The mayor appointed Vicki Hennessy to serve as acting sheriff.
Posted on 03/21/2012 8:43:54 AM PDT by SmithL
Mayor Ed Lee has suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi without pay while he awaits an ethics hearing on whether he should be permanently removed from office.
The suspension came a day after Mirkarimi was sentenced to probation and counseling as a result of pleading guilty to false imprisonment in a high-profile domestic violence case involving his wife. Just hours after Monday’s sentencing, the mayor met with Mirkarimi and gave him a day to contemplate resigning, but the sheriff said Tuesday his conviction is not grounds for removal.
“He has chosen not to resign, and now I must act,” Lee solemnly told dozens of reporters in the Mayor’s Office Tuesday afternoon.
Moments earlier, Mirkarimi said Lee had no legal basis to call the wrongdoing “official misconduct” under the City Charter, which allows the mayor to initiate removal proceedings for public officials who display “conduct that falls below the standard of decency, good faith and right action impliedly required of all public officers.”
“I do not believe that the conduct — that I have taken responsibility for — constitutes official misconduct within the meaning of the law,” he said. He added that he “looks forward” to making his case to city decision-makers.
The mayor, who was flanked at his press conference by Dennis Herrera, said the City Attorney’s Office has built a comprehensive case to begin Mirkarimi’s removal and that the sheriff’s admission of guilt clearly violates standards laid out in the charter. Lee said last week there is also an implicit problem with the false imprisonment charge, given that the main responsibility of the Sheriff’s Department is oversight of local jails.
The misconduct charge will now be considered by The City’s Ethics Commission, and then move to the Board of Supervisors, where it would need the vote of nine of 11 members to be upheld.
Although supervisors may not weigh in on the matter before any decision is made, Mirkarimi could save his job as mayor with the backing of just three of its five solidly progressive members. But a statement from progressive stalwart and local Democratic Party Chairman Aaron Peskin suggests Mirkarimi might have a hard time finding support, even from political allies.
“His resignation best serves the people of San Francisco and all others concerned,” Peskin said in a lengthy statement. “I urge him to do so.” Peskin argued that Mirkarimi’s ability to lead the Sheriff’s Department has been “undeniably marred.”
Lee appointed law enforcement veteran Vicki Hennessy — no relation to former Sheriff Michael Hennessey — to serve as the new and first-ever female sheriff while Mirkarimi faces the charges. She formerly held high-ranking positions with the Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Emergency Management.
The mayor said she has experience managing big budgets and is well-qualified to stabilize a troubled department.
“I know I stand before you today amidst difficult times for The City, and especially the Sheriff’s Department,” she said in a brief statement.
The mayor appointed Vicki Hennessy to serve as acting sheriff.
Moments earlier, Mirkarimi said Lee had no legal basis to call the wrongdoing “official misconduct” under the City Charter, which allows the mayor to initiate removal proceedings for public officials who display “conduct that falls below the standard of decency, good faith and right action impliedly required of all public officers.”There is one government for The City and County of San Francisco, governed by the City Charter, which apparently does allow the mayor to suspend the sheriff for "official misconduct".“I do not believe that the conduct — that I have taken responsibility for — constitutes official misconduct within the meaning of the law,”
In any case, there are no good guys here. This is rats eating rats for political purposes.
A city mayor can suspend a county Sheriff? Strange.
Sounds like the Sheriff treated his wife as an arrest suspect ...
A city mayor can suspend a county Sheriff? Strange.Ping to my explanation in #2. We posted at about the same time.
I have heard good things about the new mayor of SF. Anybody got an informed opinion?
All that aside, you are right, there are no good guys here.
What did the Sheriff do? Kind of a basic story point don't you think?
But yes, it would be very cool if every time you got in an argument with your wife, you could just throw her in jail to cool off. Not very Sheriff-like behavior though, if that is what happened.
Sounds to me like there is a whole lot more to this story than is being reported.
LOL
Someone will be along to inform.
Ed Lee is a putz.
Five days after being sworn in as sheriff, he was charged with domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness.
In addition to legalizing marijuana, Mirkarimi also supports banning smoking on golf courses, banning plastic grocery bags, street name changes (Eddy Street to Marcus Garvey Way) and, of course, tighter gun control (and had to surrender his firearm due to the domestic violence charges)
I believe that San Fransisco is one of the few (only?) spots in the US where a city and county have identical boundaries.
So a joint agreement would make sense.
Putz=Democrat??
Thanks for going the extra mile and looking this up and pinging us! Rats eating rats! I need to set up the popcorn concession!
I think Philadelphia County is another.
Nashville/Davidson County went to Metropolitan Government back in the sixties. It’s a huge area, but it’s only one government.
yep
That’s true about the boundaries of San Francisco. Since the Sheriff is a Constitutionally elected official, and the Mayor is not, I don’t understand how San Francisco can be different than any other county. I’m sure there will be a clarifying article soon showing how San Francisco managed to put this agreement into place.
Ironic, huh?
“I believe that San Fransisco is one of the few (only?) spots in the US where a city and county have identical boundaries.”
I am still surprised that the mayor has any legal power to do what he’s doing ( although I’m glad to see Mirikarimi under fire). I live in Contra Costa County (East Bay). When our last sheriff, Warren Rupf, screwed up on the Jaycee Dugard kidnapping, I asked my supervisor why the Board of Supervisors didn’t act similarly. She told me that the BoS had no authority over the sheriff, under the law. The only difference here is that because SF is both a city and county, the City Council is also the county BoS.
Putz=Democrat??Democrat doesn't mean much in San Francisco. Everyone is a Democrat, they just have different liberal agendas. There is the Very Left faction, the Even More Left faction, the Ultragreens, the Gaystapo, and the ever-popular Anti-Business faction.
True story: The last time that Gavin "Any Twosome" Newsom was running for reelection as mayor, his opponent labeled him a Republican, because he couldn't think of anything worse to call him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
