parties came together to make Schoolcraft County safer and more fiscally responsible. Please do the right thing, before it's too late, as Schoolcraft County residents deserve sound leadership and responsible people making the right decisions leaving our County better off for future generations.

It is very easy for everyone to play the "blame game" in Schoolcraft County politics. This includes me but let's not forget the history here. Back when I was a kid we had a strong Sheriff's Office in Schoolcraft County. I remember seeing the Sheriff's patrol out and occasionally they would stop and talk to us kids. All of them were great except mean old Fisk. After Sheriff Grey the Sheriff's office began to deteriorate. Over the years Sheriff Maddox allowed the Sheriff's Office to deteriorate to the point of being nothing more than a baby sitters office. No proactive law-enforcement, no deputies directly servicing our friends and neighbors. Sheriff Harris is trying to fix this and make the office progressive, to again serve the citizens as the chief law-enforcement officer of the county.

Sheriff Harris inherited a mess at the office. His mistake is that he is trying to recover decades of loss in one year. I understand that these problems, and political wrangling, weigh heavy on the fiscal considerations, however Sheriff Harris is right. Sheriff Harris had a valid constitutional argument. I believe that Sheriff Harris is trying to serve the citizens to the best of his ability. Sheriff Harris needs to be reminded that Rome was not built in a day but also needs our support to rebuild OUR Sheriff's Office.

It is amazing how the Sheriff won by so many votes in the last election and will likely get recalled by an even bigger margin. I haven't heard even one person supporting him in the County. At this point we are at the point that we need to fix the problem and the problem is Harris and his under Sheriff. 800 signatures wont be a problem. This has nothing to do with who lost the election, but rather we voted voted for the wrong guy, me included. This guy is on a power trip, he is suing the County because he wants more money in his budget. This is the same guy that had $60,000 in unscheduled over time last year because he sites behind a desk rather than working like the past Sheriff did as needed.

Seems like the same people are always slamming local government in the UP. Crying "Recall" is getting to be a joke! Let's get a grip and try to live with the people the majority of voters voted into office. You'll get your chance the next time the polls are open. Majority rules -- remember?

I am from this area and let me tell you the citizens there would file a recall petition for Charmin TP because it is too soft if they could.

This anger all dwells from the fact that there was about 5 people running for the office and 4 lost. Boo hoo - my guy lost so now I am going to get your guy. Man am I glad I don't live there any more.