Jim McDonnell LASD

LASD Supervisors’ Union Endorses Jim McDonnell for Sheriff, A Nod That May Come With a Nice Pile of Cash

Celeste Fremon
Written by Celeste Fremon
On Thursday, the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association (PPOA)—the main union for the LA County Sheriff’s Department’s supervisors– announced that it has endorsed Jim McDonnell for a second term as sheriff.

This comes after a June primary in which McDonnell was expected to cruise to an easy victory—despite two contentious challengers.  There was, however, no easy victory at all.

 Instead, a retired department lieutenant named Alex Villanueva managed to get 33.20 percent of the vote, to incumbent Jim McDonnell’s 47.87 percent—suddenly turning the so-called easy cruise into an aggressively contested horse race.

McDonnell’s numbers were not helped by the fact that candidate number three, Bob Lindsey, got a respectable 18.9 percent of the vote, buoyed by a strong following among the rank and file of the LASD, plus  $330,000 in his war chest, and additional $410,000 from a group of independent supporters.

This past July, when WLA talked to PPOA President, Brian Moriguchi, about the race, he told us that he believed Villanueva had a real chance at an upset.

“Alex did what we never thought he could do,” Moriguchi said. “So now we see this as very competitive race.”

Since then, however, PPOA has conducted a thorough examination of both candidates, which included an extensive video interview with each man, and a lively debate between McDonnell and Villanueva hosted by the union, which featured outright shade-throwing from both of the candidates.  Post debate, the union polled its membership for their views on the two contenders.

The result was, out of  7,389 ballots mailed to members, 394 endorsed McDonnell, 365 endorsed Villanueva, with 115 marking their ballots as “no endorsement.”

PPOA then took one more step by hiring a professional firm to do a public poll, hoping get an idea of how both candidates were faring with regular voters.

All of these elements reportedly factored into PPOA’s endorsement committee’s final decision..  (This year’s committee consisted of 21 PPOA members “from a variety of classifications,” both sworn and civilian.)

“We believe Jim McDonnell is the best-qualified candidate for sheriff,” said Moriguchi in a statement that accompanied the union’s announcement. “His executive experience as the incumbent sheriff, chief of Long Beach Police Department and assistant chief at LAPD far exceeds that of his opponent and is necessary in leading a department of this size.”

In our own exchange of emails with Moriguchi, he explained some of the additional nuances of the decision.

“We are aware there are some employees who are unhappy with Sheriff McDonnell,” he wrote. “But our decision is based on who, of the two candidates, is best qualified to run the largest sheriff’s department in the world.

There were still many issues that need to be addressed, Moriguchi admitted, “such as recruitment, unfair treatment of employees and the promotion process.”  But the union leadership is “confident” that McDonnell “will address these concerns” in his second term.

“We conducted a thorough process to come to our conclusion,” Moriguchi wrote.  He was proud, he said,  of PPOA and the endorsement committee “for examining every aspect of both candidates, and coming to a just conclusion on who is best to lead this department.”

It is important to point out that PPOA’s endorsement is not a small matter, especially in that the committee gets to decide whether PPOA wants to give money to its candidate of choice, and if so, how much?

(PPOA has a seven figures worth of funds it could theoretically offer to a candidate.)

Thursday evening Moriguchi told us that, yes PPOA definitely would be giving Sheriff McDonnell some funds, But they had not yet decided how much.  But it would be “a reasonable amount.”

As the race heats up later this month and next, we’ll keep you posted on further developments.

87 Comments

  • I’m completely shocked, but will respect the position if he wins again.

    Wonder how long it will take Brian to get that second bar?

  • With no offense to Alex Villanueva, Alads does not have a valid voting process because all deputies (LASPA & Fee Payers) could not vote. Don’t know if the SCOTUS decision changed that, it should have. ALADS, to the anger of many within that organization, chose to endorse Villanueva to spite Bob Lindsey and Jim McDonnell. I can say that all PPOA members received a ballot to vote, unlike ALADS. Go figure

  • POPA will sadly live to regret this choice. But, typical that those who actually perform the hard dirty work support Alex Villanueva and those who don’t do anything went for McDonnell. The POPA vote was too close to make this endorsement viable to any voter.

  • It is very upsetting to see that people who should care, actually don’t. You talk to sheriff’s department members, nurses, custody assistants, deputies, supervisors, and no one has anything good to say about the way the department is being managed. Yet they could care less when they have a chance to send a message. Here is the vote:

    “In the discussion, the endorsement committee also considered the following results of membership balloting:

    Total ballots mailed: 7,389
    Endorse JIM McDonnell: 394
    Endorse ALEX VILLANUEVA: 365
    No endorsement: 115”

    Only 29 votes were the difference, which means that all the upper brass, kissing McDonnell organized to make sure he won, but come on, 394 out of 7389?

