SIDNEY – Shelby County voters still have more than two weeks to decide between James R. Frye and Mark Jordan, the two Republican candidates for Shelby County sheriff.
Ohio’s 2020 primary elections were extended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the extended deadlines, the Sidney Daily News has given both candidates an opportunity to address the voters again as they vie to be the Republican nominee to replace Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart, whose second stint as sheriff expires on Dec. 31.
Jordan is the CEO of Bluecrest Electronics, a sergeant with the Botkins Police Department and a deputy with the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office. He is a 1982 graduate of Sidney High School and attended Wilmington College and Xavier University.
The 55-year-old Jordan is engaged to Lori Werling. He has a son, Parker Jordan; daughter-in-law, Diane Jordan; and two daughters, Heather Werling and Tabitha Werling. His grandchildren are Averi Grace, Braxton, Zenna and one more is due this week.
For more information about Jordan, visit his website at www.votejordansheriff.com or his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/JordanforSheriff2020/.
Frye, the chief deputy with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, also is a Sidney High School graduate. He attended United States Marine Corps basic training in Paris Island, South Carolina, the Military Police Academy at Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama, and military police in-service training at Camp Elmore in Norfolk, Virginia.
The 59-year-old Frye is married to his wife, Lori A. Stewart Frye, and they combined have seven children and four grandchildren.
For more information about Frye, visit his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Fryeforshelbycountysheriff.
Mark Jordan
In this time of adversity, the American spirit and commitment to serving others is shining through.
Over the past three weeks, I have been privileged to witness multiple selfless acts of kindness and service to others. I have seen young men serving in the Ohio National Guard, Officer Mike McRill, and other volunteers stocking the Agape food pantry shelves and delivering curbside grocery carts full of food to hundreds of families. I have seen first responders volunteer in many different capacities to give help where it is needed. I have seen many residents supporting our local restaurants by using pickup and delivery options since dining rooms are closed. I have seen offers to provide groceries, toilet paper, masks, and more to those in need. Most recently, I have seen family members, who are nursing certified, volunteer to travel to New York and serve where needed. These are all beautiful examples of our American spirit and service to others.
I encourage you, if able, to lift a burden from someone or show an act of kindness during these difficult times. Offer daily contact with a friend or family member that is home alone. Something as simple as a daily text message to ask your friend or family member if they are doing fine could make a tremendous impact. Don’t limit the contact to today; reach out today, tomorrow, and every day until we get through this crisis.
At times like these, a country, community and the individual spirit is tried, as by fire. We will be known in the future by our actions taken today. May the choices and decisions made today resonate loud and clear; that we cared for the weak and at risk, that we reached out a helping hand, that we stood for the founding principles of our forefathers, that WE, THE PEOPLE, came together to build upon what was, and became stronger and better than ever before!
As for our election process, it has been disrupted like many other things during this crisis. In an effort to minimize personal contact, the election has been extended to April 28 via mail-in absentee ballots. Your voice matters and is extremely important in the process. Although it may be less convenient, exercise your constitutional right to vote. You can call the Board of Elections (BOE) at 937-498-7207 to have an absentee ballot request form sent to you, or you can download and print one from the BOE website. The BOE staff and volunteers stand ready to serve you and are doing an excellent job managing the disruption. If you want the changes I’ve outlined at votejordansheriff.com, don’t wait to cast your ballot. Do it right away – vote Jordan for Sheriff. If I can help in any way, call me at 937-538-4305.
Honesty, Integrity, Transparency, and Accountability are at my core and I am ready to SERVE YOU, the people of Shelby County. May God bless and watch over each and every one of you.
James R. Frye
I put the election on the back burner with everything our community is facing with the Coronavirus. With businesses closed, people laid off and the uncertainty with what the future holds, I felt my attention as Chief Deputy of the Sheriff’s Office was my main focus and what the people would expect from me. Our goals at the Sheriff’s Office are the safety of our citizens, employee’s and putting procedures in place to keep our employees and the jail free from the virus so that we can continue the operations of the Sheriff’s Office.
The COVID-19 has actually given us the opportunity to show what type of leadership we have at the Sheriff’s Office. We started putting procedures in place for the possibility of the virus effecting our County before the Governor issued the “Stay at Home” order. So, when the order was put in place, we had already put many procedures in place in the event the virus started to be an issue.
We have coordinated with our elected officials, Commissioners, Sidney Police Chief Balling, Wilson Health, Sidney Shelby County Health Commissioner, and many other organizations to ensure we were prepared to meet the pandemic head on. We had to ensure our employees had the necessary equipment to keep them safe, limit the exposure between employees to ensure if one was contaminated, we didn’t contaminate the entire staff.
Right now, we are looking at a 10% reduction in our payroll due to the uncertainty of the tax revenue for the County. With this in mind, I have to look at the impact this will have on our staff and the operation of the Sheriff’s Office. No leader takes pride in having to make cuts, regardless of what those cuts are, but a strong leader has to keep calm amongst their employees and make the best decisions for the overall good and the cause we face, as we are facing a unique situation and I have to be strong.
You have come to expect strong and steady leadership at the Sheriff’s Office, which is what you will get when you elect me as your Sheriff. I will continue to be dedicate to the people, striving to meet your every expectation and will continue to give you a professional Sheriff’s Office. My leadership, experience and dedication will set me a top all others. My years of full-time active service in the law enforcement career field will enable me to oversee the Office of Sheriff. I have worked along side each and every entity within the Sheriff’s Office and never once thought of the harm I may have put myself in. I have always led from the front and would not ask anything of the people I work with to do anything that I haven’t done or willing to do myself and this is a testament to how the people I work alongside feel about me.
I look forward to being elected your Sheriff, performance over promises is what we are about, and I serve the people. God Bless and please stay safe during these troubling times.
