Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers AssociationLos Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association

Greg Torres

Vaccine Mandate 8/16/21 Update

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On August 16, 2021, PPOA was made aware of an announcement at 9:03 AM sent to all County employees providing perspective on the Board of Supervisors recent COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate.
 
As seems to be the case regarding this issue, the messaging and actions are confusing to say the least.
 
“My office is now working with a cross-departmental team, including the Department of Human Resources and County Counsel, in consultation with our labor partners, to quickly to stand up a comprehensive program for all departments.” — LA County CEO Fesia Davenport. Click here to read the CEO’s letter in full.
 
While the CEO’s message seemed to indicate labor unions were “consulting” on these draft documents, PPOA can represent we have not been contacted to “consult,” nor participated in any “consulting.” NO agreement has been reached, or for that matter, even discussed.
 
In what appears to be an attempt to comply with the message, yesterday afternoon the CEO’s Office suddenly sent a set of draft documents to the County Coalition of Unions (CCU). These documents are now being reviewed by legal counsel, and a request for additional information has been submitted to the County.
 
PPOA has been, and will continue to be in communications with the other labor organizations of the CCU, and will continue to work collaboratively with all parties in an attempt to resolve the concerns of the COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate.
 
Please continue to monitor PPOA communications for the most reliable information on this and other labor related issues.

BOS Vaccination Mandates

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At the LA County Board of Supervisors’ (BOS) meeting on Tuesday (8/10/21), two items related to COVID-19 vaccination mandates were on the agenda. The first was the Executive Order mandating COVID-19 vaccines for all County employees, authored by the Board Chair, Supervisor Hilda Solis. The second was a motion authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn, also mandating COVID-19 vaccines, but with a testing option for those not desiring to be vaccinated.
 
During this meeting, PPOA President Tab Rhodes addressed the BOS during public comment and communicated membership’s concerns and objection to the Executive Order and support for additional consideration of the motion authored by Supervisor Hahn. You can read President Rhodes’ comments here: https://files.constantcontact.com/…/692a7211-2189-4225…
 
Following public comments and lengthy conversations amongst the Supervisors, in a surprising move, the BOS both ratified the Executive Order and passed the motion by Supervisor Hahn, seemingly giving two different directions to employees.
 
PPOA has been in communication with the CEO’s Office since first being notified of Supervisor Hahn’s motion and discovery of the Supervisor Solis’ Executive Order via Twitter last week. As communicated in our email blast of August 5, 2021, the PPOA Board of Directors and legal counsel continue to review the current information provided and await further proposals and policies as the results of the BOS actions are even more confusing. PPOA has notified the County, Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation and Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner of our intent to assert our bargaining rights as to the impacts of these mandates on our membership.
 
One particularly contentious moment of the BOS meeting came during comments from Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, which later exploded through our membership via social media. During her comments, Supervisor Kuehl referenced the low vaccination rate, “astounding they are lower in the Sheriff’s Department, Fire, and Probation than in other areas…concerns about several employees and supervisors of the Sheriff’s Department …and a couple of them have said they would rather be fired then to be stuck with, you know the cells of dead babies (COVID-19 vaccine) and I of course would love to accommodate them and fire them tomorrow, but you know, be careful what you ask for.” PPOA is supportive of any and all efforts to move beyond this pandemic and return to life as normal, but always remains respectful of our members opinions, perspective, and right to make personal health decisions. These unnecessary and inflammatory comments by Supervisor Kuehl enraged members of PPOA, requiring a response.
 
Today, President Rhodes personally contacted both Supervisor Kuehl and Board Chair, Supervisor Solis. During the conversation with Supervisor Kuehl, she doubled-down on her comments, as she believes public safety and employees should be leaders in protecting the County’s citizens against exposure to COVID-19. Supervisor Kuehl offered no apology for her passion and perceived harshness as she explained her responsibilities to the overall health and welfare of the community members. Her perspective remains that “attitudes” in opposition to mandatory vaccination are detrimental to efforts in combatting the pandemic and that public safety should embrace their duty to the communities they serve. President Rhodes explained that her comments insulted PPOA members, created unnecessary animosity, and only through collaboration and mutual respect can solutions be achieved.
 
Soon thereafter, President Rhodes spoke with Supervisor Solis. President Rhodes was able to communicate many of the members’ concerns and confusion regarding the Board actions to her during this call. Supervisor Solis listened intently, commenting in reply that her expectations are that mandatory vaccinations are the way of the future. She believes that FDA approval of the COVID-19 vaccines is imminent, as well as the Federal Government, military, the State, and a voluminous numbers of private entities will mandate vaccinations. Supervisor Solis did inquire as to progress on information provided by the County to PPOA and any upcoming timeline of Meet and Confer meetings, to which President Rhodes had minimal information. Supervisor Solis expressed her expectations that further proposals and meetings will be forthcoming in the immediate future.
 
PPOA recognizes the many complexities of the vaccination mandate issue, and remains respectful of members’ concerns. If there is any good news to come out of this communication, PPOA can represent that the County has acknowledged our rights to negotiate the impacts on our members, of the recent BOS Executive Order and motion. Further information will be distributed as it is received.

Vaccine Mandate 8/10/21 Update

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At the LA County Board of Supervisors’ (BOS) hearing on August 10, 2021, two items related to COVID-19 vaccination mandates were on the agenda. The first was the Executive Order mandating COVID-19 vaccines for all County employees, authored by the Board Chair, Supervisor Hilda Solis. The second was a motion authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn, also mandating COVID-19 vaccines, but with a testing option for those not desiring to be vaccinated.
 