    So it should be clear, that deputies have only each other to take care of themselves, the brass is on the side of McDonnell, they want the next bump in rank, and pay, eyeing their near retirement.

  • At least PPOA had a legitimate vote, can’t say the same about ALADS. Respect was lost when Lindsey had the most votes and ALADS totally ignored him. Love how they make their unilateral decisions for their own personal satisfaction, which I ask what was their “Board” vote? ALADS V.P. downplayed his part in the Dispatcher.

  • Thanks Brian you just drove an oak stake right through the hard worrking members that support PPOA.. This decision now splits us even more. You need to go.

  • Let’s face it. This all boils down to politics. Did you watch the news yesterday re: Crimes with Guns if prosecuted regardless of over crowding in the jails they will have to serve full sentence. How convenient, especially before elections. All I am saying is that it’s all about timing and endorsements. How many L.A. County constituents actually vote, what Counties do Deputies live in? can they vote? Food for thought.

    I hear both sides of the stories. Alex is for Deputies the little guy-McDonnell for the Department. Pay to Play II continues… The Department is completely polarized with old school/new school mentality. This is not uncommon. It happens in Corporate America and even the Armed Services. Seen it many times. CHANGE is inevitably, its happening.

    My opinion, If you do not like the way things are, then make a change. That also means change of job too. I like Alex’s ideals along with McDonnell’s, but I believe that the incumbent has more experience.

    For those of you who think that we are going to go back to the ways things were before on the street or jails…OPEN YOUR EYES. It will never happen. I hope Alex wins for the underdog and the hard working deputies. But lets face it, there a plenty of slugs on the department too. Let’s see what 11/6 brings.

  • With such a poor response, I agree that the enforcement is dubious at best. I also believe another takeaway is the fact no one cares anymore or deals they can effect change at there level and have just given up. PPOA doesn’t just represent supervisors either.

    Maybe it’s members figure, like in many elections, will my vote really matter anyway. I’m not saying its the right way to view things in a Democracy, but it does have a basis in reality.

    Folks are also busy and the mailed ballot could have been set aside and forgotten. If the union really wanted to put forth a real effort to get a more representative vote, they could have sent out another reminder or joined the 21St century and done it electronically.

  • To those who were just too lazy to vote, you just endorsed McBuckles. You’re going to get four more years of the last four because that’s exactly what you asked for with your no-ack. So slurp up that bowl of shit soup you just poured yourself and when you’re done, you’re gonna get another bowl and another.

    By the way, Moriguchi not only shoved that shank right into Alex’s back, but he twisted it, real slow.

  • Ask to be invited to ALADS representative meeting and get the pulse of WHO made the decision to endorse and why. Many Reps and former Board Members are incensed that the Co-founder of LASPA recieved ALADS backing. It’s really weird so you have to go to a meeting where you’ll get their reasoning. Ron-boy can tell you.

  • Brian Moriguchi, are you gonna use any of those 7 figure funds to support the sergeants, lieutenants and ca’s who have been railroaded by your new best bud…….you really want to Make captain. God forbid you do it based on your ability.

    You are weak. It’s time for you to go. Time for someone with some courage to fight run for Moriguchi spot.

  • Nothing learned. The top of the food chain never has and never will care about the bottom of the chain. The department used to be captains and above vs lieutenants and below. Sad to say it’s sergeants and above vs deputies and below. Truly a catastaphy. Too many spineless fish in the pool. As a line guy, never cared who was at the top. It never had any effect. Stay within the laws and somewhere within policy, okay. Policy itself is a joke and has crushed the proactive spirit. Good luck buckles. Respect is earned, you don’t get any.

  • Wow! Some ALADS members are saying the same thing. The whole LASPA issue ruffled their feathers. Alex hit them with the one-two punch. Nice!

  • Quit your whining. Police work is over. S K Dub called it years ago and he was labeled a “malcontent”. Now look around you, he was a revolutionary, saw the writing on the wall. The only thing that you should be focusing on is what Pinky Lee is doing, collecting green slips and counting down the days to retirement.

  • I accept the criticism for the decision of PPOA being I am the president. There will always be haters. But let me be clear. I did not make this decision. An endorsement committee reviewed a plethora of information and came to a conclusion and the PPOA board supported that decision. If you want to blame anyone, blame the 88% of members who failed to cast a vote.

    You can call for my recall, claim I am doing this to make captain (the same complaints I heard about me 9 years ago), and any other reason you want to manufacture because you disagree with the decision, but my job is to carry out the decision, not make it. I told both candidates I will support either one of them depending on what the organization tells me to do. That is my job. You can hate me for not “fixing” the election to satisfy your wants, but that is just not how I operate, nor is it how PPOA does business. If Villanueva does get elected, we will support him and try to help him be a good sheriff. We will do the same for McDonnell.

