Good evening, everyone.

Thank you for being here and for giving me the opportunity to talk with you about the future of the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office.

Throughout this campaign, you've heard me talk a lot about leadership.

And I think that word gets used pretty easily during an election.

Everybody can tell you what they're going to do. Everybody can make promises about what things will look like someday.

But I believe leadership is something you should be able to see.

You should be able to look at what someone has already done, how they have handled responsibility, how they have developed people, and whether they have made the organization around them better.

That's why I've called this Leadership in Action.

Because I'm not asking you to judge me only by what I say I will do as Sheriff.

I'm asking you to look at what I'm already doing.

For 27 years, I served in the United States Marine Corps, eventually having the privilege of serving as a Regimental Sergeant Major.

Over those years, I learned that strong organizations don't happen by accident.

They require standards. They require accountability. They require communication. They require trust.

And most importantly, they require people who understand that they have a responsibility not only for what the organization is today, but for what it becomes tomorrow.

That experience shaped a leadership philosophy I still carry with me:

Mission first. People always.

Because you cannot accomplish the mission without taking care of the people responsible for accomplishing it.

And that brings me to my mission and vision for the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office.

I want to build an organization with a strong professional culture. One based on accountability, communication, trust, development, and service.

And I want an office that operates like a well-oiled machine.

When I say that, I'm not talking about treating people like interchangeable parts.

I'm talking about an organization where everybody understands the mission. Everybody understands their role. The chain of command works. Information moves. Supervisors lead. Standards are understood. People trust one another.

And when something goes wrong, we identify it, fix it, learn from it, and move forward.

Most importantly, I want every member of this Sheriff's Office to feel empowered, valued, and responsible for its future.

That's my vision.

Because my vision isn't just about what this office looks like while I'm leading it.

I want to build something that lasts.

There will come a day when I'm no longer here. That's true of every leader. And when that day comes, I want the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office to continue moving forward because we built the people, the systems, the standards, and the culture to sustain it.

To me, that's one of the greatest measures of leadership.

Did you simply lead while you were there or did you develop people and build an organization capable of succeeding after you were gone?

I want future leaders to come from within this organization. I want the people we're coaching, mentoring, and teaching today to become the supervisors and leaders of tomorrow. And I want them to pass those same expectations and values to the people who come after them.

That's how you create lasting change. That's how you build an organization instead of simply occupying a position.

And that's the legacy I want to leave: a Sheriff's Office that is stronger because I served here, and one that continues getting better long after my service is finished.

And we're already building it.

I also want to address something I've heard during this campaign.

I've heard the question of whether my experience as a Marine Corps Sergeant Major really translates to being a Sheriff.

I think that's a fair question.

And my answer is this:

Being a Sergeant Major did not teach me how to be a Sheriff. It taught me how to lead an organization.

Those are two different things.

I would never suggest that my years in the Marine Corps automatically makes someone qualified to be a Sheriff.

That's why my law-enforcement experience matters too.

I've gone through the academy. I've worked as a deputy. I've supervised deputies. I've served in executive leadership within this Sheriff's Office. I've worked with our courts, evidence, policies, training, staffing, accreditation, budgets, and the day-to-day problems that come with operating a Sheriff's Office.

I am a working member of this profession, and I know this office.

But what my time as a Sergeant Major gave me was something else.

It taught me how to take an organization made up of people with different personalities, different experience levels, different responsibilities, and different strengths and get them working toward the same mission. 

It taught me personnel management.

Today, you see that in our Sheriff's Office. I established a short-term road staffing goal of 12. We reached 12. Now the long-term goal is 14.

It taught me training and readiness.

Today, we're 80 percent of the way toward my goal of having 100 percent of our eligible staffing CIT certified. And I wrote the proposal that resulted in our training room being approved as a DCJS-certified satellite classroom.

It taught me leader development.

Today, we're using competitive promotion boards, building a working chain of command, creating opportunities for supervisors to lead, and emphasizing coaching, mentoring, and teaching.

It taught me organizational problem-solving.

When new courthouse requirements created a staffing challenge, I didn't simply identify the problem. I developed a solution. I wrote the proposal for a full-time courthouse position, presented the need, and that proposal was accepted.

It taught me accountability.

Set the standard. Make sure people understand the standard. Give them the tools and training to meet it. And then hold yourself and your people accountable for the result and when necessary, make tough choices.

It taught me communication.

Not just talking  but listening. Making sure information moves up and down an organization. Listening to the people closest to a problem. And understanding that rank doesn't give one person a monopoly on good ideas.

And maybe most importantly, being a Sergeant Major taught me that your job as a senior leader isn't to do everybody else's job.

Your job is to build an organization where people are trained, trusted, equipped, and empowered to do theirs.

That's exactly the culture I'm trying to build here.

So, no the Marine Corps and the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office are not the same. And being a Sergeant Major and being a Sheriff are not the same job.

