Merced County Sheriff alleges ‘veiled threat’ made by county supervisor toward deputy
During a Merced County Board of Supervisors meeting this week, Sheriff Vern Warnke accused a county supervisor of making a “veiled threat” against one of the deputies.
Speaking during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting, Warnke said about a month ago one of his deputies who also serves as a mayor pro tem in a Merced County city had a negative phone interaction with a member of the Board of Supervisors.
Warnke said the supervisor called the deputy while he was on-duty, saying, “he might want to resign his position on the city council so he doesn’t get in trouble on his job.”
Warnke said the supervisor also mentioned the deputy is facing a recall on his city council seat.
“Two things happened that day. He was called on duty, and then he was informed by a veiled threat that he could get in trouble at the job,” Warnke said.
“I want you to know that deputy sheriff is an outstanding individual. His character is above reproach. I want you know when it comes to my office, I am not going to stand around and let it dwindle. I am not. But I want you to know I have taken notice of it, and I expect nothing like this will happen again …It is not going to be tolerated in the future.”
During his presentation Warnke did not identify the deputy — nor the supervisor who was allegedly involved — by name. The Sun-Star reached out to Warnke for comment but he did not respond.
Other than Supervisor Daron McDaniel thanking Warnke after he spoke, the Board of Supervisors did not comment on the Sheriff’s statement.
Warnke said Merced County counsel later wrote an opinion on the issue, which Warnke said he disagreed with. The Sun-Star has filed a Public Records Act request with Merced County in order to obtain counsel’s opinion on the matter.
Sheriff’s complaint appears connected to Livingston recall
The Merced County Sheriff’s Department has three deputies who are holding seats on area city councils, but the politics of those offices rarely spill over into their law enforcement roles.
But only the City of Livingston’s Mayor Pro-Tem Raul Garcia carries the title of deputy sheriff and is also the subject of a recall.
Garcia, along with Mayor Juan Aguilar, Councilmember Gagandeep Kang and Councilmember Maria Soto, are each facing a recall effort in Livingston spurred by a committee of residents disenchanted with the elected officials’ use of office.
Garcia did not respond to calls from the Sun-Star to confirm whether the incident concerned the recall in Livingston.
Recall paperwork was officially filed with the city about a month ago in late May. Garcia, Aguilar and Kang were served recall notices first, while Soto was given notice at the June 15 council meeting by a member of the committee.
Mayor Aguilar told the Sun-Star in a previous interview that he was unsure of what specific circumstances or grievances led to a recall, but that he is hopeful any complaints against himself and other council members will be resolved before the recall process gets as far as an election.
Just one member of the five-person city council is thus far excluded from the recall initiative.
“Gagandeep Kang, Juan Aguilar Jr., Raul Garcia and Maria Soto misuse their positions as city council members for personal gain,” said a recall committee statement sent to the Sun-Star by Michael McGuire. “Council members and the mayor do not support the views of the majority of the residents in the city.”
“Council members and the mayor, on numerous occasions, have violated their oaths of office to the City of Livingston. They repeatedly have taken actions and made statements demonstrating blatant violations of the Brown Act. They have also repeatedly violated the Livingston City Council Code of Conduct.”
Livingston’s code of conduct was adopted this year after frustration between residents and the council became evident when a local couple accused Councilmember Kang of misconduct for allegedly making crude and sexual comments.
Although the couple said they supported the code of conduct, they were frustrated by the lack of action taken by the mayor and the rest of the city council to condemn Kang’s alleged behavior earlier.
