Carona Stepping Down For 60 Days; AOCDS Says "Go!"

The denouement of Sheriff Mike Carona's career continues apace. According to Total Buzz, he'll announce his intention to take a 60-day leave of absence effective November 9.

And last night, the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs board voted unanimously to ask Carona to resign or take a leave of absence (H/T to Total Buzz).

Comments

[bored with blogs]

Yea, hat tip to each other. Carona posted it on his website at 10 a.m. Deputy Sheriff's union also has their press release posted.

[bob]

The AOCDS Board did this on their own without the support of their members. Their phone lines have been ringing off the hook ever since!

The AOCDS has had it out for Carona for some time. They did not support his re-election and are now just jumping on the negative bandwagon. They are biased and are not credible. Way to give your boss the presumption of innocents guys.

[Jubal]

Bored with blogs:

You misunderstand what a "hat tip" is. It just an courtesy acknowledgment of indicating where you saw the story, not an indication of a "scoop."

Kudos to the Sheriff and the AOCDS for getting the scoop by being the first to post their own press releases.

Now that he's lost the support of his deputies, Carona is done. Even if by some chance he is found innocent, his ability to lead is undermined, plus he certainly won't forget how the AOCDS board voted.

[John]

An indicted Sheriff who is dragged to court with his wife and mistress hand the department over to an openly lesbian officer. I am wondering where the real republicans are anymore. I know good and well the OCSD is suppose to be non-partisan however its clear the republican establishment is to blame here. I have NEVER voted against a republican in my life and it pains me to say that after all the problems from congress down to OC Sheriff I am done. This is truly sick and sad.

[tylerh]

John,

you write "hand the department over to an openly lesbian officer. " WHy does this matter? I've seen people post that Jo Ann is a good executive, I've seen people post that she is Carona toady. These are helpful comments.

But why, as a Republican voter, should I care about Jo Ann's choice of partner? And why would that affect your choice of party affiliation?

From my remote vantage, a by-the-book hands-on manager who has Carona's trust is the ideal choice. Carona is innocent until proven guilty, so the department needs to be managed under the assumption that the duly elected sheriff will be coming back. Hence the utility of the Carona lieutenant running things: it signals that no big changes will happen for the moment while stressing that the focus is on keeping the dept running smoothly.

[DeadBeatPoliticalHack]

Just to clear up one point. An office holder may remain in office after a conviction. It is not until the moment of sentencing and the court finds that the office holder is guilty of a felony that the office holder losses the office.

I happen to believe the sheriff will be found not guilty.

[Allan Bartlett]

This is not good enough. He must resign ASAP. The silence of the county GOP leadership is extremely disappointing. All GOP elected officials should be put on record where they stand on Carona resigning.

[Concerned OC Resident]

The men and women of the OC Sheriff's Department deserve better. Sheriff Corona needs to resign immediately and the BOS need to bring in a qualified candidate from the outside whose integrity, leadership ability and talents are unquestionable. All house people were handpicked by Corona and cannot be trusted to do anything diffently than their boss. Law enforcement needs quality. Perhaps OC should look to the leadership in LA County to set the tone.

[CC]

LEAVE MICHAEL CARONA ALONE!

How friggin dare anyone out there make fun of Michael after all he has been through.

He lost his mistress(es), will probably be going through a divorce. He has a friggin kid.

It turns out that he has been used, cheated on, and he is battling custody and control of his department. All you people care about is…..... readers and making money off of him.

HE’S A HUMAN! What you don’t realize is that Michael is making you all this money and all you do is write a bunch of crap about him.

He hasn’t been able to perform. His song should be called “give me more”, because all you people want is MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE.

LEAVE HIM ALONE! You are lucky he even performed for you BASTARDS in the past!

LEEEAVE MICHAAAELL ALLLLLONE!…..Please.

Rich White Guy talked about professionalism and said that Michael is a professional and would’ve pulled it off no matter what.

Speaking of professionalism, when is it professional to publically bash someone who is going through a hard time.

Leave Michael Alone Please…. Leave Michael Carona alone…right now….I MEAN IT!

Anyone that has a problem with him you deal with me, beacuse he is not well right now.

LEAVE HIM ALONE!

[rich white guy]

Sheriff Carona: He is OUR SHERIFF until he ain’t - An opinion of a Rich White Guy.

