Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has responded to a move by LA County Supervisors that could lead to his removal from office.
Villanueva joined KNX In-Depth Wednesday afternoon to discuss his record, the Board of Supervisors and his reaction to the news.
The board has decided to look for options to potentially force him out before his term is over in two years. The conflicted board voted in a 3-2 vote Tuesday to consider removing him before his term is up.
The Board of Supervisors is exploring an amendment to the state’s Constitution that would shift all of California’s county sheriffs from elected officials to appointed positions. Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, who is leading an effort to that's considering options to remove the sheriff from office, said Villanueva is completely unwilling to be held accountable.
Villanueva took office in December 2018.
He told KNX In-Depth that the Democratic party, like the Board of Supervisors, is just playing politics. In fact, Villanueva was endorsed by the Democratic Party when he ran for office in 2018.
"Because I defeated their preferred candidate, the candidate of the political establishment, Jim McDonnell. And apparently I wasn’t supposed to do that, I was supposed to ask permission and wait my turn to take office, if that was ever going to be granted. That is the arrogance of the political establishment, they decide who the winners and losers are in advance," he said.
Villanueva told KNX In-Depth he thinks his opponents are being misled by the Department's Inspector-General, who, he said, has his own agenda.
He said he's met with one supervisor this week and will meet with a few more.
Villanueva says for those who want to remove him from office "at the end of the day they need to respect the will of the voters. And two, it would really help if they had a little sense amount of humility about the massive amount of power they already have. There is a separation of power between the sheriff, the district attorney and the Board of Supervisors there needs to be. And the board is both the executive and legislative branch all combined into one. Who provides oversight to them? Nobody."
He said he's not getting credit for the things he's achieved in office.
The motion, according to an LA Times story, "directs county lawyers and other staff to examine ways to impeach Villanueva or strip him of some responsibilities."
But Villanueva released a new video this week saying he is willing to work together and even offered to come up with solutions. He addressed the board, touting his success with body-worn cameras and expressing a desire to work on solutions with them.
"Come join me and work together to resolve the very complex and challenging things in front of us, homelessness, a rising homicide rate, economic despair, loss of jobs, people putting food on the table. So the board needs to spend their time and energy working towards the community," he said in a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday.
Villanueva has said in the past that he has no intention of stepping down from his post.
Meanwhile, the Board of Supervisors will look into whether in the future the position should be appointed rather than elected.
The LA County Democratic Party has voted on a resolution calling on Sheriff Villanueva to resign. The party's support for Villanueva played a major role in the historic 2018 upset that allowed a virtual unknown to force an incumbent sheriff out of office.
But that support has been waning for a while now.
The party, last year, passed a resolution calling on Villanueva to restore trust in the department.
This latest resolution, seeking his resignation, did not get the 60% support it needed to pass but it was backed by a majority of the members who voted.
Drexel Heard, the county Democratic Party's executive director, said he did not weigh in because he tries to avoids controversial votes due to the nature of his position.
The party's vote comes on the heels of a 3-2 vote by the LA County Board of Supervisors in support of a motion to seek ways to force Villanueva out of office.
The sheriff argued he has been making reforms and, again, asked to meet with each of the supervisors.