President's Message

Show Me the Money!

Here we are in May 2019 and the County still has not paid several negotiated raises agreed upon in July 2018, nearly one year ago! As of this date, the BU612 Patrol Bonus and the Supervisory Skill Bonus have not been paid to the employees. Why? Good question. It depends on who you ask. The CEO’s office says it is the Sheriff ’s Department holding up the process. The Sheriff ’s Department says it is the Auditor-Controller refusing to issue the proper pay code. The Auditor-Controller’s office says it’s LACERA that hasn’t determined the pensionability of these bonuses. LACERA says it doesn’t have anything to do with the County paying the employees. Hmm. Is anyone else hearing circus music in the background?

Sadly, if PPOA wasn’t pushing the issue, I don’t think the County, the Sheriff ’s Department or anyone else would be even slightly concerned that the employees haven’t been paid. I can honestly say nobody in the County or the Sheriff ’s Department has advocated to get this done. Just a lot of finger-pointing. PPOA will continue to fight to get these bonuses paid, and I am confident we can get this resolved soon.

Changes to the PPOA Board of Directors

At our PPOA Board meeting in May, longtime Board member Art Reddy stepped down as the retiree representative on the Board of Directors. He will now assume the role of consultant for legislative matters and will remain the chairperson of our legislative committee. I am so grateful for Art’s invaluable input at our Board meetings. He has by far the most institutional knowledge about PPOA business over the past several decades. Those who know Art also know he has a “colorful” way of expressing himself. We will miss his uninhibited use of expletives … and that’s when he is saying nice things!

Jim Schallert will be taking over for Art as the retiree representative on the Board. Jim recently retired from the Sheriff ’s Department and resigned from his vice president position on the PPOA Board of Directors. Jim has been a great VP and my “goto” guy for number-crunching and fact-checking. If you have read any of his articles, you know he isn’t afraid to express his opinions … and he has a lot of them! Now, he will shift from active employee issues to retiree issues, and there are plenty of those to keep him busy: retirement, pensions, York, etc. I have no doubt he will be as strong an advocate for retirees as he was for active employees. Congrats on your retirement, Jim!

The PPOA Board of Directors appointed Tab Rhodes to fill the vacated vice president position. I have known Tab for nearly 20 years and he will be a strong advocate for all PPOA members. He has great problem-solving capabilities and a strong sense of right and wrong. Like Jim, he is also not afraid to express himself. Some would find these negative characteristics, but I believe quite the opposite. I encourage and support outspokenness, dissent (when done professionally) and passion. These are all indicators that a person cares about a topic and will fight hard to protect and defend our membership.

Custody Five-Year Commitment for Supervisors

For many years, PPOA has advocated against the five-year mandatory custody assignment as part of the dual-track program. In fact, PPOA advocated against the dual-track program altogether, as we foresaw the very problems we are seeing today. Last year, we were successful in getting then-Sheriff McDonnell to agree to change the five-year commitment to a three-year commitment. The new three-year commitment began with custody sergeants and was to be applied to custody lieutenants early in 2019.

But with the election of Sheriff Villanueva and his distaste for “anything McDonnell,” the three year commitment has been returned to a five-year commitment for lieutenants. We are deeply disappointed in Sheriff Villanueva for making this unilateral change without any discussion with PPOA or the impacted employees. There is much speculation about why the Sheriff ’s Department made this decision. Some say it is because Sheriff Villanueva favors patrol and doesn’t respect custody, and thus wants to promote more people on the patrol track rather than letting custody lieutenants go to patrol assignments. Some say he doesn’t want the problem that was seen with the custody sergeants, where there was a mass exodus when the five-year commitment was changed to three years. Some say his “inner circle” cronies just wanted to promote their buddies who were on the patrol track. We don’t know the real reason for this change, nor do we know whether Sheriff Villanueva even knows about it. What I do know through conversations with Villanueva is that he was inclined to reduce the five-year commitment, possibly even to a two-year commitment. So why the change?

