Five months after indicted Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona resigned to prepare for his corruption trial, the county's board of supervisors (BOS) today narrowed the prospective replacement list from nine candidates to just two: Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters and ex-Los Angeles County Sheriff's Chief Sandra Hutchens.
Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson will turn over California's second largest police department to Walters or Hutchens in mid-June after the BOS considers background checks and then
Sandra Hutchens!
The Orange County Board of Supervisors earlier this morning appointed the retired LA County Sheriff's Department division chief to replace Mike Carona as Orange County Sheriff.
The vote was 3-2 in favor of Hutchens.
Supervisors Chris Norby and Bill Campbell supported Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters. Patricia Bates, John Moorlach and Janet Nguyen voted for Hutchens.
More new-sheriff stuff to come on this very blog. Stay tuned!
Remember last year, when San Clemente councilmemer Wayne Eggleston made a crack about Stanton to the Los Angeles Times, claimed the reporter made up the quote, went on OC Blog to spear the Times, then curiously took back his campaign and apologized? No? Read about it here.
Back to the point of this post. Today, the Times reports SanTana councilmember Carlos "Never Met A Conflict of Interest He Didn't Love" Bustamante (at the left in the above picture alongside those stalwarts of conservativism,
So far, best local story of the month goes to The Orange County Register's Norberto Santana Jr. and Natalya Shulyakovskaya, who wrote a June 13 article that further underscores the gross incompetence of ex-Sheriff Mike Carona. Based on interviews and public-records act requests, the duo found:
-$-Most deputies pocket more than $100,000 annually.
-$-More than 100 deputies pocket at least $150,000 annually.
-$-In 2007 alone, the department boosted already-supple deputy salaries with $41.7 million
*Updated, with new info after the jump...
Carlos Bustamante was supposed to be the Golden Boy, the Mexican who could deliver Latinos to the Republican Party in Orange County. He won a SanTana City Council seat in 2004 by defeating a Papi Pulido-backed candidate in the one OC city where Democrats rule, and the dreaming started immediately. From a 2004 Los Angeles Times article:
His candidacy was supported by Hispanic 100, an organization that supports pro-business Latino candidates. Founder Man
The last time Orange County's sheriff announced the department's new management team, Bill Clinton was president, gasoline cost less than a buck fifty, people could afford their mortgages, and you didn't have to remove your shoes to enter buildings or airport terminals. Everything was better then--except at the OCSD. Mike Carona, our cry-on-cue glorified bailiff turned womanizer/pompous ass/N-word-tossing/federal indictee in a gold-star-studded uniform, had surrounded himself with future convict
Under the leadership of Mike Carona—our N-word-tossing, fanny-slapping, vodka-slurping, money-hungry, FBI-indicted ex-sheriff—the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) sank into an ethical cesspool. It didn’t make a difference if a deputy was a hard-working public servant (and I know quite a few in this category) or a lazy degenerate. OCSD careers promised damn-good pay, lots of paid time off, no repercussions for wrongdoing and generously funded retirement at the spry age of 50, mor
An already-bad PR week for Sheriff Sandra Hutchens got worse this morning when Superior Court Judge Richard King unsealed a grand-jury indictment against a veteran Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy who is accused of using excessive force on a handcuffed suspect.
Deputy Christopher Hibbs (pictured left), a resident of Corona, faces two felony charges and up to three years in state prison if convicted of abusing his authority during a Sept. 13, 2007, early-morning incident near the bord
"Next is another fun item," joked Chairman Bill Mungary as the California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) moved on to the controversy surrounding remains unearthed on the mesa above the Bolsa Chica wetlands after a lengthy debate over the treatment of buried remains at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
The commission, meeting Friday in the San Juan Capistrano City Council chambers, is empowered by state resources laws to protect Native American remains, gravesites
Sandra Hutchens is not the only Orange County sheriff trying to collect honorary Orange County sheriff's badges that a predecessor handed out to supporters. The Times Herald-Record, which covers the Hudson Valley of New York, has a story today on the crap their Orange County sheriff has gone through since announcing any courtesy shields issued by previous administrations should be returned.