  • Time to call BS on you Moriguchi. When you interviewed with the LA Times, you could have simply wished Villanueva the best and call it a day. Referring to him as the equivalent of a drive through teller is an insult to both Villanueva, a PPOA member, and all lieutenants on the department. You showed your true colors. You had the opportunity as the president of PPOA to show leadership, but instead you chose self-interest. Let me know how that “position of influence” you are seeking works out for you. I talked to Villanueva’s camp, and they did the right thing by turning down your demand. Shame on you.

  • Brian,

    You, and PPOA as a whole, are almost entirely worthless. And you know it. This is not some emotional attack, just the truth

    PPOA has no weight or influence when negotiating for contracts. You can try and convince everyone that you and the negotiating team went to war, but everyone knows that 2 First Year Explorers could get us the scraps we’ve seen the last few contracts. It’s not entirely your team’s fault, as we can’t strike and the county knows it. But don’t you dare make it seem like you jumped into a Foxhole for us. You always do by the way.

    Your powerless against the department and you know it. That Membership Concerns/Holding the Sheriff Accountable was Fucking Laughable!!! I’m sure after you presented your list to the Sheriff, the whole floor at HOJJ had a great laugh. I know this cause NOTHING HAS CHANGED!!

    Retention
    Hiring is still a net loss
    Still can’t hear my Fucking radio
    Morale is shit
    Mandatory 4 spots of OT a month and still getting drafted
    Patrol cars won’t work
    Computers go down ALL THE TIME
    CAD goes down ALL THE TIME
    Self Dispatch is the norm

    I could go on and on and most of this isn’t your fault or creation. But when you make it seem like you and PPOA are taking this mighty stance against the department and are holding them accountable, most of us know it’s total Bullshit. You’re virtually powerless and you know it.

    The pathetic ballot count should have been voided. And not because they favored Buckles. Such a dismal return, while disgusting, is not a reflection on the membership’s views because of what’s going on. Again, not your fault.

    So you’re left with indisputable actions taken by the department. See the list above and you see pure incompetence and a total lack of priority.

    Your only choice was to endorse Alex and you blew it. Buckles had his chance and failed!! And you want people to just accept 4 more years of this shit?? Sorry Bro, not gonna happen.

    The only thing that will keep PPOA afloat is the legal representation it provides. Fear is what will keep members from dropping and just Fucking sad.

    You and PPOA are worthless.

  • Mr. Moriguchi,

    I appreciate the fact you were brave enough to comment using your real name, most of us don’t, because the immediate and swift punishment Buckles McDonnell would inflict upon us. The message you wrote, seems sincere that you almost got me to believe it. However, it did not pass the smell test, and the decision by PPOA to support and endorse McDonnell stinks like “play to play” politics, the Tanaka type.

    I was very surprised that Buckles McDonnell appeared to debate Alex. back in June or July, shortly after the primary election. I was surprised, because McDonnell had refused to debate Alex, and still refuses to do so. Yesterday, for instance, McDonnell refused to debate Alex at the AME church, a debate organized by the ACLU. The moderator was debating Alex, possibly paid for by McDonnell’s campaign.

    So now it is clear to me, McDonnell appeared at your debate because the “pay to play” deal between you and him, had been agreed upon. I may be wrong, however, I doubt it.

  • @Ownership
    Spot on sir. See the title in the below LA Times Article

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-sheriff-mcdonnell-debate-20180915-story.html#

    McDonnell is a no show. Funny I work on the department and live in LA County, so as a voter would have like to seen the 2 candidates debate about how they can make things better. But I guess my union (PPOA) would rather back a candidate who does not show up.

    Ownership is right Brian, not all these problems are PPOA’s or your fault. However, stop acting like your so noble. You are not. If what is said is true, that you tried to get a promotion behind getting behind Villanueva, then you are truly a POS.

  • Ownership: Your juvenilistic tirade is indicative of a “Salty Sgt” in addition to speaking with a forked tongue from your 1st comment to your last. Anyone with true “Ownership” would not hide like a coward throwing rocks from the back of a crowd but would instead send Brian an email spewing your distaste. Converse as an adult to get any respect.

  • Lt.

    Done that too.

    Stay behind your desk and let the line figure this shit out. As a Lt. you don’t have shit to say. You’re not getting drafted, you don’t have mandatory OT every week and you don’t have to listen to the crap they call radios. So again, stay behind your desk and shut the fuck up.

  • Amazing how the cyber lynching continues. In the past 6 months I saw the following LASD personnel at the gallows, Alex Villanueva, Ron Hernandez, Brian Moriguchi. ALADS & PPOA
    has also taken a hit. Yesterday it was Obama, today it’s Trump. All of this proves that people will bitch and moan about anybody or anything. More than enough reasons for anyone wishing a start in law enforcement, should avoid LASD.