I think Sheriff Villanueva owes his employees an explanation. If he is truly trying to fix wrongs of the past, this is not the path to do it. If he believes McDonnell did not pay attention to the impact his decisions had on morale, he need only turn to this decision to keep the five-year commitment. This will have a significant impact on morale. It is disrespectful to not only custody lieutenants, but all those assigned to custody. The message is that custody is a second-class assignment and unworthy of recognition. Sheriff Villanueva emphasized this position when he made the statement that in order to promote, you had to have 10 years in patrol, pushing a radio car. He has backed off that position and he should back off this position as well. It is the right thing to do. This Department is multifaceted and includes more than just patrol. If he doesn’t come to that realization, he may find the Board of Supervisors looking to create a County Department of Corrections and place it under the command of someone who cares about custody and custody employees. I hope Sheriff Villanueva will re-examine this position about the five-year rule. I know in his heart he knows this is wrong.

I have been president of PPOA for over 10 years and have dealt with four different sheriffs. Each of them had strengths and weaknesses that helped or hurt the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. I respected all of them, each for different reasons, although sadly some will be remembered for their failures. But the past is the past. So let’s look toward the future and take a closer look at our current Sheriff, Alex Villanueva. It’s in everyone’s best interest for him to succeed, so we will treat him as we have every other Sheriff: provide him with our advice, hold him (and his management team) accountable to employees and hope he makes the right decisions.

Let me start with the good things he has done in just two short months. He has reversed a horrible and abusive practice of excessive discipline and use of Relieved of Duty (ROD) by the previous administration. We saw an immediate change in the treatment of the employees. I am not talking about allowing employees to “get away with” misconduct. I am talking about a just and fair process that doesn’t assume the employees are guilty or lying before an investigation. The new administration treats employees with far more respect, understanding and compassion, and it is truly a welcomed change.

Sheriff Villanueva got rid of the Constitutional Policing Advisors. PPOA had been complaining about the extraordinary access and power of the CPAs to then-Sheriff McDonnell and, to his credit, he reined them in a bit. But they still had far too much power and influence and injected themselves into areas that had nothing to do with “constitutional policing.” The CPAs did a huge disservice to the Department and to Sheriff McDonnell and irreparably damaged the lives of many hardworking, dedicated employees and their families.

Sheriff Villanueva changed the promotion process for captains of patrol stations. In the past, many executives abused their authority by promoting their friends or staff over more qualified individuals. I also received many complaints from city officials who were unhappy with their captains and had no input on the selection of the captain for their city. Sheriff Villanueva has instituted a new process that involves the cities and communities in selecting their captain. Although this process may have unforeseen problems (many of which you can imagine as you read this), it is at least an attempt to eliminate the cronyism and favoritism of the past and gives greater opportunity to far more lieutenants to openly compete for a captain position.

Sheriff Villanueva has surrounded himself with an outspoken team of executives. This is a departure from past administrations. But it goes beyond that. He actually listens to them … somewhat. I know of several instances where the Sheriff was heading down the wrong path (some of which you will read about later in this article). His subordinate executives advised him that he was going in the wrong direction — and he acquiesced and changed his position. I am impressed by his willingness to listen and change courses when appropriate, at least in some areas.

But not all is rosy for Sheriff Villanueva. He has made some significant miscues, as well. First, he drove out nearly every executive from the previous administration even before he took office. We all know there were some bad executives and some who did not deserve to hold the rank they held. But many good executives were driven out too, not because they weren’t performing well, but because they were associated with the former Sheriff, Jim McDonnell. For one who proclaimed his displeasure about the unfair treatment of employees, Villanueva certainly mistreated many of the executives who could have helped him run the largest sheriff’s department in the world.

In his first week as Sheriff, he also held a meeting with all lieutenants and above. He ordered them to remove their insignias in an apparent attempt to create a visual cue that they are all deputies at heart. I applaud the message he was sending and, for a minute, I thought he was showing good leadership. But then, he followed that with an order that they would not be permitted to wear the insignias until he said so and dressed them all down as unworthy of their rank. They were ordered to return to work without wearing their insignias. This was an obvious attempt to humiliate his management team (or the team he inherited) and to convey, “You are not worthy unless I, and only I, say you are worthy!” Egomaniac? Maybe. In the words of Doc Holliday in Tombstone, “Make no mistake, it’s not revenge he’s looking for. It’s a reckoning.” Sheriff Villanueva missed an opportunity to send a positive message to his management team. He spoke of humility, but then demonstrated the opposite.

