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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,920 posts)
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:13 PM Feb 2022

LA sheriff stripped of his enforcement power after he refused to make his staff get vaccinated

Lawmakers in Los Angeles earlier this week voted to strip a sheriff who refused to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for his staff of his enforcement power.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors decided on Tuesday to relieve Sheriff Alex Villanueva of the responsibility to enforce COVID-19 vaccine mandates, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The decision to strip him of the responsibility comes after Villanueva has for months refused to enforce the mandate.

In October, Villanueva said he would not enforce the mandate because he feared losing a chunk of his staff.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/los-angeles-sheriff-stripped-of-his-enforcement-power-after-he-refused-to-make-his-staff-get-vaccinated-despite-county-wide-mandate/ar-AATLHbo

16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Mr.Bill

(24,281 posts)
2. I don't see how this penalizes him.
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:23 PM
Feb 2022

So, they stripped him of the power to do something he refused to do. I guess maybe it could hurt him politically, since he does have to get elected. I wonder who will enforce the rule now.

ColinC

(8,289 posts)
5. I think it means they took the power on themselves so now his staff has to get vaxxed
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:34 PM
Feb 2022

Not sure if it hurts him either besides his credibility, but it is overall a good thing now that the staff is likely to get vaccinated.

RockRaven

(14,958 posts)
8. I *think* the idea is that because that power rested with him, nobody else could do the forcing
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:40 PM
Feb 2022

and since he decided not to, it wouldn't get done. IOW, it wasn't just that he had that power, it was that only he had that power.

Presumably that authority now will be vested in some person or entity which will force the issue with the department's staff.

Mr.Bill

(24,281 posts)
9. Okay, but then if people do resign over it,
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:43 PM
Feb 2022

he will be able to say "I told you so." Should be interesting to see this play out.

RockRaven

(14,958 posts)
13. Yeah, it pushes the risk/blame off onto others if there are resignations.
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:51 PM
Feb 2022

And if there aren't a lot of resignations, he can wave away future criticisms of his position here with "well, they all got vaccinated, which is what you said you wanted, so what's the problem?"

Response to RockRaven (Reply #8)

LoisB

(7,201 posts)
3. The worst vote I ever made. He has turned out to be quite the little prick. Thinks he's in charge
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:30 PM
Feb 2022

of everything in the county and answerable to no one.

ColinC

(8,289 posts)
7. He wasn't hard to see through, but I too failed to do so.
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:35 PM
Feb 2022

I had my doubts because McDonnell was a competent and respectable sheriff.

Mr.Bill

(24,281 posts)
10. Welcome to the world of California Sheriffs.
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:44 PM
Feb 2022

Another way to look at it is the Sheriff is the only Law Enforcement Officer that the voters can fire.

kysrsoze

(6,019 posts)
15. I can't wait until we can vote that turd out. He's just awful.
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 11:55 PM
Feb 2022

He’s been retaliating against those who have chosen to run against him. I really wish they could strip him of all his powers for refusal to enforce the law. He’s done a ton of that during.COVID.

LoisB

(7,201 posts)
16. Yes! Seems as if he has been fighting the Board of Supervisors since he was elected.
Sun Feb 13, 2022, 12:36 AM
Feb 2022

He also seems uninterested in doing anything about the gangs that are allegedly operating within his department.

Hmmm.."uninterested or disinterested"? Can't remember which is correct. LOL. I'm old.

sheshe2

(83,744 posts)
4. Hm.
Sat Feb 12, 2022, 10:33 PM
Feb 2022
In October, Villanueva said he would not enforce the mandate because he feared losing a chunk of his staff.


He didn't give a rats ass how many died of COVID.

Covid-19 was the leading cause of death among U.S. police officers in 2021, a report says.

By Derrick Bryson Taylor
Jan. 12, 2022
For the second year in a row, Covid-19 was the leading cause of death for law enforcement officers in the United States, according to a report released on Tuesday by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

A total of 458 officers died in the line of duty in the country last year, making it the deadliest year in more than 90 years and a 55 percent increase from 2020, according to preliminary data compiled by the organization. Of those, it found that 301 federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement officers had died because of Covid-19.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/us/police-officer-deaths-covid.html




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