Carona’s legacy: O.C.’s first female sheriff

Former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona can rest easy. His legacy won’t be determined solely by the outcome of the federal corruption case against him.

As of Tuesday morning, Carona also can lay claim to a huge role in the county’s getting its first female sheriff. He did it unwittingly, of course, but it’s hard to imagine how Sandra Hutchens would have become sheriff had Carona not run afoul of the federal government, which charged him with corruption, leading to his resignation in January.

Hutchens, 53, and a retired division chief with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, found the three votes she needed Tuesday from the Board of Supervisors and will take over, probably next week, to fill out Carona’s term. Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson sounds as if he has a future in a Hutchens regime, which might prove interesting because he’s made it clear he plans to run for the office in 2010 -- as does she.

“I see no reason not to keep Jack,” Hutchens said after the supervisors’ 3-2 vote to appoint her. “I think he’s done a great job.”

Administrators typically don’t keep potential rivals in their hierarchy, so the thought occurs that Anderson may want to mute the talk of running if he has plans to stay.

Anderson may mutter a silent curse every time someone mentions Carona’s name. For as much as Hutchens benefited from Carona’s fall from grace, Anderson paid for it.

The way this county operates, Anderson may well have been the GOP establishment choice in 2010. Apparently, there was an understanding that Carona wouldn’t run for a fourth term, and as a high-ranking member of the administration and a member of the county GOP’s Central Committee, Anderson was poised.

Carona’s downfall scotched all that. The supervisors realized a clean break from Carona’s management team was essential. No Carona scandal, no Hutchens candidacy.

And who knows? Maybe Carona took down longtime Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters too.

No supervisor said it aloud, but perhaps the three in the majority felt a completely fresh face was needed. All took pains to laud Walters, but Hutchens is the fresher face. And while there wasn’t even a hint that gender played a role, the supervisors surely were aware of the history they’d be making in appointing the county’s first female sheriff.

Not to stretch the “fresher face” argument, but the reasons that Supervisors Janet Nguyen, John Moorlach and Pat Bates cited in opting for Hutchens sounded just a step or two above a coin flip.

Nguyen, for example, called Walters a “phenomenal” police chief and said the differences between the two were hardly quantifiable.

Bates said it was the toughest choice she’s made in her 20-year public life and that it came down to Hutchens’ experience with city managers and law enforcement officials in the region, as well as her background as both a member of management and the deputies union.

Moorlach said her grasp of departmental issues, including knowledge of the courts and the county jail system, impressed him. Plus, he said, she won him over during public and private interviews with the supervisors and his own staff.

All of which puts Hutchens in the catbird seat. She inherits a damaged department, which means the only direction to go is up. Assuming she can avoid scandal and any palpable incompetence, being an incumbent sheriff historically gives her a giant advantage when the 2010 election rolls around.

At first blush, she exudes confidence and management style. She spoke easily with cameras in her face and appears to be one of those people comfortable with themselves.

Even when she told reporters, “Yes, there will be some housecleaning,” it didn’t sound vindictive or power-grabbing.

Rather, she sounds like someone the public will like.

Imagine how grateful she must be to Mike Carona for giving her the chance to shine.

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dana.parsons@latimes.com