See other Dead Constitution Articles
Title: Battle between Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and county supervisors could soon end up in court.
Source:
[None]
URL Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/ ... s-sheriff-2301977-board-county
Published: Feb 9, 2009
Author: .
Post Date: 2009-02-09 08:38:56 by PSUSA
Ping List: *Jack-Booted Thugs* Subscribe to *Jack-Booted Thugs*
Keywords: None
Views: 146
Comments: 15
By TONY SAAVEDRA and NORBERTO SANTANA Jr. The Orange County Register Comments | Recommend Eight months into office, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is locked in a bitter power struggle with the same Board of Supervisors that appointed her. And the two sides could soon end up in court. What started as a debate over Hutchens' plan to reduce concealed weapons permits has morphed into a multi-faceted fight with supervisors, who accuse her department of spying, bullying and misusing public property. Twice in recent weeks, Hutchens has publicly apologized to board members. Once, after a deputy used a surveillance camera to zoom on supervisors' notepads during a hearing, and again after command staff used its department BlackBerrys to exchange text messages ridiculing supervisors and critics of her proposal to reduce the number of concealed gun permits. Supervisor Chris Norby responded this week by sending a mass e-mail accusing Hutchens of mounting a "misguided jihad" on gun-rights advocates, prompting calls from Hutchens' supporters for Norby to apologize. "It's just childish on both sides," said George Wright, chairman of the criminal justice department at Santa Ana College. "(Hutchens) is going to have to tighten things up pretty quickly." Some observers say that Hutchens is having a tough time adjusting from her past as a law enforcement bureaucrat to the give and take of politics. Even Hutchens has noted that she doesn't see her job as political. She sees herself as sworn to uphold the state's laws in an objective manner. "I don't make my decisions based on how the (county) supervisors will react," Hutchens said. "I'm the sheriff first." In a letter sent Friday, county CEO Tom Mauk warned Hutchens that her fight with the board is a distraction that she can't afford. Instead of the gun permit issue or the videotape dispute, Hutchens' department should be concentrating on serious budget shortfalls, as well as curbing overtime and expanding the jail, Mauk wrote. And so far, "little progress has been made," he wrote. The fight between Hutchens and the board intensified this week when the sheriff learned that county executives made copies of the sheriff's surveillance tapes involving supervisors. Hutchens threatened to sue unless county officials agreed to certain conditions on how the tapes are kept and viewed. Supervisors late Friday were balking at Hutchens' conditions. "There is a crisis of confidence between the board and the sheriff, and that is not a good place to be eight months into office," Norby said. For her part, Hutchens has said: "All I'm trying to do is put the policy back in line with what the law says (on concealed weapons). You can kind of see this is getting sliced up into a lot of different issues." Hutchens inherited a generous gun-permit policy from ex-Sheriff Mike Carona, who was elected in 1998 on a platform that included allowing as many people as possible to carry weapons. Carona's administration issued 1,100 gun permits, among the most in the state. Hutchens is using tougher guidelines, which has incurred the wrath of supervisors as well as permitholders. A hearing Nov.18 brought a crowd of angry gun activists to the Santa Ana boardroom, where they spent hours defending their perceived right to bear arms. During the mammoth meeting, high-level sheriff's officials used their BlackBerrys to send text messages among themselves, often mocking the board and the speakers. "We are locked in mortal battle. It is ugly," texted Assistant Sheriff Michael Hillmann, a former LAPD deputy chief recruited by Hutchens to help rebuild the department. In a later text, Hillmann wrote that he wanted to poke his eyeballs out after listening to hours of testimony. Hillmann next turned his BlackBerry on Supervisor Janet Nguyen, a critic of Hutchens' gun-permit plan: "I hope Janet has a pet she can call a friend." Amid a firestorm of criticism, Hutchens apologized, acknowledging the texts as "unprofessional." At the next hearing, Jan. 13, sheriff's officials increased security in the boardroom because of an unspecified threat. Activists were met with large placards warning against carrying weapons into government buildings. Uniformed and undercover deputies roamed the boardroom in what some supervisors called an intimidating show of force. At lease three people were pulled aside by deputies and questioned. Gun activists charged that the extra security was intended to dissuade them from testifying, a suspicion strengthened by the release of the text messages. During that meeting, a deputy used a surveillance camera to zoom on Norby's notepad and on Nguyen's BlackBerry. Hutchens discovered the intrusion and reported it to the board, along with her apologies. Norby and Nguyen accused the department of using government equipment to snoop on them, sparking a new battle over who owns the surveillance recordings. Earlier this month, in a public rebuke of Hutchens, supervisors voted unanimously to take ownership of the surveillance video and took action to remove the Sheriff's Department from providing security for the board. This week, the dispute went red hot. In a letter written to county supervisors Chairwoman Pat Bates on Feb. 4, Hutchens said she learned that the county computer staff had secured a copy of the recording from the meeting without her knowledge. Hutchens said that she is worried that public disclosure of the video recordings could threaten undercover officers and their families. She also threatened litigation. Hutchens' letter, called a "missile" by Bates, triggered a fierce response. Mauk wrote Hutchens back on Friday, saying he was "highly offended" that she suggested board members or the county staff would willingly put undercover officers in harm's way by exposing their identities. That was done by Hutchens, Mauk said. "I've seen a lot of contentious meetings," Mauk said in an interview, "and I have never seen a police chief put an undercover officer in a public meeting." Hutchens' approach, said Mauk, Bates, Nguyen and Norby, is drawing heavy opposition and could have long-term consequences. "This issue is really escalating. And she keeps on pushing," Nguyen said. "Some of these issues have escalated to the point where we do have a problem. There's a sheriff that doesn't want to work with us; she wants to do what she wants to do." Bates remembers talking to Hutchens when she first took office, issuing a friendly warning about the challenges of moving from a bureaucrat to an elected official. "Our job as decisionmakers is to see the gray," Bates said. "This is a job of representation, not just following the book." For her part, Hutchens has said she is focused on enforcing the law, not politicking. And she's comfortable leaving her political fate in the hands of Orange County residents, as opposed to supervisors, political parties or activist groups. She likes her chances, often saying "I have tremendous faith in the voters of this county."