“MAY HAVE” EQUALS “MAY NOT HAVE”: A firestorm was created this week when the disturbing news broke about our Sheriff, Mike Carona, being indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on numerous counts of misconduct related to actions he may have taken before and during his term as Sheriff of Orange County.

THEATRE AND POLITICAL ADVANTAGE: The firestorm generated lots of theatre amongst the usual suspects in Orange County political circles where covering ones’ ass by distancing themselves from the troubled becomes foremost of importance to them. Next, comes those that will seek to take advantage of a weakened political opponent in order to gain personally what they could not get when the playing field was level. Turkey buzzards would have a hard time getting through to the carcass with all the politicians and hacks hovering around!

“BAD PERSON”: Yea, let’s propose more laws and issue more self-aggrandizing press releases about how much was done in response to the “bad person” now found amongst us.

JESUS FOR A MOMENT: Politicians that have been working with and around each other for years suddenly find the “Jesus moment” in a split-second after the sh+t has hit the fan.

PULL THE CARPET, ON THREE: Moments like these help clarify why the public disdains politicians as they watch them claim the moral high ground while simultaneously pulling the carpet from underneath the fallen comrade. A finger-pointing politician is almost as helpful to solving a problem as having a bored ten-year kid with matches hanging around the neighborhood.

DON’T SHOOT THE SHERIFF: The media is all over a story like this, as well. Of course, Mike Carona has been tried and convicted by most of these folks well before the recent events in Federal Court — which only served as the “I told you so” part of the story. There are less flies on the potato salad at a summer picnic than there are reporters, editorialists and bloggers on this story all clamoring for the “I Shot the Sheriff Pulitzer Prize.” But, one question that has been ignored is this: “HOW do we ensure that a law enforcement officer, like Mike Carona, gets the same standard of Due Process of law as any other ordinary citizen?”

HIGHER STANDARDS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, WHY?: Forgetting for a moment that many in this county use the words but disregard what it means to have a higher standard for law enforcement personnel — some say that the Sheriff has a higher standard of conduct expected of him and that any accusation of misconduct is reason enough for him to be sent to the career bone yard, to the poor house, or even to the slammer! Yet, during every single day in this land every citizen has the right to due process of law and equal protection under the law! There is not one set of rights for cops and another set for everyone else. There’s one! There are not “higher or lower” standards of justice for cops accused of crimes. There’s one! while we expect a “higher standard” of personal conduct from cops — at the end of the day we live and breathe under the same laws of this land as everyone else.

EQUAL JUSTICE: “Equal justice under the law” does not exclude law enforcement officers who find themselves sitting behind the table across the aisle in a courtroom! When fallible human beings who also happen to be police officers enter a courtroom they too are entitled to the same protections that they gave to others during a career of public service where only a judge or jury are allowed to take these rights away.

AN ARREST IS A SIMPLE FORMALITY AND DOES EQUATE TO GUILT: A cop’s duty to ensure due process to the accused lasts throughout the criminal justice process. It begins with an investigation and does not stop with an arrest. It doesn’t end at arraignment. An arrest and an arraignment are only pit stops in the judicial race towards the finish line known as a conviction. It doesn’t stop because the accused has been convicted in the press or in the court of public opinion. It’s a long race and it’s our job to finish the race!

OUR SHERIFF STILL MAY BE INNOCENT, EVEN IF FOUND GUILTY: Because accusations cannot be proven true beyond a reasonable doubt outside a courtroom our job will be harder if justice is denied because we will never know whether our Sheriff was innocent or not!
It’ll be almost impossible to really know if he betrayed his oath of office and our trust unless he gets his right to justice that includes a presumption of innocence outside the courtroom and a fair impartial trial once inside.

RACE (THE RUNNING KIND): The race has only started and the truth may only be known at the end of it! In order to know the facts and in order to render our own personal feelings we must demand that a fellow law enforcement officer gets his day in court under the same standard of due process that we would demand for ourselves if we were unfortunate enough to be in his circumstance.
That includes the knowledge that FACTS today are still only “allegations” and that the Sheriff retains the presumption of innocence TODAY and every day until he is guilty in a court of law!

