Merced County deputy ‘considering legal action’ after alleging intimidation by supervisor
A Merced County Sheriff’s deputy at the center of a dispute that troubled Sheriff Vern Warnke said he’s considering legal options after a Board of Supervisors member allegedly tried to intimidate him.
Deputy Raul Garcia, who also serves as mayor pro-tem on Livingston City Council, told the Sun-Star that concerns raised last week by Warnke during a Board of Supervisors meeting were in reference to himself and Supervisor Rodrigo Espinoza.
Espinoza’s District 1 oversees the City of Livingston, and he was previously that city’s mayor.
At the June 22 Board of Supervisors meeting, Warnke spoke during public comment, saying a member of the board made a “veiled threat” over the phone towards his deputy — while the deputy was on shift.
Warnke, without singling Garcia out by name, noted at the time that the deputy in question was facing a possible recall of his position as mayor pro-tem on a city council within Merced County.
Warnke also didn’t name the county supervisor during last week’s meeting, but the Sun-Star has confirmed through a Public Records Act request it was Espinoza.
Garcia spoke with the Sun-Star about the phone exchange between he and Espinoza, that caused Warnke to address the Board of Supervisors last week.
“It should be obvious that (the Sheriff) was referring to improper comments made to me by Supervisor Rodrigo Espinoza,” said in an email to the Sun-Star. “I am evaluating my legal options and best course of action against this blatantly unlawful attempt to intimidate and corrupt a public servant.”
Espinoza did not respond to attempts by the Sun-Star to reach him for comment.
What led to the conflict?
Garcia, along with two other Livingston City Council members and the mayor, are facing the early stages of a recall effort attempting to remove the elected officials from office before their terms officially expire.
During the call, Supervisor Espinoza allegedly advised the deputy to resign from the Livingston City Council so that he would not get in trouble with his job at the Sheriff’s Office, according to the description Warnke gave the board.
Warnke said such behavior would not be tolerated when it involves his office. “That deputy got hold of me thinking there was going to be some kind of ramification on his employment,” Warnke told the Sun-Star. “No single supervisor has any authority over a single employee in the county.”
Warnke said the deputy felt “bullied” by the interaction with the elected county official. He said he addressed the Board as a whole to let the county supervisors know that he was aware of the situation.
“I’m just not going to tolerate it,” Warnke told the Sun-Star. “I believe wholeheartedly that I was understood.”
Garcia told the Sun-Star that Warnke’s characterization of the events were accurate.
“As always I appreciate the Sheriff looking out for the people in our department, including me. I was surprised that he made a public comment, but glad that he did,” Garcia’s statement said.
Human Resources: No wrongdoing by Espinoza
The incident with Espinoza led Garcia to submit a verbal complaint with Merced County Human Resources on June 1.
The Sun-Star obtained a copy of the county’s response to the complaint via a Public Information Act Request. The written response said that Human Resources would not be taking any further action on the matter.
“As residents of Livingston, both you and Supervisor Espinoza are entitled to the First Amendment right of freedom of speech regarding issues related to the city,” the county’s response to Garcia said.
“Additionally, since Supervisor Espinoza is not your (direct) supervisor, nor within the chain of command in the Sheriff’s Office, this conversation had no impact upon your employment with Merced County, Human Resources will not be taking further action in this matter.”
The Sheriff told the Board of Supervisors last week that he disagreed with the county’s assessment of the situation.
Garcia too is not satisfied with Human Resource’s response being the conclusion of the conflict.
“While the County HR department didn’t think there was anything wrong with Supervisor Rodrigo Espinoza’s threats against my job, I am more interested in what a judge will think,” Garcia’s statement said.