Poster Comment: Simply amazing.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: All, *Shooters* (#0)
Click for Privacy and Preparedness files I have tremendous faith that the voters will kick her ass out of office.
fuck her not with my dick of course with somone elses shes been a whore since befor e puberty theres no telling wha stds shes had since pubertry
the american government is a disease masquerading as its own cure Methinks the journalist might have a bias.
Good catch - I missed that one.
This issue may be the only one that can unify the masses of morons and mullets to the degree necessary.
If a thousand men were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. Henry David Thoreau - 1849
Well, since they were there to defend their permits, issued to political friendlies and subject to the whims of the acting sheriff, and since CA has no state wide law to permit the open or concealed carry of firearms, I'd have to say that the "perceived right to bear arms" part was accurate. When a popular athlete died under mysterious circs in the Signal Hill, CA jail the LA Times posted the names of the hundreds of holders of Signal Hill gun permits, most of who did not reside in the tiny town. The fact is, people who get theirs don't care about those who aren't politically connected, and they are part of the problem. No need to feel sorry for people with CA carry permits, because they don't care about you or me. If the connected "beautiful people" lose their permits they'll then get involved and change the laws, and that's a good thing. 1982, Signal Hill, CA. - Four cops from the local agency near Long Beach, which is under fire for the beatings and killings of Black people, are suspended for wearing shirts showing a gallows, a hangman's noose, and the words, "Signal Hill, Stairway to Heaven." The officers bought the shirts at a camp-out of cops sponsored by the Southern California Memorial Peace Officers Association. The shirts were sold by an ex~cop from another department to more than two dozen officers from various agencies. The Signal Hill chief protects the identity of the other officers and departments involved.
I caught that, too. Hutchens is a stupid Nazi, send her your love: _________________________________________________________________________ 100% correct, and the pool of the connected is becoming smaller as time goes on. We're rapidly approaching the time when America will consist of the tiny minority of the connected and the rest of us will be the unwashed masses.
I'd rather eat glass. ; )
Every female police officer I've seen has been fat and ugly, and I'll bet this one is, too.
Some women you just cannot give any power to. Click for Privacy and Preparedness files Turtle is right 98.9 percent of the time, and he called that ugly Nazi bitch but good.
But the 4 stars on her collar are most impressive. Do YOU have 4 stars on YOUR collar???
Click for Privacy and Preparedness files Only dogs have collars, and that dog has a nice collar.
#2. To: PSUSA (#0)
She likes her chances, often saying "I have tremendous faith in the voters of this county."
#3. To: PSUSA, *libertarians*, *Humor-Weird News* (#0)
#4. To: PSUSA, Lady X, HOUNDDAWG, christine, Cynicom (#0)
A hearing Nov.18 brought a crowd of angry gun activists to the Santa Ana boardroom, where they spent hours defending their perceived right to bear arms.
#5. To: bluegrass (#4)
#6. To: lodwick (#5)
their perceived right to bear arms.
#7. To: bluegrass (#4)
(Edited)
A hearing Nov.18 brought a crowd of angry gun activists to the Santa Ana boardroom, where they spent hours defending their perceived right to bear arms.
#8. To: bluegrass (#4)
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?”
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#9. To: HOUNDDAWG (#7)
The fact is, people who get theirs don't care about those who aren't politically connected, and they are part of the problem.
#10. To: X-15 (#8)
send her your love:
#11. To: PSUSA (#0)
No place is better than Turtle Island.
#12. To: Turtle (#11)
#13. To: PSUSA (#12)
No place is better than Turtle Island.
#14. To: Turtle (#13)
#15. To: PSUSA (#14)
Do YOU have 4 stars on YOUR collar???
No place is better than Turtle Island.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
