As a school teacher, a school district director and a board member for a mental health organization that offers free peer-led support groups, I take mental health and drug abuse very seriously.
When I look at our jail, I don’t just see inmates. I see people who have lost their way, and I believe how we treat them while they are in custody directly affects the safety of our community when they are released.
No child ever said “I want to be a junkie when I grow up.”
That truth is at the heart of why I am endorsing Tracy Murphy for sheriff.
Like myself, Tracy sees the human being beneath the drugs and crime. Deep in every single inmate is a person who regrets being where they are in life. In almost every case, an inmate’s social structure is what leads to reoffending or relapsing.
If elected, Tracy Murphy has assured me that as the head of the jail, he would allow 12-step programs and peer-led mental health support groups into the facility. I know that the jail does have some mental health services available to them from a local clinic, and that’s great, but what those services do not include are peer-led programs. The peers are the important part. They are facilitated by people who know exactly what the struggle feels like.
If an inmate has a strong, clean and healthy social structure when they are released back into the population, their chances of reoffending drop substantially. That is better for them, for their families, and for all of us.
I’m sure that in this race, there might very well be no wrong candidate. I’m sure that Gabriel Frase has the best intentions and probably would make a great sheriff. But I am moved by Tracy Murphy’s resilience during this campaign. As an elected official myself, I can tell you that campaigning under even the best conditions is about as fun as wiping with sandpaper.
But what solidifies my endorsement of Murphy is that assurance that we can set up these programs that are desperately needed.
Please join me in voting for Tracy Murphy for sheriff.
Ryan Gaylor
Lewis County
