L.A. Sheriff’s Veteran Enters Race in O.C.

A 32-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is the second candidate to declare that he’ll take on Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona next year.

Sheriff’s Commander Ralph W. Martin, who heads a patrol division overseeing about 2,000 employees, has not previously sought elected office.

“I just want the voters in Orange County to have a professional choice,” said Martin, 53, who lives with his wife and family in the unincorporated south Orange County community of Coto de Caza. “I don’t have all the answers, but I have 32 years, and I know what’s right and I know what’s wrong.”

Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. William J. Hunt, who supervises the department’s San Clemente station, also has announced his candidacy. All three are Republican, though the office is nonpartisan.

Hunt, 42, said Martin’s entry into the race further reflects a dissatisfaction with Carona’s leadership, which he said has tarnished the department’s reputation.

“I’m hearing an echo here,” Hunt said, referring to Martin’s reasons for running. “Law enforcement is not satisfied with the leadership of this sheriff. The corruption, controversy and scandal has given the department a bad name. We need to restore the integrity, and put public safety before politics.... Having another credible law enforcement officer in the race, talking about the problems, isn’t going to hurt things at all.”

Carona, 49, has declined to comment directly about campaign challengers in next year’s race. He said he is running for a third term because he has “much to accomplish” in another term and is proud of the department’s record during his tenure.

The department has been buffeted in the last two years by Carona’s affiliation with former Assistant Sheriffs George Jaramillo and Don Haidl, two campaign confidants who were members of the sheriff’s inner circle until last year, when both left under adverse circumstances.

Jaramillo was fired in March 2004 and subsequently arrested on charges of public corruption. He has pleaded not guilty in the case, and has sued the county to get his job back. Haidl resigned last fall to focus on the high-profile trial of his son, who was later convicted of sexual assault.

Carona also has been fighting with the state’s Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training over deputizing 86 political allies, friends, professionals and others before they were fully trained or underwent background checks. The commission later removed those reserves from the state’s peace officer database. Carona allowed most of them to keep their badges, and is challenging the commission’s decision in an effort to have them reinstated.

Carona, long one of Orange County’s most popular elected officials, was elected in 1998 after a close race against Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters. He ran unopposed in 2002.

But adverse publicity surrounding Jaramillo and Haidl, as well as news that a political donor funneled excessive contributions to Carona’s campaign, have made the sheriff politically vulnerable, campaign observers say, attracting challengers who might have been reluctant to take on an incumbent.

“Someone ambitious will read the negative coverage and say the opportunity is there, I don’t need to wait four years,” said Jeff Flint, a public affairs consultant with offices in Anaheim and Sacramento. Flint said he spoke with Hunt several months ago about his campaign for sheriff when it appeared Carona would not seek reelection and run for lieutenant governor instead.

“I think they’re going to find out that Mike’s not as vulnerable as they think,” Flint said. However, having two challengers in the race would make it tougher for Carona to avoid a runoff election next year, he said.

A candidate must win 50% of the June vote or face a runoff in November with the next highest vote-getter.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who was elected at the same time as Carona in 1998, said last week he would endorse Carona for reelection next year, although he said Martin “is doing a terrific job here in L.A.”

Martin was promoted last year to commander overseeing a region that includes Compton, South-Central and West Hollywood, as well as security for the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

A Minnesota native, he said he aspired as a child to work in law enforcement. He began his career in 1973, working as a jail supervisor, gang investigator and homicide detective. He also was a driver for former L.A. County Sheriff Peter J. Pitchess and was the department’s spokesman on the Natalie Wood drowning in 1981.

More recently, Martin handled the suspensions of the 12 deputies who opened fire on an unarmed SUV driver in a Compton neighborhood. During the May 9 shooting, residents ducked for cover as 120 bullets were fired, some into homes.

If elected, Martin said, he would seek an independent audit of the Orange County department, spend more time with deputies in the field and consider restructuring and streamlining the command staff.

Martin moved to Coto de Caza eight years ago with his wife, Colleen, an optometrist in Montrose. They have six children, ages 12 to 28, and he enjoys gardening.