Solberg appointed Gogebic County Sheriff

By ZACHARY MARANO

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Bessemer - Ross Solberg was appointed to be the next Gogebic County sheriff on Wednesday by Prosecutor Nick Jacobs and District Court Judge Anna Talaska, effective Jan. 1. The date of the swearing-in ceremony has not yet been determined.

"(I) want nothing but the best for the sheriff's office and the citizens of the county," Solberg said. "I will work hard at maintaining a strong working criminal justice system. I will keep the sheriff's office up to date with the modern trends in law enforcement and criminal justice reform."

Solberg is from Wakefield and has 28 years of full-time law enforcement experience for Gogebic County Sheriff's Office, including the last 11 years as Gogebic County undersheriff. He retired from the Michigan National Guard as a first sergeant with 21 years of experience.

Solberg also earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Michigan State University and has taught criminal justice at Gogebic Community College in Ironwood for the past 20 years.

Solberg will replace Pete Matonich as Gogebic County Sheriff. Matonich announced his retirement as sheriff on Nov. 12 and will complete his term on Dec. 31. In a letter of recommendation to the appointment committee, Manitoch supported the appointment of Solberg and said that he feels there is no one more qualified to serve the office than him.

"The leadership and wisdom that come with working your way up within the sheriff's office is very beneficial as we are unlike any law enforcement agency. As sheriff, Ross will understand the details of running a sheriff's office. With his tenure as both a deputy and then undersheriff, Ross will bring continued confidence from our citizens, partnerships with our courts and other area law enforcement agencies," Matonich said.

The appointment committee of Jacobs, Talaska and County Clerk Ramona Collins interviewed Solberg before appointing him sheriff. They scheduled a review of all applications for Wednesday, but Solberg was the only one to apply for the position.

During the interview, Talaska noted that the sheriff's office has hired several new deputies over the last two years and that it is sometimes difficult to find applicants. She asked Solberg is he had any ideas on how to keep their employees and find more as the office continues to grow.

Solberg said recruitment has become more difficult because of negative views on law enforcement right now. For example, he said that his law enforcement class at Gogebic Community College has only six students and only one of them is going into the police academy. Four or five years ago, his class had 20 students. He said that the prison closure in Marenisco also decreased the number of students in his class.

However, Solberg said that the Gogebic County deputies are paid well compared to other counties and that helps with retention. He said that other counties throughout the U.P. are offering bonuses and help paying college tuition to job candidates. Solberg said they may have to consider doing this themselves to remain competitive with other counties.

Jacobs asked Solberg if he was satisfied with the sheriff office's general fund budget of $1.8 million and Solberg said that he was. Furthermore, Solberg said that although it was not one of his primary roles as undersheriff, he worked with Matonich in developing and managing annual budgets, grants and paying bills.

"We've been able to maintain that budget and stay within that budget for the 11 years I've been undersheriff and I plan on working closely with (County Administrator Juliane Giackino) to make sure that I understand where she's coming from. I think there's a ledger class coming up. Obviously, there's always a need to increase every year with the way things are, but the budget has been working pretty good for us," Solberg said.

Solberg's appointment will leave the position of undersheriff open. Solberg said that he plans to promote his undersheriff from within the sheriff's office.