  • Wow, the more you dig the uglier it gets. It turns out Moriguchi secretly donated $50K from PPOA’s coffers to an unknown PAC named Latinos Progresivos that was then funneled to another PAC called Mothers for a Safe Los Angeles For Bob Lindsey during the primary. There goes all of what little credibility Moriguchi claimed to have about an above the board process.

    It gets worse. Two large law enforcement associations were set to endorse Villanueva on August 15, and the endorsements were held up because PPOA was the only hold out. PPOA’s endorsement of McDonnell nixed the endorsements of the two associations for Villanueva, and they will now remain neutral, McDonnell’s goal.

    On Saturday, September 15, McDonnell failed to show up for a face to face debate against Villanueva at the Ward AME Church, hosted by the ACLU. This is a first for an incumbent sheriff to refuse to publicly debate his opponent in a runoff election. Maya Lau covered the story on that day for the LA Times, but it was then pulled from the paper’s website quickly.

    A closer inspection of PPOA’s endorsement process revealed that their Political Endorsement Committee failed to interview either candidate, something very unusual as that is the top priority for most, if not all organizations that endorse political candidates.

    I think it’s time for Moriguchi to resign.

  • EDITOR’S NOTE:

    Dear “Fed Up,”

    Just FYI, PPOA did interview both candidates extensively as part of the endorsement process, then posted the interviews online a bit before the candidates debate that the union hosted. You can find them here: https://ppoa.com/2018/08/la-county-sheriff-candidate-interviews/

    And Maya Lau’s story about Sheriff McDonnell being a no-show for the ACLU debate was not pulled from the LAT website. It’s still right here: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-sheriff-mcdonnell-debate-20180915-story.html

    C.

  • Your reply is a typical one assuming that I sit behind a desk. Assignments while working “the line” is what qualified my position. You should channel your pent-up aggressions via other avenues. If you did correspond with Brian then no need to act like a blowhard on this website. If you work as much as you talk, you’d be Sheriff.

  • Sorry Celeste, but videotaped interviews with Moriguchi only, and not in the presence of the Political Endorsement Commottee, is not normal. In fact, that negated the ability of the committee to hear and judge the truthfulness of the candidates responses and to ask their own questions.

    The article from September 15 has been removed from the website, it’s only available by googling it. Curiously, the older article from September 13 with PPOA’s endorsement now reappeared and the newer article is gone, evidence that the Times is fully in the tank for the incumbent.

  • C: McDonnell should have showed up. POPA has always had a very low voter turnout. If POPA directly or indirectly gave money to Lindsey then Fed Up has a strong point. My family has decided to vote for Alex Villanueva. Regardless of what POPA says or does wont effect the outcome, I hope?

  • Mr. Moraguchi, you were very quick to jump on this thread and talk big. Why don’t you respond to the allegation about funds to the Lindsey campaign or the claim that you asked Alex for a spot In his administration?

  • OWNERSHIP: I agree with your concerns about all the things that need to be fixed with the department. But I disagree with your statement about our contract. The last contract (which PPOA led) was a 10% COLA and PPOA was successful at getting more (a 3.5% Supervisory POST bonus). This contract (which ALADS led) was a 7% COLA with several “extras”. Most of our supervisors are getting a 7.5% raise effective July 1. We also have outstanding medical coverage from the county. So I think we are doing pretty good as far as contracts. As for whether you contacted me or not, I don’t know since I don’t know who “ownership” is and I get a lot of emails. Feel free to email me if you want but it is not necessary if you are concerned about revealing your identity.

    CLAM CHOWDER: I don’t come hear often because of the rhetoric and hostility, but since I am here today, I will gladly respond to your request. Yes, PPOA gave money in support of Bob Lindsey. He was a former board member for PPOA and an all-around good guy. We gave him money, but not an endorsement. The request to give money to Bob and which IE to give it to came from someone who now is assisting Alex so I am not surprised to hear about it now as an attack against me and PPOA.

    Regarding trying to get promoted, the opposite is true. I told the person who contacted me on behalf of Alex that I would like to know who his “team” would be if he were elected sheriff . I would feel more comfortable knowing that he had a solid team. I was asked if I would come back to the department if Alex was elected sheriff. I was told I would likely get promoted. I said I would not come back to the department unless I came back in a position of influence which to me would be a chief or higher. I said I could help him better as PPOA president rather than as a captain or commander (I still feel that way today regardless of who is sheriff). He called me back and said if I supported Alex, I would have “a good chance” at becoming a chief or higher and would be on the transition team. I think if a promotion was my goal, I would have “manipulated” PPOA’s endorsement process to endorse Alex, right? So I am a little confused about accusations about doing things to get promoted. I could have come back to the department as a captain many times even when Baca was still our sheriff but I felt I had greater influence as PPOA president than any captain position on the department. It’s not about nobility. It is about trying to make the biggest difference possible.