Sheriff Villanueva also made some miscues with his Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the hiring back of individuals who the TRC believes were wrongfully terminated. He took a lot of criticism from the Civilian Oversight Commission, the Board of Supervisors and numerous media outlets for bringing one individual back prior to forming the TRC. I am not going to judge him on his decision to bring anyone back to work, but his timing was horrible. Hiring a single individual back before forming the TRC looked incredibly suspicious, especially since that person worked on his campaign. These are hard-learned lessons for this new Sheriff. But Villanueva has admitted he isn’t a politician. He will learn quickly that all public figures are politicians or they don’t last long as public figures. That’s not to say he has to make sacrifices. He simply needs to learn how and when to do things to demonstrate to the public and his employees that he is a good leader.

Although he’s off to a rocky start, I applaud Sheriff Villanueva for having the courage to fix some of the most egregious internal problems so quickly: discipline and promotions. I am hopeful that he will continue to surround himself with good, ethical leaders, heed their warnings, listen to their advice and lead by example. If he follows this formula, he could turn into a truly great Sheriff.

Last year, we received many workers’ compensation complaints about injured workers unable to get surgeries or prescriptions approved through the County’s third-party administrator, York Risk Services. As a result, PPOA began meeting with York management and the County CEO’s office to address these issues and find solutions. Our regular meetings with York management have resulted in a better complaint process to address problems. We have had great success with this new process and the open communications between PPOA and York. But is this a “new” York, or is this the same York that many employees have been complaining about for years? Why have we had success recently? Could it be because their contract expired in 2018 and they are now bidding for the new contract?

I cannot answer these questions with any certainty, but I can tell you that our meetings with York and the CEO’s representatives have been hugely successful, and I am grateful to York and the CEO’s office for the improvement in services.

One of the most common complaints we heard from injured employees was the inability to reach a York caseworker. The employee would leave message after message only to later find out that their caseworker no longer works at York! Meanwhile, the employee’s injuries are not getting proper care and their prescriptions are not getting approved. This was simply unacceptable. Because of this, York put into place what they call the “Escalation Process.” This process allows injured employees the ability to take unresolved issues or the lack of response from their caseworker to a higher level. Here is a link to a PPOA article describing the process and all the contact information: https://bit.ly/2RxrQr5. For injured employees still having problems, they can contact me directly at bmoriguchi@ppoa.com. I have had great success addressing multiple issues with York and the CEO’s office.

Another common complaint was the sudden denial of prescription authorization for pain medication. With the recent focus on opioid abuse, there is an increased awareness on the extended use of pain medications as a form of treatment. Fair enough. But if the County wants to reduce the use of pain medication, it must first approve surgeries or alternatives to surgery to relieve the pain. In other words, the solution is not simply to deny pain medication to those in pain; it should be to provide employees with alternative ways to eliminate sources of pain. If eliminating the pain is not an option (which is often the case), then treating the pain may be the only solution. For many, living with pain is not possible. So the County has a decision to make. It either must approve the chronic use of opioids (which will certainly shorten the lives of the employees) or force employees to make the decision to live in extreme pain or die. In instances of chronic pain where discomfort cannot easily be reduced, I see only one option: provide the employee with pain medication. I am hopeful the County will look into these types of situations and carefully review whether pain can be reduced. In circumstances where it cannot be reduced, I hope they permit the prescription of pain medications so that employees do not have to suffer.

I am grateful to the injured employees for their many comments and inquiries about York and their medical treatment issues. Many of the comments were positive, and those comments have been forwarded to York management so that they can give kudos to their employees when appropriate. I hope we are seeing a “new” or maybe “improved” York (but that doesn’t fit my Frank Sinatra theme!). I believe York management and the CEO do care about injured workers; they just needed to open communications with advocates like PPOA who will voice concerns on behalf of injured workers.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD (SHERIFF)

In a historic victory, Alex Villanueva successfully defeated incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonnell for Los Angeles County Sheriff. This upset was historic for many reasons. But it doesn’t matter the reasons why, what went wrong, who’s to blame or how things could have been done differently. The bottom line is that Alex Villanueva is our new sheriff, and he deserves all the support necessary to succeed. His success is to the benefit of all of us, and we will provide him the same guidance and support that we have given to all sheriffs who came before him. Likewise, if he does something wrong or acts unfairly, we will not hesitate to criticize him.

