Mayor Disputes Sheriff’s Denial Of Cronyism: ‘I Don’t Know What He Means By That’
Written by 991KBU on March 5, 2020
Did the sheriff just publicly tell us a lie???
That’s the indication …. as Malibu’s mayor performs a bit of a fact check on Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Tuesday night … the sheriff addressed a community meeting in Calabasas … a community that included several Malibu officials who are not happy with the constant rotating door at the local sheriff’s command staff.
In response to a question from KBUU News … the sheriff said there were good reasons why he sacked Lt. James Royal … Lt Jennifer Seetoo and Capt Matthew Vander Horck from the command office at the Malibu Lost Hills station.
And the sheriff said this:
NEWSCART 75459 TH SHERIFF CRONYISM
“I can say that any decisions that we make is definitely not based on cronyism it’s based on facts on the ground.
“You may not be aware of all of them you have to have faith in your city leaders, your city leaders … city manager and your City Council is well aware of them and understand the reasons we take moving forward.”
Not so … says Malibu Mayor Karen Farrer.
She fired off a two sentence e-mail comment to the sheriff … voiced here by a KBUU reporter.
NEWSCART 75460 FARRER STATEMENT
“I don’t know what he means by that.
“I don’t have any information other than what the public has.”
That squares with what other city council members and the city manager have told KBUU News.
The sheriff has not consulted with the city whatsoever on changes at what is in effect the city’s police department … Malibu pays 8 million dollars a year for sheriff’s services …
The other four nearby cities add in another 17 million dollars … and they are also unhappy about the constant uncertainty at the Malibu Lost Hills station.
City managers and mayors from the five cities will be convening an interview panel once again … as early as next week … to question the candidates presented by the sheriff for the Malibu Lost Hills command job.
They did this just a half year ago … but the guy they selected got yanked by the sheriff after one of his political associates … Cece Woods … complained.
The definition of the word “crony” is friend or companion.
Woods has worked on Villanueva’s political campaigns.
And made no secret of her friendship with the sheriff.
And while she may have been made aware of why those three commanders were removed from Malibu over the last 15 months … the Malibu city government most certainly was not.
No matter what the sheriff said Tuesday in Calabasas.