    I understand why folks are upset about the endorsement. They are frustrated as are we. There are many things that need to be fixed on this department. The difference in opinion might be who is capable at making things better and that is debatable. I respect those who support Alex for the right reasons. If he is elected sheriff, let’s hope he does a good job. We are all after the same thing regardless of who is sheriff: a quality department we can all be proud of.

  • Wow. So essentially the rumors are true. You are weak. Your statement, “I would not come back to the department unless I came back in a position of influence which to me would be a chief or higher”. The arrogance of that statement. So you should skip 2 or 3 ranks cause your that “good”…..what a loser. Being ppoa president does not make you a good captain, commander, chief or whatever for patrol, custody or anything else on this department.

    And for giving the Lindsey camp money but not an endorsement, did you run that by your members ? I thought ppoa’s money was its members money, not Brian Moriguchi’s money to do what he wants with.

  • You seem to have your facts wrong on multiple subjects. Perhaps you would like to show proof of what you “dug up” smart man.

  • So Clam Chowder, u just made the case why Alex should not be sheriff. He would skip ranks from lieutenant to sheriff. Hey if Alex can go from lieutenant to sheriff, lieutenant to chief isn’t so bad, right?

  • Lame. I did vote in primary’s and it wasn’t for Alex. I voted for lindsey if you must know. As for now, yeah I will vote for Alex, because McDonnell has shown that he is incapable of running this department.

    As for me moraguchi statement, he said he wanted to know who would be on “Alex’s “ team…this is the problem, there should be no teams or camps. Your work product should dictate a promotion and if you think being the ppoa president merits a promotion, I guess we have different views of merit and what make a good leader

  • All I can is Brian you and your cohort on the Board, are both Pompous Asses. You didn’t get Lindsey and now you want to leave us with this mess. you have wrote article after article blasing the Sheriff and now you endorse him. Yes I truly believe you and your cohort helped influence this decision. Rumor has it that more votes came back for buckles from the retired and DAI’s, yet the working members of the LASD voted for Alex. I still have a few years left and if we are stuck with this guy, I will blame PPOA for this endorsement.

  • @Standard business
    Your argument falls flat. Alex and Brian, are two different cases. Alex is running for Sheriff, which is an elected position. Voters will have the opportunity to look at Alex’s resume, and make their own determination if him only being a Lieutenant is now good enough to take over. They can way the pro’s and con’s of both candidates and make their own decision.

    In Brian’s case, it is not an election to make “Chief” or position of influence as he liked to say. That is appointed. If he becomes the chief on South Patrol division, did the people that live in the communities patrolled in that division have a chance to look at Brians qualifications? Nope. They got stuck with him.

    And lastly, the fact that Brian would come on here and even mention the fact that he was having conversations with any candidate (Mcdonnell, Villanueva, Lindsey or whoever) about being promoted is sad. As the head of the union, the fact that you are talking about your on promotion with any candidate is unethical and sad.

  • Clam chowder, Alex approached Brian according to his statement, on the issue of his future. Yah, lets elect Alex who attempted to buy an endorsement. Sounds like you are confused.

  • Wow, lieutenant to chief if he supports him. Really. Lieutenant to sheriff for election. There is a lot more to running a department that your our thoughts, especially at a low level command position. It would almost be like having a sheriff or chief who’s head is in the clouds. Moonbeam. We saw what that got us. Simply no viable candidate. Like all other voter positions, it comes down to the lesser of two evils. How ******* sad. No good candidates. Spiral down the bowl.

  • I agree. The Sheriff’s Dept and the County residents have no choice now. Retired Commander Bob Lindsey would have made a great Sheriff…he had the experience, integrity, and compassion. So sad for our Dept.

  • Successful businessman to President of the United States. Who would have thought that would happen. POTUS is a much more important office and the current elected office holder isn’t doing to bad, even with all the “haters”. Maybe a new set of “fresh eyes” looking at things from a “low level command position” is just what the Department needs. The current sheriff and several of the last outside Assistsnt Sheriff’s have all been mere figure heads and “place holders” that are out of touch with the masses who could care less about the rank and file Department members, and are only their to serve themselves and their political masters

  • Ret. Lt. Villanueva is going to make Ret. Cmdr Ray Layva his Undersheriff. A man that sued the department and left with a medical retirement. So he can’t work as a Cmdr but he can come back for Alex. They both have an ax to grind. Hypocrisy is alive and well. The new “car” is the Villanueva. Before it was Banaca, now it will be Villayva.

