LA County sheriff candidate Eli Vera claims retaliation after announcing his bid for office

[ripcord]

https://abc7.com/los-angeles-county-sheriff-alex-villanueva-department-eli-vera/11007152/

Eli Vera is a candidate for Los Angeles County sheriff. He says he was once part of Sheriff Alex Villanueva's inner circle and was actually promoted when he took office. Now he says Villanueva demoted him because he decided to run for sheriff himself.

"The sheriff hasn't spoken to me directly in about nine months. His reason by the second in command was he could not have someone at the chief level running for office and serving as an advisor," says Vera.

Legal expert Jessica Levinson, who is a professor at Loyola Law School, says sheriff's personnel have civil service protection.

"I think this has become mostly an ethical issue, a political issue, and potentially a legal issue if it can be proven that in fact someone in the sheriff's department was demoted as a result of running against the sheriff," says Levinson.

The sheriff's department issued a statement saying, "The allegations of retaliation lack merit. Although we will not comment on personnel matters, the law is firmly established that at will employees, in particular those who serve as confidential advisors to an elected leader, cannot oppose him/her politically and keep their advisory position. The Sheriff has the right to remove senior level advisors whose views do not align with his own agenda. Who has ever heard of a cabinet secretary running a negative campaign against the president who appointed them?"

I don't think I have ever heard the law the Sheriff's spokesman is referring to.

[ColinC]

1. Hopefully McDonell runs again

We need the adults back in charge.

[MagickMuffin]

2. California is "a right to work state" I didn't know that, but don't enforcers belong to a union?

It would seem the union would stay neutral and can't take sides.

[ripcord]

3. It falls under civil service protections

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Did I Miss Something?

I didn't see "right to work" in the article.
I saw "at will" but that's very different than RTW.
Did you see something I skimmed past?

[MagickMuffin]

5. You are correct, Professor

Still too early for my sleepy brain!

[Mopar151]

6. Command positions are generally excluded from the bargaining unit.

In a "right to work" state, the union may be obligated to defend those (within the bargaining unit) who "opt-out" of paying their dues.