During this meeting, PPOA President Tab Rhodes addressed the BOS during public comment and communicated membership’s concerns and objection to the Executive Order and support for additional consideration of the motion authored by Supervisor Hahn. Click here to read President Rhodes’ comments.
 
Following public comments and lengthy conversations amongst the Supervisors, in a surprising move, the BOS both ratified the Executive Order and passed the motion by Supervisor Hahn, seemingly giving two different directions to employees.  
 
PPOA has been in communication with the CEO’s Office since first being notified of the Executive Order and Supervisor Hahn’s motion last week. As communicated in our email blast of August 5, 2021, the PPOA Board of Directors and legal counsel continue to review the current information provided and await further proposals and policies as the results of the BOS actions are even more confusing. PPOA has notified the County, Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation and Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner of our intent to assert our bargaining rights as to the impacts of these mandates on PPOA members.
 
One particularly contentious moment of the BOS meeting came during comments from Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, exploding through social media of PPOA membership. During her comments, Supervisor Kuehl referenced the low vaccination rate, “astounding they are lower in the Sheriff’s Department, Fire, and Probation than in other areas…concerns about several employees and supervisors of the Sheriff’s Department …and a couple of them have said they would rather be fired then to be stuck with, you know the cells of dead babies (COVID-19 vaccine) and I of course would love to accommodate them and fire them tomorrow, but you know, be careful what you ask for.” PPOA is supportive of any/all efforts to move past this pandemic and return to life as normal, but always remains respectful of our members’ opinions, perspective, and right to make personal health decisions. These unnecessary and inflammatory comments by Supervisor Kuehl enraged members of PPOA, requiring a response.
 
Today, President Rhodes personally contacted both Supervisor Kuehl and Supervisor Solis. During the conversation with Supervisor Kuehl, she doubled-down on her comments, as she believes public safety and employees should be leaders in protecting the County’s citizens against exposure to COVID-19. Supervisor Kuehl offered no apology for her passion and perceived harshness as she explained her responsibilities to the overall health and welfare of the community members. Her perspective remains that “attitudes” in opposition to mandatory vaccination are detrimental to efforts to combat the pandemic and that public safety should embrace their duty to the community they serve. President Rhodes communicated to her that her comments insulted PPOA members, created unnecessary animosity, and only through collaboration and mutual respect can solutions be achieved.
 
Soon thereafter, President Rhodes spoke with Supervisor Solis. President Rhodes was able to communicate many of the members’ concerns and confusion to her during this call. Supervisor Solis listened intently, commenting in reply that her expectations are that mandatory vaccinations are the way of the future. She believes that FDA approval of the COVID-19 vaccines is imminent, and the Federal Government, military, the State, and voluminous numbers of private entities will mandate vaccinations. Supervisor Solis did inquire as to progress on information provided by the County to PPOA and any upcoming timeline of Meet and Confer meetings, to which President Rhodes had limited information. Supervisor Solis expressed her expectations that further proposals and meetings will be forthcoming in the immediate future.
 
PPOA recognizes the many complexities of the vaccination issue, and remains respectful of members’ concerns. If there is any good news to come out of this communication, PPOA can represent that the County has acknowledged our rights to negotiate the impacts, albeit confusing, of the BOS actions. Further information will be distributed as it is received.

COVID-19 Vaccination Executive Order Issued for LA County Employees

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PPOA learned late last night of a new Executive Order requiring all Los Angeles County employees to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination by October 1, 2021. This mandate impacts all 110,000 LA County employees, including all active PPOA members. 
 
Today, PPOA executives and legal counsel initiated a review of the Executive Order which was issued publicly via social media by LA County Board Chair Hilda Solis despite making no effort to notify or collaborate with PPOA or any of the labor unions representing County employees. 
 
PPOA has notified the County, Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner of our intent to actively and aggressively assert our bargaining rights to negotiate over the decision of this Executive Order, as well as the impacts of this decision on our membership. Having not yet received any additional information or proposed policies, PPOA awaits further information from the County and its departments to strategize specific responses.
 
“As PPOA is a collaborative labor partner, we are extremely disappointed in the manner in which this Executive Order was executed without conversation. The definition of labor relations includes communication, of which, our organization and membership were provided NONE. This type of unilateral action is perplexing as PPOA has proven to be cooperating effectively in every aspect of negotiations throughout this pandemic.” 
    – President Tab Rhodes  
 
PPOA will update our membership when additional information becomes available.

Custody Commitment Reduced to 2 Years for Supervisors

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PPOA and the Sheriff’s Department recently reached an agreement to reduce the Custody three (3) year commitment. Newly-promoted sworn supervisors assigned to Custody Divisions will now only have to fulfill a two (2) year commitment.

Please also note that in anticipation of a Sergeant breakup in the near future, the filing period for transfer preference updates has been extended. For those who have completed two years in a custody assignment, it is highly recommended you update your transfer preferences. Transfers will be based solely on seniority in your current rank.

Further details are contained in a JDIC message expected to be distributed by the Department on 7/29/21.

“This agreement between PPOA and the Sheriff’s Department is the culmination of months of discussions,” said President Tab Rhodes. “PPOA would like to acknowledge and thank Sheriff Villanueva for his collaborative leadership during this process which will help impacted members further their careers on a more accelerated timeline.”

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