There are several things that Sheriff Villanueva needs to address immediately:

1. Recruitment/hiring. This has been a problem for a long time, and the Department has failed to develop proper strategies for solving this issue. This is a critical need that impacts working conditions and morale for all employees.
2. Corrupt promotion process (primarily for sergeants and lieutenants). The “banding” system of promotion has allowed Department executives to choose whom they want to promote. The Department should return to a numbered list and make the process competitive, basing it on skill and knowledge instead of who you know or where you worked.
3. The Dual Track Custody Program. This program was instituted to address the Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence’s (CCJV) recommendations for jail stability. The Department needs to review its effectiveness and look for solutions to the failures of this system.
4. Excessive discipline, Relieved of Duty (ROD) usage and overall treatment of employees. The Department needs to change the excessive use of discipline, demotion and termination when dealing with employees who make minor mistakes. This particular issue has gotten very out of hand over the past several years. Far too much disciplinary power has been given to civilian employees who do not understand the difficulties of the job and the split-second decisions that deputies have to make.

If Sheriff Villanueva makes positive changes in these four areas, he will be viewed as a successful sheriff. But there are many more challenges that he and his management team will face down the road. I hope they are up to the task and are guided by a sense of logic, fairness and compassion.

CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE

I am deeply shocked at the ineptitude of the Sheriff’s Department to pay its employees the negotiated pay raises that it agreed to. In early July 2018, PPOA agreed to a contract for its sergeants and lieutenants that included additional raises for patrol bonuses and a bonus for supervision of Bonus II deputies. As of January 15, 2019, the Department has not paid one cent of this money to employees! Absolutely disgraceful! There is no excuse for this delay, but it’s likely being caused by one of two things: (1) the County is trying to hold onto our money for as long as possible to benefit from the interest it makes from the money, or (2) the Department, by sheer incompetence, is unable to figure out who qualifies for these bonuses or how to code the pay raises. We have learned the Department has created multiple forms for employees that require multiple levels of review and approval before it approves the pay. The irony is the Department already knows who qualifies! During contract negotiations, the Department told us exactly how many employees would get these bonuses. In order to do that, they had to figure out who qualified for them. So they already know this information, yet have delayed the raises for going on seven months! PPOA will be working with the CEO to get this problem rectified and ensure that all retroactive pay is paid.

In addition, we also have all the civilian employee groups at PPOA who also agreed to contracts toward the end of 2018. How long are they going to have to wait to be paid? Really?

CHARITY STARTS AT HOME

Sadly, the month of December was difficult for many of our members. At a time when most of us celebrate the holidays with our families, many had to deal with tragedies and the loss of loved ones. My heart aches for each and every one of you who suffered losses during this time of the year. Fortunately, our Star & Shield Foundation was able to provide some financial support to those in need. The Star & Shield Foundation is funded by our members and PPOA supporters, and its purpose is to support our members during crises and the families of officers killed in the line of duty. Sadly, in the first two weeks of 2019, one peace officer was killed in California and seven others were killed across the country! I am asking all PPOA members to do a payroll deduction of any amount to help support the Star & Shield Foundation — whether it’s $1, $5, $10 or $20, your contribution helps us help others. Please contact the PPOA office and make a monthly payroll deduction to the Star & Shield Foundation. Charity starts at home.

I hope all of you have a healthy and prosperous 2019 and beyond!

Feedback From PPOA Members Regarding York

Brian and Mr. Rossi,

The COLA has stepped up big time and, again, made me very proud to be a COLA Family Retiree.
The involvement and action steps both of you made have made a huge difference in the past week.

1. I have an amazing nurse assigned to help me navigate the system so that my health improves. Because of your help, I have access to services I am entitled to; I can get clarification of the services and benefits that I am not able to receive; there is coordination between the parties; and perhaps most important of all, Mrs. Dannie Hayden has streamlined the access to the prescriptions and procedures I am in need of so that I do not have to worry about going into withdrawal symptoms.
2. I have optimism and peace of mind. With your actions and the help you’ve provided, I look forward to feeling better, seeing my family, especially my grandchildren, taking full pleasure in my retirement and perhaps rewarding my wife with a more fulfilling life because of the help she has given me during the many years since my injuries.

Your caring and attention has really made a difference. That is something I will never forget, and I am truly humbled.

— Benjamin H. “Jake” Katz

Brian,

Good news for me and it’s all thanks to you. York/Corvel reversed themselves and agreed to pick up my prescriptions (pain). This wouldn’t have happened without your help. So thanks again to you and PPOA.