  • If Alex is elected you will see a department run not by Alex but by everyone but Alex. A lieutenant has no business jumping ranks to being a sheriff.
    All Alex will bring is a shadow administration who knows and can do more than the guy at the top.

  • Isn’t that exactly what the current Sheriff did (though behind the scenes in a civilian capacity) and what all new executive leaders do when they came me into a office? Mr. Villaneuva is more than qualified to run the Sheriff’s department and I’m sure he will find qualified folks he trusts to fill his executive ranks.

    Jumping ranks.. really. The number of boot licking, un-qualified executives is not an apparition or phantom but a fact. Once you rise the lieutenant we all now captain and higher is merely a political popularity contest and who knows who selection.

    Let’s not kid ourselves, we all no the reality and no better.

  • Youth: You know not of what you speak. If you had any time on, you would know that then Captain Ray Leyva had the audacity to run against Sheriff Lee Baca for Sheriff of Los Angeles County. As a result, he was retaliated against and prevented from promoting. After he sued the Department , he was subsequently promoted to Commander. Anyone that knows Ray will verify his integrity and commitment to the Department. He would be an outstanding Undersheriff…. since the current one is just a reflection of the corrupt past. Get your facts straight before you start sounding off…..

  • Yes Bandwagon, you are correct. Interesting how the true champions stand the test of time. Villanueva called out ALADS twenty years ago, now they need him and they’re in his corner, karma. Ray is also a good man who was actually groomed by Baca and then doomed by Baca. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes……

  • Association Deputy District Attorney (Los Angeles County) has endorsed McDonnell.

    Anyone know if LAPPL has endorsed?

  • LAPPL has decided to stay out of the race out of deference to the mayor. If you’re keeping score on endorsements, Villanueva picked up the SEIU 721 endorsement yesterday, and the entire LA County Federation of Labor the day before. Organized labor supports the challenger, and the political establishment supports the incumbent. Is there any surprise here?

  • I will hope for the best, however the general public is not aware of the internal issues with the department nor do they probably care. The scandals have not been significant enough to cause any huge alarms with the public that require an immediate change of leadership. They will most likely vote for whoever currently holds the position. McBuckles knows it thats why he is not too concerned. We shall see how it unfolds. Would love to see the lying cheating leaders get thrown off their chair with a demotion. Unfortunately the chiefs and above could only be bumped to commander spots if not just one rank below. Still several ranks above their skill level.

  • This true scenario will ultimately play itself out. Should Alex win, you better believe that every “Right Winger” especially those who are “Sworn” will turn on Villanueva due to his position as democratic in policy and procedures. The rants will overflow towards Los Angeles County and the “Liberals” who call it home from the typical crowd of so called purists who rant on this blog every given moment they’re awake. You’ll see.

  • What? I guess you’ve never worked for an organization where primotion was achieved in large part by merit. You know. When people earned stuff and paid their dues. Alex simply can’t know how things operate when his whole career has been at the lower end of entry level management doing an entry level job like watch commander. Alex is inexperienced in the worse way. Sure, every lieutenant can be sheriff.., haha, a bunch of lieutenants wr have shouldnt EVER be captain so save it dude.

  • Ray Leyva is a left winger who cares about one thing,,, same as Alex,,, Latinos , Latinos, Latinos. Look at the orgabizations they belong to. No diversity. Black and others need not apply.

  • Fed Up. Now look and see the endorsements McDonnell has pulled in. Score is about 10 to 1 against Alex. Alex the underdog! Lol. Good luck.. Alex is too left wing , open borders guy. Hes making McDonald look good.., sucks.

  • Open message to Ron Hernandez at ALADS:
    Pretty shitty of you, Ron, to politicize your election year agenda off the back of the two deputies who were shot in East Los Angeles. We’re all aware of staffing vacancies and personnel management with never ending possible scenarios. No one can dictate when or where OIS occurs, regardless of staffing. Your solo News Release is in poor taste & unacceptable .

  • Fed Up you seem to have a lot of inside info not available to anyone else or found on line. In fact, THE LAPPL, they aren’t happy about your comment. Care to tell us what your job on the A.V campaign team is? Or are you actually Alex talking as Fed Up?

  • Open response to OSD: I’m guessing you didn’t go visit our deputies to make sure they were ok, if you had you would be aware of the tone of the conversation that night. One of the deputies was in a one man car, in a car normally staffed with two.

    This busting of cars and running short handed happens all over the county at the risk of our line staff while the decision makers sit safe and comfortable inside their offices.

    You must not be a deputy, and if you are, I doubt you work at ELA!

    What does OSD stand for “Operational Standard of Deception?”

  • I can remember when the department actually adhered to the minimum staffing levels daily. Long time ago. Now they just have to meet their annual compliance levels and proper staffing has been an issue for years. I just hope the injuries deputies recover, and pleased they are alive.

