Early Days Will Be Key for Baca

Lee Baca has won the office of sheriff of Los Angeles County, but his celebrations are no doubt tempered by the fact that his 61% vote total came in opposition to a deceased incumbent, Sherman Block.

Baca’s main problem during his campaign wasn’t Sherman Block but rather his own confusion. He was conflicted over whether he really wanted to challenge his former mentor, and on the days he was sure that he did want the job he often couldn’t articulate why. That did not inspire confidence. Baca must now translate the popular support he garnered from the community into support from the law enforcement and county officials he’ll need to work closely with.

Baca’s first moves should be: making a strong and unsullied choice for undersheriff, the No. 2 post in the department; turning the county jail system into a smooth-running operation; making sure that the department doesn’t retreat from the gains made in curbing excessive force by deputies.

Credit Baca for this: He at least had the spine to run against a sheriff who everybody, deep down, knew should have retired rather than run for a fifth term. That leads us to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the cowards in this political melodrama. The supervisors lined up unanimously with Block. They knew that Block should not continue but looked the other way and played the old political game: Support yourself by supporting the incumbent. With Block’s ailing health and the serious departmental scandals exposed in his last term, county officials could have found plenty of good reasons to not jump onto Block’s bandwagon.

This election strayed from the script. Baca forced the runoff, and Block died days before the election. The supervisors finally realized the problem they had nurtured. In an undignified and transparent move after Block’s death, some even said that voters should “vote their conscience” and choose Block anyway, so the supervisors could select a more suitable successor than Baca. Too bad the supervisors themselves didn’t follow their consciences many months ago. In part because they didn’t, they now have to deal with a powerful county official who owes them nothing.

At least that part of the story is healthy for the county. The supervisors may actually begin to exercise greater oversight over the department through the budget, and Baca could put together a top-notch management team that would give Los Angeles County a better Sheriff’s Department, one that at the least doesn’t lose its prisoners.