But leadership translates.

Developing people translates. Building teams translates. Managing personnel translates. Training and readiness translate. Setting standards translates. Accountability translates. Making difficult decisions translates. Managing change translates. Building trust translates.

And accepting responsibility for the performance of an entire organization absolutely translates.

And you don't have to take my word for it.

Look at the results.

The question isn't whether the skills I learned as a Sergeant Major might translate someday.

You're already seeing how I've applied them right here in the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office.

And that is exactly what I mean when I talk about Leadership in Action.

One of the first things that had to be addressed was staffing.

It's very difficult to talk about expanding services, increasing training, being more proactive, or improving community engagement when you don't have enough people to accomplish the basic mission.

So I established a measurable short-term goal: get road staffing to 12.

We recruited. We interviewed. We hired.

And we reached 12.

We've also brought our overall staffing up to capacity.

But I'm not finished.

My longer-term road staffing goal is 14.

Why 14?

Because staffing isn't just a number on an organizational chart.

It affects whether we have adequate coverage when someone is sick, on leave, in court, or attending training. It affects how much flexibility supervisors have. It affects whether deputies have time to be proactive in our community instead of simply responding from one call to the next.

And it affects our ability to develop people without sacrificing the mission while they're away receiving training.

So when I talk about staffing, I'm not talking about filling chairs.

I'm talking about building capacity.

My approach is pretty simple:

Set the objective. Build the plan. Reach the objective. Then set the next one.

Twelve was the short-term goal. We reached it. Fourteen is where we're going next.

But getting people through the door isn't enough.

We have to develop them.

That's where culture comes in.

One of the changes I've been working to implement is a functioning chain of command.

A chain of command shouldn't simply exist on an organizational chart. It should work.

Supervisors should understand their responsibilities. Employees should know where to go with a problem. Information should move both up and down the organization. And leaders should actually lead.

We've created additional supervisory opportunities, including Corporal positions. We've implemented competitive promotion boards. And we're working to create clearer opportunities for professional growth.

Because I don't want employees to look at the job they have today and think that's as far as they can go.

I want them asking: What's next? What can I learn? What responsibility can I take on? How can I contribute more?

That's talent management.

Find good people. Develop them. Challenge them. Recognize them. And give them a reason to stay.

Accountability is another important part of that culture.

But I want to be very clear about what I mean by accountability.

Accountability is not simply waiting for somebody to make a mistake and then punishing them.

We absolutely have to maintain standards. And when standards aren't met, we have to address it.

But good leadership goes further than that.

We set the standard. We teach the standard. We give people the tools to meet it. We correct when necessary. And then we help them improve.

That's the culture I want:

Coaching. Mentoring. Teaching.

I want supervisors who develop people rather than simply manage them. I want experienced employees sharing what they know with newer employees. I want people to be able to admit that they don't know something and ask for help without believing that doing so makes them weak.

And I want people to be able to bring forward an idea and know it will at least be heard.

Because sometimes the best idea in the room doesn't come from the person with the highest rank.

That is how you build trust.

And trust creates communication. Communication creates ownership. And ownership creates accountability.

Training is another major part of this vision.

One of my short-term goals has been increasing Crisis Intervention Team training.

Today, we are 80 percent of the way toward having 100 percent of our eligible staffing CIT certified.

And I'm proud of that progress.

CIT gives our deputies additional tools when they're dealing with someone experiencing a mental-health or behavioral-health crisis. It strengthens communication. It strengthens de-escalation. And it gives our people additional resources for situations where simply putting someone in handcuffs may not address the underlying problem.

That's what good training should do.

It should give our deputies more tools to solve problems.

But I also looked at the bigger training problem.

Sending deputies away for training costs time. It affects staffing. It can create overtime and coverage issues.

So instead of simply accepting that as the way we've always done things, I asked: What can we do differently?

We already have a training room. Why not make better use of it?

I wrote a proposal to have the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office training room recognized as a DCJS-certified satellite classroom.

That proposal was accepted.

That creates an opportunity to bring more professional training right here to Middlesex.

Less travel. Less time away from the county. Less impact on staffing. More opportunity for our people.

That's a good example of what I mean by Leadership in Action.

Sometimes the answer isn't asking taxpayers to buy something new.

Sometimes it's looking at what you already have and asking: How can we use this better?

I took the same approach with courthouse security.

New state requirements increased the responsibilities associated with courthouse operations.

Those requirements have to be met.

But there was another operational consequence.

If we continually pull a road deputy away from patrol to meet courthouse requirements, then we've solved one problem by creating another.

So I developed a proposal for a full-time courthouse position.

The purpose was straightforward: meet the requirements of the courthouse while protecting the staffing we need on the road.

I took that proposal to the Board of Supervisors.

It was accepted.

That's what I believe leadership is supposed to look like.

Identify the problem. Understand the consequences. Develop a realistic solution. Make the case. And then get to work.

