Sheriff ’s boys club
Re “Chief quit over ‘unheard of ’ demand from sheriff, she says,” July 19
What an obscene operation being run in the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department, and without controls.
Alicia Ault, who resigned after allegedly being told by then-incoming Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s chief of staff to rehire a deputy who had been fired for misconduct, should be promoted to sheriff and a major housecleaning performed.
The fact that Villanueva allegedly thought he could “clean records” of fired officers and have them reinstated before taking office, then proceed to hire many others previously fired, is a disgrace. But to turn around and then pay the fired officers hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money on top of it? Where are the sheriff ’s ethics and integrity?
Villanueva’s department sounds like a good ol’ boys club where the leaders are just watching out for their buddies. It is very unfortunate that the person who follows the rules has to resign since she doesn’t have the conscience to justify doing the wrongs she was allegedly instructed to do. Pam Lacey Tustin
Villanueva’s and his underlings’ actions eerily echo the self-dealing, corrupt White House under President Trump. Scary.
Young Summers Los Angeles Re “Exploiting asylum,” letters, July 19
I wonder how the letter writer from Santa Barbara who expressed support for President Trump’s new restrictions on asylum seekers would react if the mayor of Santa Barbara made it more difficult for all individuals who received parking tickets to dispute them because she believed that most didn’t have justifiable claims.
Regardless, self-serving arguments are fine for letters to the editor, but horrible (and ineffective) when used by the leader of a diverse country of more than 300 million people.
If unfounded asylum claims are presented, they should be rejected. If the system is overwhelmed, we should invest in it. We cannot, however, fix it by making it harder for people with legitimate claims to have those claims addressed. This only cultivates less trust in the system and causes more discord moving forward.
Or maybe the writer’s argument is that it should be harder to apply for asylum when it is not deserved, but easier to apply for it when it is? And they say liberals are “pie in the sky” types.
Brandon Hutchinson Duarte