3 Block Challengers Trade Barbs at Forum

Three candidates trying to unseat Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block in the June election traded barbs at a forum in Cerritos on Wednesday night as Block met with about 200 people at a community meeting at a San Pedro Masonic lodge.

It was the second time in about a month that Block, citing prior commitments, failed to face his challengers in forums sponsored by the deputies union.

However, the sheriff--who is embroiled in the toughest reelection campaign of his career--is set to meet his three opponents at several forums in May, including a Century Cable gathering on May 8 and a debate sponsored by the Los Angeles Women Prosecutors Assn. on May 18.

Block’s opponents--sheriff’s Chief Lee Baca, 50; retired Chief Bill Baker, 60, and Sgt. Patrick Gomez, 40--urged about 50 residents and deputies to replace the 73-year-old incumbent in June.

“I’m saying it is time for a change,” said Baker. “To support Sherman Block or his clone, Lee Baca, will not bring you change.”

Baca, who has worked with the sheriff for years in a management position, denied he was a carbon copy of Block. But Baca said he had learned a lot under his boss and would put that knowledge to good use.

Lee said there is “only one candidate that Sherman Block is afraid of and that is me.” Lee said he has the most management training of the three challengers.

Playing on the fact he is the youngest candidate, Gomez said he would be out in the field more often than the others to see what is going on.

“I think we need a sheriff who is going to be actively involved with the department and the community,” said Gomez.

*

This year’s election marks the first time in Block’s career as sheriff that he has faced significant opposition. If no one wins a majority of the vote in June, there will be a runoff in November between the two top vote-getters.

Department insiders question whether Block, who has overcome two bouts with cancer and now suffers from kidney failure, is physically up to the demands of his job.

On Wednesday evening, Block made no reference to his health, instead giving a short speech to about 40 school children, half of whom were there to receive academic achievement awards from the Los Angeles Harbor Masonic Lodge.

“We have problems that need to be solved. We have poverty rampant in many parts of the world. We have senseless violence, a staggering crime rate. We have cities in decay that need to be reconstructed and revitalized,” Block said. “I can go on and on. . . .

“Solving the problems will not be easy, but we cannot solve anything by belittling others or even ourselves,” he said. “We can do it by hard work and by faith.”

His three opponents met for 90 minutes Wednesday, using ground rules that did not permit rebuttal. Instead, each candidate made a short statement, then fielded four questions from the union that the trio had previously screened, and answered several new queries from the audience.

The event was sponsored by the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, which represents the department’s rank-and-file deputies. The group will vote later this month on which candidate to endorse.