Interesting Data Point

Next year is an election year for LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, and he's been increasing his public profile. He says of himself,

he is the first Spanish-speaking sheriff in the county. In 2018, retired sheriff’s lieutenant Villanueva defeated incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonell, becoming the first to unseat the incumbent in over 100 years. Sheriff Villanueva also became the first Democratic Sheriff in LA County in almost 140 years.

But he isn't that kind of Democrat. As sheriff, he's elected to countywide office independently of the county supervisors, and he's frequently been at odds with them, as well as the LA City mayor and council.

When L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva arrived in Venice earlier this month in a cowboy hat promising to clear its famous boardwalk of homeless people, he seemed to surprise just about everybody. After all, Venice is the LAPD’s jurisdiction.

Chief Michel Moore was among those caught off guard.

“I did not invite the sheriff into Venice Beach,” Moore told our newsroom. So he called his counterpart the day after his visit. “I asked him, ‘How can we work together? I want to talk to you as chief-to-sheriff.’”

Moore did not condemn Villanueva. After all, the sheriff has the authority to enforce laws anywhere in the county.

And in Venice, he is able to do what Moore cannot. As COVID-19 hit last year, the city council imposed a moratorium on the removal of tents housing homeless people during daytime hours. The idea was to limit the spread of the virus. That’s meant the LAPD has had a hands-off approach to encampments across the city.

. . . The sheriff says politicians have “handcuffed” the LAPD and that he had no choice but to deploy to Venice. “We’re taking action,” he said on his June 9 weekly Facebook live chat.

. . . Villanueva has taken a different approach from [the usual homeless services] groups by issuing an ultimatum: accept services, leave, or be arrested by July 4. He’s targeted people from out of state, whom he claims make up a “large” part of the population.

Indeed, Venice Beach was swept clean of the homeless, and there's now a recall move against the city councilman who opposed Villanueva's effort.

Now the sheriff has taken on the county's vaccine mandate for its employees:

The Los Angeles County Sheriff has put out a letter stating that his department will not be working with the company hired by Los Angeles County to enact a mandatory regime of COVID-19 testing and registration. That came after disturbing information arose on the background, policies, and connections of the firm hired to facilitate the program.

. . . Los Angeles County had previously mandated registration with Fulgent Genetics, citing it as part of a “vaccine passport” system applying to all public employees. As the second letter above indicates, threats of termination have followed that mandate. Yet, their own website warns that they “may store, process, and transmit personal information in locations around the world, including locations outside the country or jurisdiction where you are located.” Further, it encourages people to not register with Fulgent Genetics if they wish to avoid that happening.

All of this is a flagrant violation of federal law, the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which makes medical records confidential, especially as they relate to disclosure to an employer. Villanueva's point, though, is that firing sheriff's deputies is counterproductive no matter what, and local authorities across the country are taking this position over public safety and health care workers.

Villanueva seems to have sharp political instincts, and it appears that he's so far been successful in reflecting the actual concerns of an increasingly Republican Latin base, even thnough he's a nominal Democrat.