According to Waggoner, “Because Mirkarimi was not sheriff at the time of the alleged misconduct, Lee’s suspension amounts to an abuse of discretion. We are a city and nation of laws, and there is a legal standard that must be followed. By suspending the Sheriff for conduct that occurred before he assumed office and is not directly related to his job duties, Mayor Lee failed to follow the law.”
Asked if a potential Board vote on whether suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi should be removed from office is “weighing heavily” on his mind, Mar told Fog City, “I really cannot make any comment about my former colleague, Ross Mirkarimi, but I’ll just say that I always will be a fair person that listens to all the evidence and does my best to be fair – and I know that is going to be a difficult decision.”
Lee, who had asked Mirkarimi to step down Monday or face suspension, announced his decision to suspend the Sheriff following Mirkarimi’s announcement that he would not resign. Mirkarimi now faces an Ethics Commission probe into whether his conviction rises to the level of official misconduct as defined in the city Charter, a finding that will be presented to the Board of Supervisors for a vote. Nine of eleven supervisors must vote in the affirmative to remove an elected public official from office.
Lopez is expected to tell the untold story of what happened on December 3 that led to an altercation between Lopez and her husband, an argument that resulted in Ms. Lopez sustaining a bruise on her right arm. Court documents paint a picture of a couple experiencing marriage difficulties with concerns over a possible divorce and child custody battle.
Calling the Sheriff “a national embarrassment,” Cathy Black, the executive director of Case De Las Madres, a shelter dedicated to victims of domestic violence, told a bevy of reporters gathered on the steps of City Hall, “I think it would be best for everybody involved if he would step aside. If Sheriff Mirkarimi will not do the right thing, then the mayor and the Board of Supervisors must.”
Per the definition of official misconduct under the city charter, “Official misconduct means any wrongful behavior by a public officer in relation to the duties of his or her office, willful in its character, including any failure, refusal or neglect of an officer to perform any duty enjoined on him or her by law, or conduct that falls below the standard of decency, good faith and right action impliedly required of all public officers and including any violation of a specific conflict of interest or governmental ethics law. When any City law provides that a violation of the law constitutes or is deemed official misconduct, the conduct is covered by this definition and may subject the person to discipline and/or removal from office.” (emphasis added).
Olague has long ties to the progressive community and was appointed by Mayor Ed Lee to the District 5 seat, one of the city’s most progressive, in January after Ross Mirkarimi was elected Sheriff. This week, she joined Sean Elsbernd, Carmen Chu, Scott Wiener, and Malia Cohen – all considered moderate/conservative supervisors – in supporting Sup. Mark Farrell’s proposal to replace RCV with runoff elections for the mayor’s race and other citywide offices.
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