Carl DuBois made that announcement upon taking office in 2003.
He just got three
Diane HarkeyNow, I love Dana Point, my sleepy, crusty, adorable harbor-village-that's-trying-to-dress-up-as-Newport hometown. But its legal cityhood is only a little bit younger than I am, and so I can relate to the public embarrassments it has had in the last week or so. You turn 20, you're told that you're an adult, you go out into the world, and you end up making an idiot of yourself. Three Dana Point residents in the news of late: -- OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens. Yes, we were quite proud when
There has been much recent media coverage about a recent attack by Fullerton's longstanding Tokers Town gang against the Rev. Willie Holmes and his storefront Majesty Christian Fellowship church in their hood. Marches, arrests, and much other hullaballoo. Having a much different perspective on the attacks, however, is Sandy Stiassni, who is involved with the OC Green Party and a local LULAC chapter, amongst others. He sent out a long email with his perspective on the attacks which he has generou
Orange County Register: A six-man, six-woman jury recommended death for John Fitzgerald Kennedy--no, not that John Fitzgerald Kennedy; that one is already dead, and this one is a 43-year-old career criminal with the gang moniker "Crazy John"--in the murders at sea of a Newport Beach couple. The same jury had convicted Kennedy of two counts of murder with special circumstances in the 2004 slayings of yacht owners Thomas and Jackie Hawks. "Crazy John" showed no emotion as he got the chai
The deep, angry, artificial breathing you hear in the distance?No, Jim Silva is chewing happily on apple sauce. It's not even James Earl Jones on the set of an upcoming Star Wars flick. It's Orange County's dark political lord Mike "Vader" Schroeder (pictured). At Gulfstream in Newport Beach. In between sips of red wine and cigar puffs. And flicking ashes on Mickadeit's head.Norberto Santana Jr. over at the Register is reporting that Sheriff Sandra Hutchens has revoked Schroeder's permit to carr
"Give me your rich, your tanned and my MF'n CCW!"A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away . . . Sheriff Mike Carona gave Mike "Vader" Schroeder, his feisty top political adviser, a permit to carry a concealed weapon (CCW). Last week, the new Orange County sheriff, Sandra Hutchens notified Schroeder, a Republican Party heavyweight in California, that her department intended to revoke his permit. Hutchens' policy is that getting a CCW is a special privilege and that folks must proved "good cause"
Surely by now you've heard about the latest scandal to rock the Orange County Sheriff's Department: "Supe Snoop." If you haven't heard about it, you owe it to yourself to read R. Scott Moxley's cover story on Sheriff Sandra Hutchens this week. The footage above that opens over the shoulder of county Supervisor Chris Norby is referenced in this paragraph:On Jan. 13, Hutchens sent more than 20 armed deputies to a Board of
Supervisors public meeting, reasoning that protesters of her CCW policy
po
South Orange County resident Ralph Martin, a well-respected longtime Los Angeles Sheriff's Department commander who finished third to replace the disgraced Mike Carona as Orange County's sheriff last year, officially retired today after nearly 36 years of public service."I've got mixed emotions," said Martin, who was responsible for policing some of LA's toughest areas, in a telephone interview tonight. "It was a great run."Martin also campaigned to defeat Carona during the 2006 campaign, arguin
Something rare happened on Friday, April 17--and it wasn't just that the Orange County Register was pretending it had broken news about a trial it's reporters hadn't attended. On that date in 6 B.C., so I'm told, the sun, Jupiter, Saturn and our moon were aligned. I won't pretend to know what astrological activities were in place yesterday, but something bizarre happened here on Earth: usually in lockstep, Orange County law enforcement bitterly split ranks.Specifically, the Orange County Distric
