Montgomery County Sheriff Maxwell Uy is pushing back against a local workers union’s criticisms last week about his leadership ahead of his 2026 reelection bid, saying the claims are “misleading and inaccurate.”
In a Tuesday email to Bethesda Today, Uy wrote he believes frustration over the challenges of staffing shortages in the sheriff’s office prompted United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1994 MCGEO to “question my leadership” in a letter to local officials and that the union’s “criticisms are, at best, misguided.”
The union, which represents county and private sector workers including sheriff’s office employees, sent a letter last week to local elected officials and political stakeholders urging them to withdraw their support for Uy, alleging he has cultivated a “hostile” work environment in the sheriff’s office since he was elected in 2022, according to a press release and letter to local officials reprinted by Montgomery Perspective.
Gino Renne, longtime president of the union, highlighted the office’s staffing issues, saying the office is “incapable of fulfilling its mandate” and working conditions have “deteriorated” to a point in which employees are “exiting in droves.” During the more than two years that Uy has been sheriff, 23 sworn deputies and four civilian support staff have left the office, Renne said.
In a phone interview Wednesday with Bethesda Today, Uy took issue with Renne’s claims, pointing out that the “vast majority” of employees who have left during his tenure were scheduled to retire.
“We saw many folks get hired in cycles. I was one of them hired in the early ’90s. So, it’s not unusual for deputies or other employees to leave at these natural cycles,” Uy said.
According to Uy, deputies can retire with full benefits and a pension totaling 65% of an employee’s salary after 25 years of service. Uy confirmed that a total of 25 deputies have left, not 23 as Renne stated.
“We have lost 25 deputies to normal regular retirements. Such retirements – while well-earned – matter in a workforce of 155 deputies,” he wrote in the email to Bethesda Today. “And I fully understand that when any workplace is understaffed for an extended period of time, stress and frustration result.”
Renne also claimed in his letter that the sheriff’s office’s environment has become “hostile, unsupportive and retaliatory,” and employees’ contractual rights have been “routinely ignored or undermined.”
Uy rebuffed the claim, saying “there have been no violations of contracts,” and that the county sent letters to Renne that “validated that the sheriff is not doing anything wrong.”
Potential opponent
Uy has served as county sheriff for less than three years. He was elected in November 2022 after serving in the county’s sheriff’s office for nearly 30 years, according to his campaign website. He is the first Asian American to hold the position.
The sheriff’s office oversees criminal warrant service, courthouse security and criminal transport, responses to domestic violence matters and child support enforcement, among other responsibilities, according to the county website.
According to the State Board of Elections, Uy filed to run for his second term as county sheriff in late February. In the 2022 election, he was endorsed by UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO, along with the Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association and the Fraternal Order of Police.
No candidates have filed to run against Uy in 2026 as of Wednesday, according to the state elections board website. However, in his letter, Renne urged local leaders to withhold endorsement of Uy for reelection and support Uy’s opponent.
The letter did not name the prospective challenger and Renne did not provide a name to Bethesda Today, saying he wanted to wait until the candidate is ready to announce a bid for the post. However, he said the potential candidate is a Poolesville resident who recently retired from a high-ranking position in the Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff.
Sources told Bethesda Today that the potential candidate is Will Milam, who retired in February from his post as chief assistant sheriff for Prince George’s County, according to his LinkedIn profile. Milam is also vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Maryland State Lodge.
When contacted Thursday by Bethesda Today about whether he planned to run, Milam said in an email that he was considering becoming a candidate.
“I am seriously exploring entering the race for Montgomery County Sheriff based on the current needs of the department, and how my experience and skills can help resolve those issues,” he wrote. “I will make a decision by the end of the summer.”
‘Perfect storm’
In his email to Bethesda Today, Uy said the sheriff’s office was on “the precipice of a perfect storm” when he took over. “Three years of the Covid-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the George Floyd incident had decimated our normal recruitment efforts,” Uy wrote. “And we were not alone.”
He noted the county police department is also facing a staffing shortage, like many departments, and his office is in competition to attract candidates from the same pool. While the county and area departments offer hiring bonuses to candidates, he said he has been unsuccessful in his efforts to convince the county to support bonuses for sheriff’s office candidates.
In addition to increasing community engagement, Uy said he has bolstered the office’s recruiting efforts by creating “a recruitment ‘team’ that has expanded both our social media presence and our in-person recruiting on a broader regional basis,” noting “these efforts will take more time to bear fruit.”
In the meantime, he said in the email to Bethesda Today that he has “modified and eliminated shifts in certain areas, [and] reassigned personnel to ensure that critical functions are fully staffed,” but that “there is no basis to any allegation that the [office] has not met (or is not meeting) its statutory mandates.”
He also pushed back on Renne’s claim that he “prioritizes photo ops over public safety,” saying his outreach efforts to promote recruitment have been “mischaracterized” as photo opportunities.
Uy said he has been meeting with vulnerable groups in the community, including immigrants, to assuage their fears about police and encourage them to consider careers in law enforcement.
“It really is a privilege to serve as the sheriff in Montgomery County, and I look forward to the opportunity for the voters to decide if I have the privilege to serve another term as sheriff,” Uy said.
Freelancer Courtney Cohn is a former Bethesda Today reporter. Bethesda Magazine Contributing Editor Louis Peck and Bethesda Today reporter Elia Griffin contributed to this story.