— Jim Birmingham

Brian,

I was notified at 5:50 p.m. on Monday that the prescription was ready. They were closed yesterday, so I picked it up this morning. Thank you for following up on this matter. Hopefully it has been solved and I won’t have this problem again next year. Happy new year.

— (Retired PPOA member name withheld)

Brian,

Thanks for your help; York has finally picked up my claim. My attorney called and said the CEO intervention did the trick, so thanks very much for the assist. Now it’s just a mad dash to get LASD to reinstate my time before the end of the year. Thanks again.

— (Retired PPOA member name withheld)

I have spoken to many retirees who tell me that I will know when it is time to retire. I will feel it in my gut, they say. Well, I thought I felt it in my gut a few weeks ago, but it turned out it was just the 30 pounds of excess weight I was carrying. Funny, I also seem to feel it in my back, knees, shoulders and feet as well! What I am actually feeling is the aches and pains of getting older. I am not yet retired, but I am definitely feeling my health is not where it should be.

In contrast, I have met retirees who seem to have springs in their steps and smiles on their faces. They are out there travelling the world or simply enjoying “nana” or “papa” time with their grandkids. How is it that these ol’ timers are looking and feeling better than me when they are five, no 10, no 20 years older than me?

I suspect there are many reasons why I feel so old, but I can point to job stress as being reason number one. I think about work 24/7, even on my days off. I cannot seem to let the job go. It is so bad that when my wife and I go out of the country on vacation, I “sneak” my phone into the bathroom just to keep up with my work emails and text messages. My wife thinks I have IBS because I am sometimes in the bathroom for an unusually long time! I am always thinking about work. Even my dreams are about work. I cannot seem to get it out of my head!

Admitting I have a problem is the first step, right? Right. Now, how do I fix the problem? How do I put the spring back in my step, like some retirees? Well, one way is to retire (and I am not too far off from that). In the meantime, I have to maintain work-life balance, better nutrition and better sleeping habits. Easier said than done. But, I am inspired by the many retirees I have met who seem to have such youthful energy. To my peers who are still working, find balance in your life and do not let this job consume you; take care of yourself and live, love and laugh! To all you retirees, thank you for showing me the importance of life after this job
and that happiness is achievable when you are not chasing a promotion or avoiding the boss. You are an inspiration to all!

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION ISSUES

PPOA has heard many complaints about problems with York and the difficulties retirees have been having in getting proper treatment for their work-related injuries. I want to thank those who took the time to send me detailed emails about your experiences, good and bad. I, along with PPOA Executive Director Wayne Quint, met with York management to voice our concerns. This meeting followed our meeting with the County CEO’s office on this same topic. York and the CEO have agreed to meet with us regularly to address our concerns, so please keep the comments coming if you are having trouble getting proper medical treatment or are having difficulty getting prescriptions authorized. PPOA will advocate on your behalf. It does not matter whether you are a PPOA member; we simply want to make sure those who have served this County are receiving proper care for their work-related injuries.

FAREWELL TO FRIENDS

This year was a particularly tough year for PPOA. We said goodbye to our longtime friend and co-worker, Jimmy Vogts, who passed away on April 25. I cannot put into words how much I miss him — I miss his mentorship, his sense of humor and his dedication to serving others. RIP, Jimmy! We also sadly lost a dear friend, Graham Hawley, who helped countless PPOA members with preparing their wills and trusts. Graham worked for United Estate Planning and accompanied the PPOA team at many LASD Retiree Roundups throughout the years. He was a kind and caring man. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, always.

This year, we also bid farewell to Paul Roller, who retired as PPOA’s executive director. We will miss his extensive labor knowledge, but wish him a long and happy retirement. I truly enjoyed our many conversations, and I appreciated his insight into labor unions and contract negotiations, as well as his love for PPOA. His successor, Wayne Quint, has huge shoes to fill, but I enjoy working with Wayne and admire his commitment to learning all about PPOA and how best to serve our members.

When I finally do retire from this job, I will have fond memories of all the people I had the pleasure of working with at PPOA as well as all the wonderful people, both active and retired, who I had the opportunity to meet over the years.

