Sheriff candidate Studer wants to make community the focus for department
CHEBOYGAN — John Studer will be seeking the Republican nomination for Cheboygan County Sheriff on the Aug. 6 ballot.
Studer will be squaring off against Joshua Ginop, the current undersheriff.
If elected sheriff, Studer aims to bring a different perspective to the position.
"I want to bring community back to the department and a different perspective from an entrepreneurial standpoint versus law enforcement. I think I can bring something to the table that nobody else can," said Studer.
After the COVID-19 pandemic decimated his handmade stone beads and jewelry business, Studer decided to turn his attention to the county political scene.
"I wanted to get involved and try to make a difference. I joined the local Republican Party and started attending county commissioner meetings to the point that I got appointed to the county planning commission and the county soil conservation district board," he said.
After a GOP dinner last year, Studer was encouraged by several of those attending to run for sheriff. He wants to strengthen the sheriff department's ties to the community.
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"There seems to be a breakdown between the sheriff department and the community," he said. "If you go into the sheriff department office it's like you are in Fort Knox. You are talking to a deputy through a buzzer.
"I had a friend that suffered a dog bite," Studer added. "When he went to the department to report the incident and because there wasn't a road patrol deputy there, no one could help this guy. So for almost three hours he waited for a road patrol deputy to come back before he even went to seek medical attention."
Studer is also questioning why there is such a heavy security presence in the county building.
"The county building has more security in place for a building full of law enforcement than most of our schools do," he said.
He noted that county commissioners requested more school resource officers over a year ago.
"Our sheriff said he would get on it and to my knowledge we still have only one resource officer covering four schools in the county," he said.
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Studer grew up in Indian River and after graduating from Inland Lakes High School in 1988, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. He came back to the area and eventually established a sporting goods and gun refinishing business with his father.
He and his wife, Alison, have been married for 32 years and have two children and one granddaughter.
— Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Cheboygan County Sheriff candidate Studer wants to make community the focus for department