GULLIBLE OR CULPABLE, DEAL WITH IT: We must know if Sheriff Carona was “felony gullible” or “felony culpable.” IF the Sheriff of Orange County has a higher standard of conduct expected of him then only the highest standard of jurisprudence should be used to adjudicate him. Mike Carona came in as Sheriff and gets to go out with his boots on. There cannot be any rush to judgement in this case. It must be done right. Step-by-step. No short-cuts. No compromises. No opinion polls or votes of no confidence. Nope. Even a cop gets his day in court. And an elected Sheriff is still a cop. Deal with it! The Sheriff decided today to continue on as Sheriff while he goes through the judicial process. He doesn’t need to ask for a presumption of innocence — he is entitled to it and he gets it as a birthright under the Constitution of the United States of America!

EXECUTIVE DECISION: It isn’t the first decision he has had the exclusive authority to make and it will not now be his last. A resignation, at this point, will do little to make the pain or the disappointment go away and it certainly will not do anything to quiet anti-law enforcement types who will attempt to paint all of us with the same brush stroke. A courtroom trial would do much more to separate one’s personal conduct away from an entire agency’s reputation. If the Sheriff decides to have his guilt determined by a jury of his peers he absolutely has that right to do so and we, as cops should treat his right to due process under law as if it was our own. Through our oath of office, it is in many ways. Then and ONLY THEN will we know IF a fellow cop failed our law enforcement profession.

ONE OF US: Until a verdict is rendered against Mike Carona, he is still one of us and he should be treated as such. At the end of his press conference today, Sheriff Carona said he was going back to work. It won’t hurt anything if we all did as well!

[costa mesa]

Sadly, the real victory here goes to George Jaramillo. He plea-bargains for a lighter sentence and he gets even with Carona for firing him. Even in the unlikely event Carona does not get a single conviction out of this indictment, he ruined politically. Which is what Jaramillo set out to accomplish. Pigs shouldn't be rewarded. Ever!

[Thinstar dimming]

Rich White Guy, aka THINSTAR: High Standard For Law Enforcement - YES.......Except For Sheriff Carona.

Thinstar seems to have forgotten his "Counterpoints" agruement he made against Steven Greenhut date November 21, 2005, concerning police abuse.

Let us recount some of Thinstar's then comments regarding Law Enforcement Higher Standards:

"At the end of the day what truly matters is what the judges and juries have to say after a complete review of all the facts and evidence underlying any particular incident."

"Police departments sort through hundreds of applicants in order to find one recruit to hire. This means that these applicants must meet high standards of ethical conduct before they even get hired."

".......the new police officer now must meet the ethical standard daily. This is because the standard of ethical conduct is a career-long journey that transcends professional work and includes personal life, as well."

"......police departments examine the personal and professional conduct of each member of the department on a continuous basis"

"I think that police officers are held to a higher standard and we do face extra punishments because of our positions as police officers."

Stand By Your Man Loretta Lynn.....errrr....Sarge. Happy 2-year anniversary.....I can't wait for your 2009 flip!

[bored with blogs]

Jubal,

You misunderstand my boredom. I guess I'd rather have folks watching the news sources for information, rather than each other.

Such is why newspaper and reporters will continue to exist when people tire of the repetitive, anonymous blogs that end up ultimately controlled by two or three people with little better to do than post three-page opinions.

[bwb]

Hey, Rich White Guy - He is getting the same treatment as everyone else. Most are presumed guilty and the press clamors and most are guilty.

John @ 1:11. Why is someone's sexual orientation an issue? I would rather have a qualified openly gay person (if that is even the case) run the sheriff department, than a heterosexual obsessive like Carona

You should be banned...

[Busfreak]

John @ 1:11. I am Red but that sort of comment is the type of stuff that is leading me to whatever shade red is when mixed with blue. I don't have a problem that you feel that way but take those feelings to the ballot box, don't post here. It is a matter of fact that there are many openly gay individuals serving us in many public capacities and those that I know perform above the norm, not below.

Jubal, please watch these types of posts, there have been a few on this subject. Maybe I am an outcast but it takes away from the good back and forth.

[Station 18]

Why are gays and gay supporters so damn intolerant??? Take the joker who wants to ban a poster because s/he dares to voice HER/HIS OPINION. That joker poster's intolerant as hell!!! In contrast, gays and their lackeys are so damn insistent that everyone else be tolerant of their agenda. What a freaking joke they are!!!

Busfreak,

Please stop the bully business. We are all blog commenters, don't take yourself so seriously.

People have different values. I, for one, hold traditional values which do not include accepting an openly gay sheriff (if in fact that is the case). As much as some would like to make conservative OC more like liberal SF, many more will resist.

