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[Updated] The City Council’s Public Safety Committee will discuss the closure of the Altadena Sheriff’s substation and its impact on the Pasadena Police Department and possible actions by the committee and the City Council at its first meeting since the city declared a local emergency.
The virtual meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 13 at 4 p.m.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has faced mass criticism from Altadena residents after he announced plans to shutter the Altadena substation on July 1.
Pasadena has a longstanding MOU with Altadena and the department work together and sometimes enter each other’s jurisdictions.
The beleaguered sheriff is locked in a heated battle with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over the department’s budget, which is projected to have an $89 million deficit this year according the supervisors.
Last week the sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission (COC) unanimously voted to issue a subpoena compelling Villanueva to appear at its next meeting.
Villanueva no-showed a meeting of the COC, where officials hoped he would discuss plans to close the Altadena substation and other issues.
“After repeated requests for the Sheriff to attend our Commission meetings, no one from the department has shown up,” said Commission Chair Patti Giggans, Executive Director of Peace over Violence in a prepared statement, “The meetings now conducted virtually twice a month due to the critical COVID-19 crisis are very well attended by the public. We are in a pandemic which calls for more oversight, more collaboration, more input into policy, not less. The role of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission is a public mandate and one that every commissioner takes seriously.”
The COC received 400 letters prior to the meeting, including many regarding the Altadena substation.
The sheriff vehemently opposed the March ballot measure that gave the commission subpoena power, despite his opposition voters overwhelmingly approved it.
According to Barger, the supervisors were not consulted on Sheriff Villanueva’s decision and do not have the details of his proposed cuts.
“I was disheartened to learn that Sheriff Villanueva declined the request by the Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission to attend this morning’s meeting to discuss his proposed cuts, including the closure of the Altadena station. This was a missed opportunity to share critical information with the Commission and dialogue with the community which these cuts impact the most,” Barger wrote.
According to Barger, the total budget of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is $3.5 billion.
“Sheriff Villanueva’s assertion that his Department is underfunded by $400 million is unfounded and has not been validated by those entrusted with balancing the County’s total budget,” Barger said.
Despite not appearing, Villanueva has scheduled a virtual town hall meeting to discuss plans to shutter the station.
The meeting will be held at 2:45 p.m. on May 14.
To attend the public safety meeting, visit pasadena.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=9 during the meeting.
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*
The Altadena Town Council will hold a virtual meeting to discuss the matter from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. For more information on that event, visit altadenatowncouncil.org/county-of-la-sheriff-civilian-oversight-commission-town-hall-wednesday-5-13-6pm-8pm/
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