Every book on management I have read states that employees are the most important resource for any successful business. Employees need to be treated well, compensated fairly, trained sufficiently and rewarded for hard work. If there are any Sheriff’s Department executives who believe the Department is doing any of these things, please contact me. I will refer you to a good psychologist who can help you with your delusion. If there are any Sheriff’s Department executives who believe they provide these things for the employees who are under their command, four of you are right. The rest need to retire and live their fantasy elsewhere so they are not hurting real people.

Let’s first take a look at fair treatment. The reason PPOA wins so many cases in Civil Service hearings is because the Sheriff’s Department unjustly prosecutes and persecutes its employees. The Department blames the hearing officers (and convinces the County that the hearing officers are biased and pro-employee), when in reality the Department was usually wrong and many times malicious or overzealous in its efforts to “get rid of” what it believes is a bad employee. Of course, if the employee in question happens to be a “buddy” of an executive, they get a pass or sometimes aren’t even investigated due to the abuse of power exercised by that executive.

Many executives might say they have no control over compensation and to some degree that is true. But for those who do and for those involved in contract negotiations, put yourself in the employees’ shoes for a moment. They are not making $250K with a take-home car or flexible schedules. Some are barely making minimum wage, are being forced to work long hours and are living paycheck to paycheck. Show some compassion for your employees and understand that when you relieve them of duty or give them 30 days off, you are impacting not only them, but also their families and their ability to put a roof over their heads and food on the table for their children. Don’t mistake this for me advocating to get employees off the hook for wrongdoing, but you should apply compassion and understanding and make an effort to discern between malicious conduct and mistakes or judgment calls that may not have been the right decision. We all make mistakes.

Training is almost nonexistent nowadays due to the shortage of personnel. Who is to blame for that, the employees or the Department? It seems the Department believes that every employee should make the right decisions under duress 100 percent of the time, without training, without supervision and without clear or consistent policies. Imagine being told to rebuild a car engine. You are not taught how to rebuild the engine, but if you make a mistake or fail to tighten a bolt correctly, you will be disciplined. If someone gets hurt or crashes as a result of an error you made in rebuilding the engine, you will be fired and/or prosecuted. Would you rebuild an engine for that company? Would you become a deputy sheriff for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department? The Department and its executives should take all this into consideration when deciding punishment for employees. Maybe it would help if the executives got one day off without pay for failure to properly train their staff for every investigation where the employee did not have adequate training. Maybe then the executives would take responsibility for their role in misconduct or discipline.

Reward for hard work seems like a no-brainer. But the harder you work, the more likely you will make a mistake and receive discipline. If you receive discipline, you will not be promoted or you will be excluded from good assignments. Here is the current system of reward in the Sheriff’s Department:

• Do not make any decisions yourself.
• Do as little as possible and fly under the radar.
• Get an executive, preferably an assistant sheriff or higher, to be your advocate. (Apparently, they are the only ones who know the best employees.)
• Hide your tattoos.

For captains and above:

• Punish your employees to show the boss you can be tough.
• Threaten or intimidate your subordinates to remain silent about your misdeeds.
• Transfer your “problem” employees instead of mentoring them, which requires work.
• Remain silent, even when you know the decision being made by your peers or the higher-ups is wrong.
• Tell the Sheriff morale is high and all is good in the kingdom.

This recipe for success may seem comical, but how many of you reading this article got promoted or a good assignment by following this very recipe? You aren’t the one to blame (well, you kinda are). The Sheriff’s Department has created this culture and this recipe for success. Sheriff McDonnell needs to break this horrible system down by demanding, “This stops right now!” He needs to give clear instruction to all his executives and managers that he will not tolerate this behavior and will hold them accountable if they do any of the above. The next executive who recommends their buddy for a promotion over more qualified personnel should be demoted on the spot. It is time to have people in positions of power who can get things done the correct way and who will speak out when something is wrong. We need leaders who understand the importance of the employees and show compassion toward them. We need courageous leadership to tackle some very serious problems, not followers looking to hide out and go undetected until promotion time, when they really come out and shine.

I hope Sheriff McDonnell will make positive changes in the upper ranks and demand that they treat the employees with respect and compassion. This will certainly help with the recruitment and retention problem and, more importantly, will result in happier and more productive employees.