    For those that bash the union, cancel your dues and run for the position. I don’t always agree with their decision but then again I am not in a position to know all the facts. I wouldn’t want Ron’s job or Brian’s job at PPOA. They both have aged trying to do their best.

  • I believe most deputies will back you up on this one Ron. I hope the injured deputies understand, it is not that we are insensitive to their near-death experience, but, their near-death experience is a direct result of the low staffing levels. Their experience needs to be used, unfortunately, to expose the mismanagement in the sheriff’s department, where either you get killed or fired when things don’t go right.

    These two deputies almost got killed, yet, if they had just been a little quicker in defending themselves, we all know that Jim McDonnell would be apologizing to the suspect’s family and promising a full investigation to determine what the deputies did wrong.

    It is not a secret that most deputies at the executive level, as well as management, were the deputies with the least amount of field experience. They were interested only in attaining rank, climbing the latter, to precisely stay out hard work and harm’s ways. These deputies now sit on the eight floor at the HOJ judging the working deputies and protecting the status quo.

    I suggest people compare the night of the shooting East LA Sheriff station’s roster, with the roster of the neighboring LAPD Hollenbeck division. I guarantee any of you the staffing levels for the similar stations will be an eye-opening. The LAPD staffing levels at the LAPD will be at least double the amount of the East LA Sheriff station.

    For many years deputies have been pushing each other at the line level to get the job done, putting in countless hours of unpaid overtime, especially while in training, to their own detriment. The day things go wrong, the sheriff department will go at them with vengeance, throwing the book at them, if they did not get killed. I pray for the deputies full recovery and pray that Jim McDonnell takes full responsibility, instead of later looking for the usual, “policy violations”

  • The harsh reality of busting units and running short handed in the county has been going on since before your arrrival and unfortunately will not change anything soon. If you have a realistic estimate for fixation or even an imaginary one, please advise. The answer is above your 2 stripes. No need for back and forth, just finish your term.

  • The arrogance of OSD is what makes people with rank so innefective. The greatest ideas working for the sheriff’s department were conceived by people with no stripes, bars nor stars. I thought you should know about it.

  • When stations or facilities “bust positions” which they were contracted and paid to fill, are the contract holders notified? If I contracted and paid for the services of two deputies and you only provided me the services of one, I would not only expect to be informed but want my “bill” adjusted accordingly.

    This is not something LAPD has to deal with I would imagine since the City of LA is the only entity paying their bills.

    If the Sherrif”s Department is willing to run short at the expense of the safety of its personnel and mis-use funds, I’m sure another Pandora’s Box is just waiting to be opened. This is not something the rank and file have any control over either and totally depedendent on the shell game being played at the highest executive levels.

  • Brian, you told us you conducted public polling before your endorsement of Jim McDonnell. What are the results of the public polling and who conducted the polling. How many retired members voted in the poll of members. do you think our retired guys have a say in the poll even though a bunch live out of state.

  • Celeste, Ppoa has said they conducted public polling as well as having a secret endorsement process. Do you know anything about their polling since you know about their interviews. rumors are that Moriguchi has reached out to the McDonnell and Villanueva seeking a promotion for his endorsement. He kinda says it below. is that a story.

  • The shell game is nothing new. They try to keep within a certain percentage of contract compliance. What ends up happening towards the end of the fiscal year is unit are busted or extra units are put in the field to end their year at acceptable compliance levels. Unfortunately the end of the fiscal year is June so typically they are busting units when they are over on minutes. Not the best choice during hot summer months when crooks are running around. On the other side of the coin, when they need to make up minutes they use the same method of CARPing off line personnel to fill vacancies. Like the detective or operations person still sitting at their desk in uniform in case a call goes out. Not patrolling the area like regular patrol personnel are required to do. Several years ago the County got wise to the massive shell game where county services were busted like crazy in order to fill contract city units. County areas always went short staffed. The County, I believe, now requires the same compliance levels be met.

    The ship moves very slowly as it is driving by dollars and cents. Nobody at the command level wants the ship to rock at all. I think it is really a very skinny canoe and the brass has to stand. Nobody moves at all.

  • “The shell game is nothing new.” Bingo! Ron Hernandez knows this but for political points, he attempted to play to a audience who doesn’t know any different to defer blame. His rhetoric on the back of LASD’s latest shooting is disgusting. Add chicken shit mixed with bullshit then sprinkle some drama and there you have it, Deputy Ronald Hernandez leading ALADS to an all time low.

  • @SHAD 49
    I am no fan of my union (PPOA) and have been critical of alads in the past. But on this one, I’m confused. I’m not sure what Mr. Hernandez said about the staff shortages at the time of the shooting. If he simply brought up the fact that one of the cars was a 1 man car and should have been a 2 man car, well then sounds like as union president he did his job. His job is to bring stuff like that to light, and yes for as nasty as it is, bring it to light when shootings happen and our brothers get hurt.

