Supervisors Cannot Stop Sheriff from Closing Station in Altadena

[Updated] According to a spokesperson for Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the County Board of Supervisors cannot overturn Sheriff Alex Villanueva to close the substation in Altadena.

“The board is able to allocate the budget, but it is up to the Sheriff to manage it,” Barger told Pasadena Now.

Barger represents Altadena where the station is located.

Villanueva announced his decision to shutter the station on Monday. The station will close on July 1.

The Crescenta Valley station will fill the gap and cover Altadena. The announcement of the closure was met with immediate criticism on Pasadena Now’s Facebook page.

“This is not good news for the Altadena community,” wrote Julie Esnard. “The [deputies] were community oriented and my mom felt safe. She was disappointed to learn this.

Seems Altadena is always at the top of the cutting board for funding. I guess it’s because Altadena is unincorporated, the county ignores and Pasadena isn’t interested.”

Villanueva like the supervisors is an elected official and cannot be removed from his post without a recall.

He was elected in 2018 when he beat incumbent Jim McDonnell, becoming the first outsider to lead the department in a century. He soon came under fire for critics for hiring deputies formerly fired.

Hours after Monday’s announcement, Barger told Pasadena Now said she was “disappointed” in the decision.

“The Chief Executive Office has provided the Sheriff’s Department with guidance and suggestions for appropriate budget cuts that would not impact public safety or community service, such as limited overtime and scaling back academy classes.  I am disappointed that instead of more sensible adjustments, he is responding by eliminating sheriff’s stations, including in Altadena, an unincorporated area that I represent.”

Last week the two sides traded insults as they sparred over the department’s $3.5 billion budget.

According to supervisors, the county’s jail population has decreased by 5,000 inmates, yet Villanueva has not decreased the staffing in the county’s jails.

Supervisors also want Villanueva to further cut overtime.

Villanueva wants the board to release $143.7 million in funding for his department that had been transferred out — or “confiscated” according to the sheriff — last October.

“Since last year, the Sheriff’s Department has run a substantial deficit that the County is unable to maintain. These considerable fiscal issues, led predominantly by overtime costs and legal settlements, have become even more pronounced given the financial challenges we are experiencing during COVID-19,” Barger told Pasadena Now on Monday.

LA County Counsel Mary Wickham suggested Villanueva could be criminally charged with a misdemeanor for not taking steps to balance the budget. Villanueva said he was aware of crimes by public officials.

“I could go on for a long, long time about the long list of felony crimes and the consequences of them and they’re done by public officials,” the sheriff said. “It would be inappropriate to make that inference in any forum, much less in a budgetary debate, and so good luck with that if you’re going to scare me with the thing about a misdemeanor crime.”

The sheriff has publicly warned that withholding the funds could result in cuts to critical services and pointed to his department’s success in cutting overtime spending.

On Monday, Villanueva began those cuts, announcing the closure of the Altadena station and an additional one in Marina Del Rey.

“I remain committed to resourcing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to meet its core mission of ensuring public safety for our residents and I encourage the Sheriff to work with our CEO to identify more appropriate budget cuts that will not impact our communities,” Barger said.