If someone wants to run for office in this county as an openly gay person let them. They will lose because the majority of traditional voters will not accept that lifestyle. For our elected officials to select this person as acting sheriff is a slap in the face to conservative voters.

[History Lesson]

Does anyone remember J. Edgar Hoover's sexual preference?

[es]

Galisky deserves our support. She has risen through the ranks and has been devoted to the Sheriff's Department and Orange County. Kudo's to Carona for cleaning own house and drawing from the Department to build the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

[Disgusted in the OC]

Mike Carona has been a stand up guy. He has taken so much of his time to do so much good, not just for the Department but also for many different causes and it is a shame to see a good man tarnished by the slimy workings of Jaramillo and his accomplices and the stupid Feds who believe Jaramillo's intricate web of lies.

ES,

"Kudo's to Carona for cleaning own house and drawing from the Department to build the Orange County Sheriff's Department."

LOL

[RWG]

Headlights "ON" Rally: Fri 11/9/07 7am to 9am as you drive in the OC.

Show your support for OUR SHERIFF - Sheriff Michael Carona!

Please tell your friends and neighbors.

RWG,

yeah, i will tell all my friends and neighbors that i support a scumbag that stole money from the widow of a deputy and encourage them to join me i that support. that is about the most foolish idea i have ever heard.

[Orangeman]

The state AG should be contacted and brought in on this corruption case. He can take charge of this department and make sure it is run correctly.

CALIFORNIA CODES GOVERNMENT CODE
12560. The Attorney General has direct supervision over the sheriffs of the several counties of the State, and may require of them written reports concerning the investigation, detection and punishment of crime in their respective jurisdictions. Whenever he deems it necessary in the public interest he shall direct the activities of any sheriff relative to the investigation or detection of crime within the jurisdiction of the sheriff, and he may direct the service of subpenas, warrants of arrest, or other processes of court in connection therewith.

12561. Whenever he deems it necessary in the public interest, the Attorney General may appoint some competent person to perform the duties of sheriff with respect to the investigation or detection of a particular crime and cause the arrest of persons in connection therewith. Any person so appointed has all the powers of a sheriff with respect to the particular matter.

[citizen]

Orangeman,
This is a FEDERAL CASE not a state case. The sheriff's department isn't doing the invesigation on it. I'm not an attorney and even I can figure this out after reading this two sections. Good try though.

Citizen,

When punching in your answer you should have stopped at "I'm not an attorney" and deleted your useless comment. There is sure enough a federal case against Carona. That said, the world goes on. If the AG (Jerry Brown) wanted to get involved there is nothing stopping him.

[Galisky was qutoa promoted]

Found this posted over at OC Weekly. Good points, all:

So Jo Ann Galisky is going to run the Sheriffs Department. Isn't she the one who told Moxley that Sargent Joseph Balciki hated him after Moxley did a critical article on him and seemed to take pride in that declaration?

Isn't Jo Ann Galisky the one who was uplifted to the ranks of Lieutenant, Captain, Assistant Sheriff and Under Sheriff by Carona in a time span that normally takes others 20 or more years to reach along with having an advanced college degree?

One has to wonder what Galisky did for Carona to deserve such a degree of rapid promotion based on her high school diploma being the only educational certificate she can hang on a wall.

[Galisky was qutoa promoted NOT!]

Galisky's talents were recognized long before Carona took office. She worked for me in the jail and patrol and her record speaks for itself. She is loyal to the department, fellow deputies and civilian personnel. She is also very humble. You don't need a master's degree to be intelligent and have integrity. Even Kemmis, who was a stickler on education and very hard to please, was blown away by her abilities. She has a solid reputation. I'm very proud to work for her.

[Carona's Mouth Piece]

After visiting the OC Sheriff Blog it appears that Galisky was put into her position of acting sheriff to act as Carona's cheerleader/mouth piece. By the look of the blog entries, he must be dictating or faxing them from home and having her enter them under her name.

blog.ocsd.org

[Station 18]

Dear Whomever:

Your:

"Galisky's talents were recognized long before Carona took office. She worked for me in the jail and patrol and her record speaks for itself. She is loyal to the department, fellow deputies and civilian personnel. She is also very humble. You don't need a master's degree to be intelligent and have integrity. Even Kemmis, who was a stickler on education and very hard to please, was blown away by her abilities. She has a solid reputation. I'm very proud to work for her."

is telling. What in God's name makes you think you're even remotely qualified to assess talent???