Two candidates with deep ties to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office will face off this month to win the Republican nomination for sheriff.
The Tuesday, Aug. 20 primary will include former PBSO Chief Deputy Michael Gauger and retired PBSO Capt. Lauro Diaz. Both are aiming to unseat five-term incumbent Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw in November.
While Bradshaw is expected to win the Democratic nomination, he also faces a primary challenge Aug. 20 from Alex Freeman, a career law enforcement officer who retired as a major with the Riviera Beach Police Department (click here for related story).
Diaz ran against Bradshaw in 2020, taking 35 percent of the vote in the general election. Gauger, meanwhile, is a former Bradshaw supporter and senior staff member turned political challenger.
Lauro Diaz — Diaz has 37 years of law enforcement experience, including 27 spent at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Among the positions he has held include deputy chief of police, captain of the Organized Crime Division, captain of training, captain of the Law Enforcement Division, captain of the Criminal Investigations Division, and captain of operations and 911 coordinator. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in homeland security and emergency management.
“I truly believe that the sheriff’s office is the people’s office,” Diaz said. “The duty of the sheriff is to serve all, not just some, and citizens must always come first before politics. I believe that if we treat each other with equality, respect, professionalism, integrity, compassion and dignity, we can achieve a stronger and safer county.”
Diaz said that his core value is transparency and that he is familiar with operations and administration within the PBSO due to his long career there rising from a patrol deputy to the rank of captain.
“I would like folks to know that I come from a working-class family. My family legally immigrated from Cuba to the United States when I was very young, and I served honorably in our United States Army,” Diaz said. “I am not only knowledgeable about all areas of policing, including administration, I am also well-versed in politics.”
Diaz believes that his experience, knowledge and concern for residents makes him the best person for the job.
“Most importantly, I sincerely care about the people in this county,” he said. “I am part of a minority population in this county. I grew up here and raised a family here. I know what it’s like to live as a minority person in this county. I have lived and worked here well over 30 years.”
Diaz said that his focus at the PBSO would be on law and order.
“I understand the need for social services, but our job is to work with our community partners in social services and not be the actual social services office of Palm Beach County,” he said. “We are the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. We are here to serve the people. We do that best through the investigation and arrest of people who commit crimes within our jurisdiction.”
Diaz said that a reorganization will be necessary to implement better transparency and to better address the needs of the community.
“The overall goal is to help the members of Palm Beach County to feel heard and represented and to lower crime,” he said. “My goals for the first 30 days are to stop the rampant spending occurring at the sheriff’s office, form community work groups that include problem-solving officers and community members to address community concerns/challenges, and to reorganize the administration.”
He will continue by focusing on building relationships and fighting homelessness.
“My accomplishments for the next 60 days will include continuing the work that began in the first 30 days and to also begin a concentrated effort to form stronger working relationships with the school board police, so we work as a team to help improve school safety for all students in Palm Beach County,” Diaz said. “We will also begin an in-depth review of homelessness in Palm Beach County as well as addressing the rise in drug offenses and other criminal offenses that are on the rise.”
Diaz is married to his wife Ines and has two sons, Lauro Jr. and Manuel, as well as grandchildren.
Learn more about the Diaz campaign at www.diazforsheriff2024.com.
Michael Gauger — Gauger moved to South Florida from Illinois in 1969, graduated from the police academy and joined the PBSO full-time in January 1971. He worked himself up through the ranks, and before his retirement, he served as the chief deputy, making him the senior executive staff officer for the Department of Law Enforcement and Corrections. He was responsible for an annual budget of $292 million with a staff of 1,563 sworn and 1,734 non-sworn personnel, as well as corrections budget of $136 million with a staff of 710 sworn personnel.
“I am a dedicated public servant, not only in my law enforcement career, but to our communities as well,” Gauger said. “I have been innovative in my approach to solving crime, through making arrests and through prevention of crime by addressing the root of what causes it in the first place. I brought community policing to this county in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It made a huge impact on not only neighborhoods, but the lives of their residents.”
In his work, he focused on building partnerships with residents, businesses and other government agencies.
“The county added sidewalks, streetlights and other improvements. We worked with the Solid Waste Authority and had major neighborhood cleanups,” he recalled. “Code enforcement assisted and helped residents become current with community standards without issuing citations. The quality of life improved, as did the value of the homes.”
Gauger is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute Administrative Officer’s Course at the University of Louisville. He holds a master’s degree in social work from Barry University and attended Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Program. Gauger has also been an adjunct professor and guest lecturer.
“I am a fiscal conservative who has not only handled my personal finances carefully, but also when I worked and had oversight of spending at the PBSO,” Gauger said. “I helped develop programs that held staff accountable and closely monitored their spending. I found where we were overpaying for programs and found alternatives to lessen the impact on our budget.”
Gauger said that he is not just a candidate making promises.
“I am a known crime fighter, who finds ways to prevent crime in the first place,” he said. “I believe if we can change the behavior of addicts and alcoholics, they will not continue with the ‘revolving door of justice.’ If an inmate is healthy, he costs approximately $25,000 annually. If they are not healthy, the costs can exceed $100,000. I am the only candidate who has experience with corrections administration… I can, immediately, take office and initiate the changes that are needed to the budget and in designing programs that will place accountability to agency operations.”
Gauger believes that his service under six sheriffs makes him uniquely qualified.
“I learned from each one of them and have served in an administrative position for nearly 30 years,” he said. “I brought innovative programs to the county that reduced crime, recidivism and brought a better quality of life to neighborhoods. Not only did I serve in law enforcement, but also with civic organizations. These include my church, where I serve on the church council, not-for-profit organizations dealing with substance abuse disorders, mental health, early childhood development, the Urban League and the board of JFK Hospital, plus many more.”
Gauger said that he has a record of fiscal responsibility and would implement needed changes.
“As our nation nears $35 trillion in debt, it appalls me a government could be so reckless with spending,” he said. “I will attack the sheriff’s office budget and reduce it immediately. It is well known that irresponsible spending habits have increased the sheriff’s budget to nearly a billion dollars.”
Gauger said that he will bring in an inspector general to monitor the agency, among other changes.
“I will examine the policy of transfers, promotions and advancements. I will ensure that no internal or external force will have control of who will be promoted related to the pressure of a union or administrator,” he said.
As sheriff, his key focus would be on serving all communities, rebuilding community policing and bringing transparency to the agency.
“I have never been an administrator who sat in his office,” Gauger said. “I toured neighborhoods I was responsible for and held staff accountable. I will attend community meetings throughout my term and not just during election cycles. I have always had an open door to the community and employees, and this will not change.”
Once a key ally to Bradshaw, Gauger has been sharply critical of his former boss, particularly in the areas of spending and the incumbent’s health.
“Employees are aware he has been an absent sheriff, spending time in North Carolina and being out with major physical challenges,” Gauger said. “He is not forthcoming with his medical issues, but everyone close to him has seen the difference in his presence at the agency, leaving important decisions to others. In addition, his lack of holding employees accountable has resulted in huge civil liability payouts.”
He also feels that the sheriff’s approach to community policing misses the point.
“It displays an ignorance of the two key fundamentals, building partnerships and solving problems together,” Gauger said. “The budget needs to be closely examined. The current sheriff is quite verbose in explaining his reasoning for the burgeoning budget, but what he lacks is transparency in the irresponsible decisions made that influence huge costs to the taxpayers.”
Gauger and his wife Phyllis live in Wellington and recently celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary. They have two adult children who live locally.
Learn more about Gauger at www.gaugerforsheriff.com.
