Los Alamos County Sheriff candidate Jason Wardlow Herrera, left, and Sheriff Joseph Granville announce new decision on 2022 race Wednesday at the Los Alamos Daily Post world headquarters. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

By JOSEPH GRANVILLE
Los Alamos County Sheriff

Hello, friends and neighbors. Four years ago, I committed to running for the office of Los Alamos County Sheriff. At the time, an acrimonious relationship existed between the Sheriff and County Council.

A back-and-forth fight to define the role of Sheriff played out in multiple lawsuits and a reduction of the office’s responsibilities. All the disfunction chronicled in our local papers.

Election year 2018, four candidates ran to become the next Sheriff. Newspapers from around New Mexico covered the campaign. Unusual for a small-town office.

Thanks to the hard work of our Democratic Party volunteers and the faith placed in me by the County voters, I was elected Sheriff.

Over the course of my first three years in office the sobriety of the role of Sheriff has sunk in.

The romantic image of a Western grizzled Sheriff in a cowboy hat sitting upon a horse presents a charming characterization. The reality is that the Sheriff’s office is charged with maintaining the sex offender registry. I am proud the office is run professionally and efficiently.

This is thanks to the good fortune of having first Lisa Gonzales and then Desiree Miranda-Mendonca as Senior Office Specialists. Our budget has remained unchanged since my first year in office, when we reduced the cost to the County by tens of thousands of dollars.

As this election year began it was my intention to run for re-election.

The efforts that went into creating a drama-free office should not be given up. What changed for me was a phone call and subsequent in-person visit with recently retired Los Alamos Deputy Police Chief Jason Wardlow Herrera.

As we were facing each other in the Democratic primary it seemed like common sense that we should get to know one another.

In our conversations it has become clear to me that Jason would make a great candidate. Therefore, I am withdrawing from the race, and trying to be helpful in Jason’s bid to be our next County Sheriff.

Jason is a service-driven individual who has the energy and experience to be a terrific Los Alamos County Sheriff.
I hope you will join me in supporting Jason’s candidacy.

By working together in this upcoming election, we can deliver the kind of character Sheriff our county deserves.

Editor’s Note: Watch for more from Sheriff Candidate Jason Wardlow Herrera in the coming days at ladailypost.com