SAN DIEGO COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Stirring Vote for Reform

Sheriff John Duffy’s arrogance indeed proved decisive as voters Tuesday named reform candidate Jim Roache his successor. How fitting that Duffy’s behavior, which stained county government for years, should finally be the catalyst for real change in law enforcement here.

And on the same day that voters were repudiating Duffy by rejecting his protege, Jack Drown, and establishing a civilian review board for his deputies, county supervisors were meeting in an attempt to further rein in the departing sheriff. The supervisors voted to sue Duffy over the fund of drug-forfeiture money he had spirited away in a secret bank account, and reaffirm their control over it.

Virtually silent for most of the campaign, Duffy just couldn’t stay out of trouble--and the headlines--long enough for Drown to take advantage of his absence. Duffy’s embarrassing final years in office were probably enough to sour voters on Drown, despite the latter’s desperate effort to persuade voters he would be his own man. For good measure, disclosure of the secret fund in the campaign’s final days almost certainly helped Roache into office by a comfortable 10-point margin.

Fed up with the jail beatings that Duffy had brooked for so long (and perhaps with the killing of Jeffrey Bray by a reserve sheriff’s deputy), voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition A, establishing a potent panel to review misconduct by county law enforcers.

Yes, voters defeated Proposition B, another reform measure that would have empowered the supervisors to take control of the jails by establishing a Department of Corrections. But voters may have been reluctant to add another department to the county bureaucracy, especially during an election when almost anything carrying a price tag was defeated. For proof, note that even the city of San Diego’s open-space bond, endorsed by just about every interest group in town, appears to have lost.

We don’t envy Roache, whose first tasks must be to restore public confidence in the Sheriff’s Department and re-establish cordial relations with the supervisors. He also faces the difficult chore of winning back the support of sheriff’s deputies, who were vocal in their support of his opponent. With Proposition B defeated, Roache has the opportunity to make changes in the jails as well.

Many observers have predicted that much improvement will occur simply when the door swings closed behind Duffy on Jan. 7. Apparently, the voters concur.