As most of you know, the results of the primary election are complete. (Or are they?) Jim McDonnell received 47.6% of the votes, Alex Villanueva received 33.5% and Bob Lindsey received 18.9%. Therefore, Jim McDonnell and Alex Villanueva head into a runoff in November. I have received many inquiries from members on where PPOA will stand in this election. My answer today is, “I don’t know.” But we will play a part in who will be our next sheriff. PPOA has already started interviewing each candidate. On June 29, I interviewed both candidates as part of our PPOA On Point video interviews. These videos will be uploaded so that everyone can hear the candidates answer questions about their vision and their leadership as sheriff of Los Angeles County. I hope to have these videos uploaded soon.

PPOA will host a debate between both candidates. It’s scheduled for July 23 at the Ronald F. Deaton Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Space is limited so reserve your spot by calling PPOA today. If you cannot make it, don’t worry. We will televise this debate as well. Next, we will do polling of our membership to see who they prefer to be the sheriff of Los Angeles County. Then we will poll the public, using positives and negatives to get an idea of each candidate’s viability and vulnerability. The endorsement committee will review all data and decide whom to endorse.

For PPOA to be effective when we give our endorsement, our members must get engaged. We need members to volunteer to help: stuffing envelopes, walking neighborhoods, forwarding Facebook posts to their friends and family, retweeting, wearing our endorsement shirts, putting bumper stickers on cars, etc. There are a lot of ways to help. Every one of us cares about the Department so it is time to step forward and let your voices be heard.

WORKERS’ COMP CALAMITY

I want to thank those of you who contacted me about your problems with workers’ compensation claims, getting proper treatment and denials from York for medical treatment. I am truly shocked about the poor treatment provided by the County toward those employees who dedicated their lives to serving the County of Los Angeles. Actually, I am appalled. I heard countless stories of retirees suffering in pain who cannot get their medicine or treatment approved; no call-back from York case workers; sometimes a straight denial of services previously approved in a settlement agreement with the County. It is really disgusting to hear how these people are being treated. The County treats the homeless and the criminals in our jails better than its own employees! Absolutely disgusting! I have a meeting scheduled with the CEO’s Office and will be meeting with York in the near future. I know they are aware of many of the problems and I hope we can meet and find solutions together. County retirees deserve better.

PPOA SCHOLARSHIPS

I want to thank all of you (and your children) who applied for PPOA scholarships this year. It was a difficult process and I wish we could present all the applicants with scholarships. They really all deserve it. I am sure our members are extremely proud of their children whether they received a scholarship or not. They should be. Each and every applicant was already a success in life, not just in academics either.

Congratulations are in order to all the winners (listed below) of the 2018 PPOA scholarships

This special edition of Star & Shield is dedicated to a PPOA legend, James E. Vogts III, who passed away on April 25, 2018. Jimmy dedicated his life to PPOA, and his contributions to PPOA members are immeasurable. A tribute to Jimmy could easily fill a 200-page book, but we will try to convey a small sampling of his accomplishments in this magazine. We have included a past article written by our recently retired executive director, Paul Roller, that summarizes Jimmy’s career and his dedication to PPOA and peace officers in general. I hope you will read through all of the articles in this issue and get a sense of Jimmy’s greatness — as a PPOA Board member and president, a PPOA lobbyist, a friend and mentor, a husband and father, and a compassionate and dedicated man to everyone he met. There are many things each of us can learn from Jimmy and attempt to incorporate into our daily lives to make us better people.

I used to believe that no matter what criminals said or did, our country and the state of California would always side with law and order. I used to believe people were smart enough to distinguish right from wrong and would not be manipulated by rhetoric, especially by criminals or those associated with criminals. I used to believe that only a small number of people, like the ACLU, supported criminals and that the vast majority of people supported the police and wanted a society where they can live and work free from fear. I was wrong. Times have changed.

Over the past few months, we have seen numerous promotions at all ranks in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. We congratulate those promoted and hope they will help turn the Department around in regards to leadership. Lately, we have seen far too many Department executives focused on how to fly under the radar and how to manage their responsibilities without drawing attention to themselves. What we need are Department executives willing to recognize problems and offer solutions (in other words, lead). Saying “there is no morale problem” over and over doesn’t mean there isn’t a morale problem. Telling the Sheriff “there isn’t a morale problem” and “things are great under your leadership” may help you get promoted, but it doesn’t address the problems in the Department. For Sheriff McDonnell (or any sheriff, for that matter) to be successful, he needs executives who tell him the truth, face difficult situations head on and offer solutions.