Duffy Touches Off a Royal Dispute by Boycotting Vista Jail Ceremony

A routine dedication ceremony for the newly expanded County Jail in Vista triggered a political spat Monday when Sheriff John Duffy, calling Supervisor Susan Golding “her royal highness,” refused to participate or provide refreshments for an event he called “foolish, petty and a waste of taxpayer dollars and county time.”

In a letter to the county’s chief administrative officer, Duffy noted that he already hosted an opening ceremony last month.

“It appears that Her Royal Highness is miffed at missing an additional photo opportunity or chance to drop a quotable quote for the media. Well, too bad, but we don’t intend to waste our time and money,” stated Duffy’s letter, which also was sent to the local media.

Fifth District Supervisor John MacDonald, in whose district the jail is situated, said of Duffy’s letter, “I thought it was childish and unprofessional. . . . This really exemplifies the division between the Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Duffy. We should be working as a team.”

Asked Monday morning whether county officials intend to proceed without the sheriff’s blessing, county spokesman Bob Lerner said, “I don’t see why not. It’s our jail.” Lerner added that he considers Duffy’s action “nothing short of bizarre” and said there would be no official county response to the letter.

True to the sheriff’s order, employees of jail and the adjacent sheriff’s station boycotted Monday afternoon’s brief ceremony in the jail’s parking lot. Instead, they watched from behind the jail’s tinted windows.

Details of Letter From Duffy

Part of Duffy’s objection to the ceremony was based on his belief that jail personnel had been asked to provide refreshments and tours, which Lerner denied. In the letter, Duffy stated: “You and the Board can do whatever you want outside, but there will be no public or press tours of the jail because I don’t want our operations disrupted.”

The letter continued: “Of course, we can accommodate any supervisor who wants to tour any jail at any time. It would be helpful if they spent more time learning about jail conditions that adversely affect public safety, our employees and the inmates, instead of grandstanding for the media.”

Sheriff’s Department Lt. Liz Foster said Duffy’s reaction was prompted by a July 19 memo from Chief Administrative Officer Norman Hickey, in which Hickey told Duffy that all future dedication ceremonies at county facilities will be organized by the county administrative officer and cleared through the Board of Supervisors.

Duffy apparently took Hickey’s memo personally, interpreting it to be a slap on the hand for organizing the initial jail-dedication ceremony on his own, Foster said, adding, “He’s sure it’s a result of certain board members not being present at the last dedication and missing out.”

Written at Golding’s Behest?

Foster also said unnamed sources indicated that Hickey wrote the memo at the direction of Susan Golding. “The memo was basically another attempt by the county supervisors to dictate the moves of an elected official,” Foster said.

Golding, before Monday’s ceremony, said she had no knowledge of any such memo sent from Hickey’s office to the sheriff and had not requested that it be written. Hickey was in the hospital Monday recovering from back surgery and was unavailable for comment.

Golding said the dedication ceremony had been organized by the county administrator’s office and was standard procedure for any county-funded project. “The members of this board have worked very hard to do whatever we could to build the jail facilities,” she said. “It’s really a shame (Duffy) could possibly ruin this.”

Asked about Duffy’s characterization of her as “Her Royal Highness,” Golding shrugged and said, “It’s better than some other names.”

Several of those present at the ceremony called for happier relations among the branches of local government, and some suggested that the jail project might have gone smoother with Duffy’s cooperation.

‘We’re All in This Together’

“We’re all in this together, and we need to work together to find an answer,” said 1st District Supervisor Brian Bilbray. San Diego Superior Court Presiding Judge Michael Greer said the county board of supervisors, the county administrator’s office and the court system had forged a “tremendous” team to get the jail completed, but added that “something’s missing in the teamwork.”

Greer indicated that the empty jail looming behind him was not yet occupied by inmates only because lack of teamwork on the part of the Sheriff’s Department had caused a shortage of trained personnel.

Capt. James Marmack disputed Greer’s remarks, saying the entire jail opening had been delayed two months because of many small, unavoidable construction delays, not because of any lack of readiness on the part of the Sheriff’s Department. “Even if I had additional staff here today, we couldn’t be any further along,” Marmack said.