O.C. union irks top cop

The acting sheriff of Orange County has gotten off to a rocky start in his relationship with the union that represents the county’s sheriff’s deputies.

Three weeks after the union disclosed that its members didn’t support Jack Anderson’s effort to become sheriff, it has challenged his proposal to pull deputies from county jails and replace them with lower-paid correctional officers.

The Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs sent a tersely worded letter to county Executive Officer Thomas Mauk, contending that labor laws prohibit such a change without a contract renegotiation -- a step the union is unwilling to take until the pact comes up for renewal in 2009.

Anderson has said he would like to hire the first lower-paid correctional officers within six months and begin the process of phasing deputies out of the county’s jails.

The acting sheriff sent a response to union General Manager Mark Nichols in which he said the correctional officer plan would save from $24 million to $34 million a year -- money that is needed to maintain public safety in the county.

Anderson encouraged the union “to work with us collaboratively in this endeavor.” The letter did not address whether the contract would need to be renegotiated.

Anderson said Wednesday that he had asked county lawyers to research whether he could make the change without negotiating a new contract. He said he was disappointed that the union was reluctant to immediately embrace the proposal.

“Think about it. What did they say? ‘We’re not willing to realize the savings of tens of millions of dollars to reinvest in public safety because we’re going to sit on our hands until 2009,’ ” Anderson said. “That’s not acting with the best interests of the residents of Orange County. It stands consistent with the way I’ve seen the union behave in the past.”

Nichols said the union was not necessarily opposed to hiring correctional officers, but that the plan should be studied thoroughly and implemented only after careful consideration.

He said Anderson gave no indication in a meeting with union executives this month that he would move forward with the plan so quickly and without the union’s support.

“If you sit down and tell us you’re going one direction, then you change that direction, you should tell us about it,” Nichols said. “I’ll have some concerns you can trust what he says.”

Anderson is among several candidates the Board of Supervisors is considering to fill out the remainder of former Sheriff Michael S. Carona’s term. Carona resigned in January while awaiting trial on federal charges that he used the power of his office to obtain tens of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts.

Union members support former Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Hunt, who ran an unsuccessful campaign against Carona in 2006 and then resigned instead of accepting a demotion in the election’s aftermath.

Nichols also questioned whether such a major change should be initiated by an interim sheriff instead of Carona’s permanent replacement.

Anderson said the proposed staffing switch in the jails was in its infancy. Department personnel are planning tours of jail facilities in counties that use correctional officers, he said. The move would require the approval of the Board of Supervisors. Several of them have already said they support Anderson’s proposal.

Supervisor Bill Campbell said he was so impressed with the idea that he probably would make it a requirement of the candidate he chose to replace Carona. The switch to correctional deputies would change the decades-old practice of sending new deputies to work the jails for several years before moving them to patrol or other assignments.

“I believe it’s beneficial for two principal reasons: It will save money for county taxpayers [and] allow people coming to work for the Sheriff’s Department to select their career path. They can either be law enforcement officers -- enforcing the laws in our streets and neighborhoods -- or they can be correctional officers.”

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stuart.pfeifer@latimes.com