Mayor to Write Letter to Sheriff, Supervisors on Impact of Closing Altadena Station

Mayor Terry Tornek says he plans to reach out to Sheriff Alex Villanueva and express concern over a proposal to close the Altadena sheriff’s station.

Speaking at Wednesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting, Tornek proposed writing a letter that details his objections.

“We want to go on the record that the station is important to law enforcement in this area and the cooperation between the sheriff, the Sheriff’s deputies and the city PD is vital,” said Mayor Tornek. “We just want to reemphasize that we have a real stake in what happens at that station. So we’ll still send a letter to the supervisors and to the sheriff.”

Villanueva drew the ire of residents across the region after he announced last week that the Altadena and Marina Del Rey stations would be closed in July.

Tornek said the letter would still be written despite reports by Assemblyman Chris Holden that Villanueva had backed away from closing the station and a vote by the County Board of Supervisors to stop the sheriff.

On Wednesday, the embattled sheriff said stations themselves will not close — deputies will continue to report there to put on their gear and access their radio cars before patrolling the area — but the implication is the stations will not operate as robustly as previously.

Urgency over the situation grew when Villanueva was a no-show at a Civilian Oversight Commission meeting. That body responded by issuing a subpoena to compel the first-term Sheriff to appear at its next meeting.

The embattled Sheriff has been feuding with the LA County Board of Supervisors. Villanueva has not appeared at three consecutive meetings.

According Barger, who represents Altadena, the supervisors were not consulted on Sheriff Villanueva’s decision and were not provided with details of his proposed cuts. He noted that the budget of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department totals $3.5 billion.

On Monday, the Altadena Town Council (ATC) became the latest body of elected officials to voice its disapproval on the Villanueva’s decision.

In a two-page letter the ATC called on the embattled sheriff to rethink his decision.

“It is important that you respect our community’s extreme concern about your decision to close the station,” the letter reads. “Over the years, station captains and deputies have become valuable partners and a vital community resource in building relationships to keep our community safe.

“We feel that closing the station, and most certainly ending the critical collaboration, will jeopardize the public safety of our residents.”

According to the ATC, they have received numerous communications from concerned Altadena residents on the matter. The ATC is an advisory body to the supervisors and has no policy making power.

In its letter, the ATC asked Villanueva to work with Barger and the Los Angeles County CEO “to look at alternative solutions to address your budget shortfall and ensure the Altadena Sheriff’s station remain open with its existing level of support.”

“He wasn’t planning on eliminating patrol in the station’s service area. He was just saying that the deputies would administratively be assigned to a nearby station. I don’t think he was seriously talking about reducing patrol activities in that station’s sub-district. I think it was in a district function. This is an elaborate tug of war between sheriff and the supervisors,”

Villanueva is scheduled a virtual town hall meeting which will be held at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, May 14.

To register online for Sheriff Villanueva’s town hall meeting and join this meeting, visit: https://bit.ly/2zosKhg Meeting Number (access code): 963 265 148 Event Password: Altadena7*