  • Shad, you have obviously missed other statements by Ron. He was at the hospital, he talked to the involved deputies, he heard their concerns, and as the president of ALADS, he acted accordingly. He also talked witn others from ELA. What is not being said, is that this went higher than the WC, and that person alone made the piss poor decision to bust a two deputy County car. Say what you want, but I would rather be in a two man (sworn) hoop anyday over having any type of ride along. This shit happens all the time, and somebody needs to speak up.

  • Clam Chowder, Thank you. What the critics fail to see and or admit is this statement was on behalf of the members. What I relayed in my statement is the tone of the discussion, at the hospital, the night of the shooting. I suspect my critics won’t be happy with anything I say or do. However, I do believe in freedom of speech, SO I guess I just found a way to MAKE them agree with me! O.S.D., I know I heard you, “just finish my term.” Isn’t that like ordering a bear to do “his business” in the woods, and then claiming victory over the bear!

  • Help me understand…..are you saying that a 2 man hoop would have prevented the shooting. Training Officer Danny Reyes and his trainee were in a shooting (in ELA) where the trainee was shot in the eye. I’m not minimizing shortages which is department wide but it’s a stretch to pinpoint any one person or unit as the cause. The best and the worst shootings unfortunately have involved both 1 and 2 man hoops.

  • Sir/Máam, I’m not sure who this question is for, but I’ll take it.

    Absolutely not! If we could predict or prevent ANY shooting I’m guessing we would choose not to go there.

    The sentiment of the conversation was if the car had been staffed with a second person, MAYBE the bookman would have been out, boomer in hand doing what was necessary, before the suspect vehicle even came to a stop!

    We will NEVER know. But, what we do know is he was supposed to have an armed PARTNER!

    I truly do not want to politicize this, but I think we can all agree that two man cars are safest and someone who chooses to forgo a two man car, when warranted and/or budgeted, is out of touch!

  • The “tone” of your press release varies considerably as compared to the tone of your dialogue here. Outside of fellow deputies I have no dog in the fight but the animosity and interdepartmental feud is quite obvious, even to the public. Neither camp has to settle but mutual concessions is tantamount to any solidarity before and after November 6.

  • The “Past Practices” of shortages at LASD has never had a solution for decades. It is ridiculous to blame the current Sheriff as to it’s continuous downfall. One should start with Los Angeles County Government. The finger pointing after every incident in the Sheriff’s Department is disheartening and embarrassing to current personnel as well as retired personnel.

  • LASD Retiree: You’re absolutely correct that the BOS has huge ownership is the current state of affairs. What you should know, as a FORMER member of the department, is that the Command Staff is responsible to mitigate and show some semblance of priority. Not the case right now.

    So as CURRENT members of this mess, we have every right to point fingers. Don’t come on here and judge us while you’re sitting back on your beach chair. We’re the ones getting fucked, not you.

  • Easy with the pompous attitude in addressing me.
    I have paid my dues along with family members who are currently in the LASD rank & file.

  • LASD retiree, to claim it’s ridiculous to blame the incumbent for the current state of affairs is ridiculous in of itself. Of course McBuckles is responsible for the current state of affairs, with 1,500 vacancies, mandatory OT and carping across the department. He alone decided to wage a war against the line staff, fire as many people as possible, and then falsely claim the mantle of reformer.

    Who do you think was responsible, the tooth fairy? The BOS has authorized a minimum staffing level for the entire department in the budget, it’s the sheriff who blew it.

  • Wasn’t it 4 years ago and beyond that the department’s state of affairs included vast vacancies, mandatory OT and carping?

  • Unfortunately another deputy shot who had a partneri in a two man unit, thank God he’ll survive.
    Ron Hernandez, who are you going to blame now? Another Press Release? No political positioning for this one. You’re so full of shit!

  • Wow, with your keen analytical skills you somehow failed to recognize that the deputy’s partner was there to intervene and end the struggle. Wednesday’s shooting had a civilian in an unscheduled position riding as the second deputy in a two man hoop. McDonnell tried to sell it as normal training, but the facts are not his friend. They are not yours either, as Ron Hernadez’ criticism is spot on.

  • You missed it. Your preoccupation of McDonnell is clouding your vision. While not a fan of McDonnell, the systematic problem is age old. It didn’t start with McBuckles nor will it end with him. The thirst for blood is usually never quenched and I hope that Villanueva gets the job done with support from the Tan & Green Family.

  • Great point “Fed Up .”

    O.S.D., whoever you are, your dislike of me is taking away your ability to use common sense. You would have been wise to not make yourself an easy target for “Fed U.p.”

    Thankfully our deputy is going to be ok, and thankfully he had a partner!

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