The Milam County Commissioners Court voted for continuity in selecting acting Sheriff Mike Clore as Milam County sheriff until the general election in November of 2022.
The commissioners had to vote for a new sheriff because Chris White, who was elected sheriff last year, resigned the office last week citing personal reasons.
Judge Steve Young told the court that four men expressed interest in the position. In addition to Clore, Thomas Harris, former police chief of Rockdale; Shawn Newsom, police chief of Buckholts and Bartlett; and Herbie Vaughan, who was a candidate for sheriff in last year’s GOP primary for sheriff, expressed interest.
Two officers spoke for Clore’s selection before the commissioners voted.
Both praised the working relationship Clore has with the staff of the department and said he would keep the office running smoothly.
“I feel like he will do a good job. The time I have had to work with him, he seems to be honest and up front and open and that is what we need in this department,” said Jail Administrator Doug Veach, who has worked with Clore for the past 13 years and is a 45-year lawman. “I think it would be beneficial to the county and the sheriff’s department.”
Captain John Mendoza also spoke highly of Clore and said he was partly responsible for his current position in the department.
“Sheriffs have come, I know Charlie West is in the room, David Green and Sheriff Chris White and we have learned a lot from those individuals and I believe our department has become very successful. We have a good road and we’d like to continue that road with everything we have in place from policy to operation to stuff in the jail and things with the public,” Mendoza said.
“For now, Chris just took his oath back in January, we’d like to continue with his oath and make everything run smoothly in the department,” he said. “Mike is going to keep everybody, he doesn’t plan on moving anybody to the side.”
“I’m excited for this opportunity and thankful for the support I’ve received,” said Clore after he was chosen by the council. “As far as the continuation, there are staffing issues, policies and day-to-day operations that won’t stop because the sheriff has changed. Someone coming in, not having a working knowledge of this office, would be behind the eight ball on their first day. Chris had ideas to continue to modernize this office with grants, budget adjustments, positions, equipment etc. We will keep those ideas and the office going full steam ahead, working hand in hand with community leaders, other agencies and the public.”
The vote came after a short executive session by the court to consider the candidates.
The commissioners reasoned it was in the best interest of the county to go with Clore.
After the vote Young addressed the other contenders for the office.
“One of the things that is upper most in our minds is not to usurp the authority of the voters. This vote, I think I am speaking for all of us, is not a degradation of any of you fine individuals by any means, but rather simply to have a smooth transition of authority in respect of the system we have in place, so that we can go forward with the work of the sheriff’s office uninterrupted,” he said.
The commissioners also recognized two employees of Texas A&M University for their efforts in Milam County in bring the telehealth station and at the COVID-19 vaccination clinics.
“These two ladies are the reason we have telehealth in Milam County. They have been such a blessing to us,” Young said of Dr. Joy Alonzo and Jennifier Ozmetin. Alonzo was responsible for getting the telehealth center in the county and Oznetin is the project manager for Moonshot, a program at A&M to get health care to underserved areas of the state.
“We have the most advanced telehealth station in America. They have been tenacious in getting it here,” Young said.
“We are both devoted to the people of Milam County. We just kind of fell in love with y’all and have felt like this was a great place four our projects and research,” Alonzo said. “You are actually doing us a favor. It might not seem like that to you, but finding a permanent place for our research, especially for my baby, my big blue baby, that health-care station. I needed some place where it would do the most good and we really feel like that is right here and even during the pandemic, it’s been a success when most of our projects at the Health Science Center have fallen flat, but we have actually been able to push this ahead quite a bit.”
She also shared a bit of news.
“Now this week it is going to be part of the Blue Cross/ Blue Shield ‘in network,’ so hopefully people covered by BCBS can go as many times as you need to. That is a huge benefit that even I didn’t anticipate,” she said. “We are actually getting 24/7 coverage through some emergency doctors who cover Caldwell.”
Rockdale is also being considered as a second site for a telehealth site, she mentioned.
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