Sandra Hutchens, Orange County's Republican sheriff, registered as a Democrat for as long as a decade in both Los Angeles and OC, according to records reviewed by the Weekly.In an interview for a March profile, Hutchens told me she is a Republican; holds conservative views, particularly on fiscal matters; felt George W. Bush had been an unfairly maligned president; and considered Ronald Reagan her political role model. Indeed, a glass plaque on her office desk inside the Orange County Sheriff's
Based on the song Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee from Grease, a reader's* ode to Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens:Look at me, I'm Sandra SueLousy with gun issueWon't let you speak, if we disagreeI can't--I'm Sandra SueWatch it! Hey I'm from LAI was not brought up that wayWon't come across, Though the Supes I have lost,My way, or the highway.I don't drink (no)Or swear (no)I don't rat my hair (eew)I get ill from one cigarette (cough, cough, cough)Keep your filthy pawsOr my gun will drawMy trig
Steven GreenhutIn tomorrow's edition of LewRockwell.com, Steven Greenhut writes a column, "Breaking the Code of Silence," that ridicules what the senior Orange County Register editorial writer sees as a continued lack of ethics and decency at the sheriff's department. At issue, according to Greenhut, is that Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and deputy union boss Wayne Quint were peeved that prosecutors told the public of documented evidence that deputies lied under oath to protect another deputy who'd t
The opinion page staff at the Los Angeles Times today handed Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens an endorsement of sorts by hailing her policies as "overdue" change following "the political shenanigans" of sheriff-turned-felon Mike Carona. Their evidence that the sheriff is moving the Orange County Sheriff's Department in the right direction? According to the Times, "The cozy circle of the local power elite" and their "political gunslingers" are angrily squealing about her reform efforts."The
Carona with a mob goonThe Orange County Hispanic Endowment Education Fund (HEEF) is a fine organization that gives out thousands of dollars in scholarships to deserving students every year and has done so for quite some time. Sometime this month, they will hold a reception for prospective recipients. Maybe some young scholar can ask this pertinent question to their elders: why does HEEF still allow disgraced, adulterous, felonious ex-sheriff Mike Carona to sully the group's name?Among the schola
Photos by Professional Services Responder George Ridley Olszynski, Lewellyn, Palmer and Hutchens play hardball.This week's Weekly round-up of local police calls is illustrated with a photo of Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Anaheim Police Sgt. Greg Palmer, who is president of the Anaheim Police Officers Association, and deputies Gary Lewellyn and Richard Olszynski near home plate an Angel Stadium. Why? 1) Lewellyn and Olszynski were honored before June 12's Angels-Padres game for t
What did you miss by turning off the Internet and getting a sunburn this weekend? John Gilhooley / OCWDid Sandra piss off some more republicans this weekend?Honestly, not a lot. Something happened with North Korea, yeah. But in Orange County? Fluff fluff and fluff. Here's your recommended reading from OC's media world from the past three days:The Reg has your omnibus Memorial Day ceremonies story. I liked the one with the Chapman prof dressing up like Dwight Eisenhower.Dana Parsons of the Los An
Honestly, I always felt bad for Bill Hunt, the former Orange County deputy sheriff who's running against incumbent Sandra Hutchens next year. He loudly spoke against the moron Mike Carona, only to suffer an insult so egregious--demotion to patrolling Stanton--that he rightfully resigned. The lords of the OC GOP always ridiculed him, and nearly anything they're against is righteous and holy. But there is no way on Earth I can possibly say anything nice about Hunt anymore until I receive some c
Arpaio, Coe, and Hunt: Pendejos in a pod? For sure, the first two...It was bad enough that Orange County Sheriff's candidate Bill Hunt invited a man as controversial as Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to shill for him at a fundraiser. But for Hunt to allow California Coalition for Immigration Reform head Barbara Coe into the fest means he has just sealed his fate with the rational people of Orange County. Bill: that picture. Why? Do you really want to be associated with the godmother of th