And not every problem facing Middlesex belongs solely to the Sheriff's Office.

The ongoing discussion about noise is a good example.

I've been collaborating with committee members regarding the noise ordinance and looking at the concerns that have been raised within our community.

There are residents who have legitimate concerns. There are also practical questions about what can actually be enforced, how it can be enforced consistently, and what deputies need in order to do that job fairly.

Those conversations matter.

Because good public policy shouldn't be created in isolation.

Residents bring their experiences. Committee members bring their perspectives. County leadership has a role. Law enforcement can explain the realities of enforcement.

My responsibility as a leader isn't to pretend that I have every answer.

Sometimes my responsibility is to bring people together, listen, contribute what I know, and help work toward a practical solution.

That's collaboration.

And I believe we're better when we do more of it.

There are other changes happening inside the Sheriff's Office that the public may never see.

We're reviewing and modernizing policies. We're improving organizational processes. We're strengthening courthouse leadership. We're working on evidence procedures, records, body-worn camera infrastructure, accreditation, communications, training, onboarding, and professional development.

Those things don't necessarily make exciting campaign speeches.

But they matter.

Because when you call 911, you see the deputy who arrives.

What you don't see are all the systems behind that deputy.

The dispatcher who took the call. The training that prepared that deputy. The supervisor responsible for that shift. The policies guiding the response. The equipment they rely on. The evidence procedures that may become important later. The records personnel documenting what happened. The technology supporting all of it.

Leadership is responsible for making sure those systems work together.

That's what I mean by a well-oiled machine.

Not perfection. No organization is perfect.

But an organization that constantly learns. Constantly evaluates. Constantly improves.

And doesn't accept, "That's the way we've always done it," as a good enough answer.

That also applies to how we spend your money.

We should pursue grants when they make sense. If outside funding can help Middlesex obtain needed training, technology, or equipment, then we should absolutely pursue those opportunities.

But I'm also going to be realistic with you.

A grant is not a funding strategy.

Grants aren't guaranteed. And eventually, some grant-funded programs have continuing costs.

So before I ask taxpayers for more money, I want us asking some basic questions.

What do we actually need? What resources do we already have? Can we use them better? Can we collaborate with another agency? Can we train someone internally? Is there outside funding available?

And if additional local funding truly is necessary, can I clearly explain to the Board of Supervisors and to you what we need, why we need it, and what you're getting for it?

That's responsible stewardship.

When I look at everything we've accomplished, I don't see a collection of unrelated projects.

I see pieces of the same plan.

Road staffing at 12, with 14 as the next objective. That's building capacity.

Eighty percent progress toward 100 percent CIT certification. That's developing our people.

Competitive promotion boards and a stronger chain of command. That's developing leaders.

A DCJS-certified satellite classroom. That's building a training culture.

A full-time courthouse position. That's identifying a problem and protecting operational readiness.

Working collaboratively on issues like the noise ordinance. That's community partnership.

Open communication, trust building, coaching, mentoring, and teaching. That's changing culture.

They all point toward the same vision.

An organization where people know what's expected of them. Where they have the training to do it. Where supervisors actually lead. Where good work is recognized. Where problems are addressed. Where ideas can move. Where people take ownership.

And where every employee understands:

I have a responsibility for the future of this Sheriff's Office.

I've said throughout this campaign:

Experience tells you what has worked before. Leadership requires the vision to determine what should come next.

My 27 years in the Marine Corps gave me tremendous experience.

My time at the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office has given me a deep appreciation for this organization, the people in it, and the community we serve.

But experience alone isn't my argument for why I should be your Sheriff.

Look at the work.

Look at what we're changing.

Look at what we're building.

And look at where we're going.

There is still work to do.

I don't have every answer, and I won't pretend that I do.

That's not leadership.

Leadership is being willing to listen. Being willing to learn. Surrounding yourself with capable people. Setting a standard. Making decisions. Developing others. And accepting responsibility for the results.

That's the kind of Sheriff I intend to be.

I'm not asking you to elect me based solely on promises about what I might do someday.

I'm asking you to look at what we're already accomplishing and the direction we're already moving.

My commitment is to continue building an office where standards matter and people matter.

Where accountability and development go together. Where communication replaces unnecessary barriers. Where supervisors coach, mentor, teach, and lead. Where employees feel valued but also understand that being valued comes with responsibility. Where we use taxpayer resources wisely. Where we work with our community instead of apart from it.

And where every member of this Sheriff's Office understands that they have a part in its future - not just for the next four years, and not just while I'm Sheriff, but for the generation of Middlesex deputies and leaders who will come after us.

That's my mission.

That's my vision.

And that's what Leadership in Action means to me.

I've spent all of my adult life in service.

Now I'm asking for the opportunity to continue that service here, in the community my family and I call home.

Mission first. People always.


Thank you, again.