TANAKA CIRCLES SHARKS

There is blood in the water and sharks are circling.  For an easy kill?

But, hold on: these sharks aren't lying in wait for a king, a dictator or a president.  These sharks are all candidates for Sheriff and they are sniffing for the blood of Paul Tanaka.

Why?

What possible threat could Paul Tanaka be to them?

Paul Tanaka is also a candidate for County Sheriff - and therein lies the rub.  Perhaps the sharks believe he is a strong contender.  But why would they stand together to defeat him?  Where is the benefit?  Who stands to gain if two of these candidates merely help the third to get elected?

Or is there something a bit more that concerns them?  Are they supporting one another in the hopes that if one of them is elected - it doesn't matter who - all of them will survive?

As previous Sheriff Lee Baca announced his departure from office, he said that he was afraid of only one thing: "I'm only afraid of people who don't tell the truth."  It was meant as a self-exonerating statement to be sure, but perhaps it also serves as a warning to the servant who will follow him.

All of the seven candidates for Sheriff have years of experience in law enforcement.  The three most vocal of Tanaka's detractors have achieved high rank in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.  And what is the main theme of their complaint?  That Paul Tanaka allowed abuses in the system.

Well, okay; that sounds like a reasonable concern.  But haven't we heard this one before?

If memory serves, the recently retired Sheriff, 'Lee' Baca, leveled the same claims at his former boss and mentor, Sherman Block, when Baca challenged Block for his job.  And it took the Hand of God as well as Baca's Department Coup to end that Reign of Terror.

So if the 'new math' hasn't addled our brains and we have enough fingers and toes, we might be able to add up the number of years these allegations have been slung back and forth.

Sherman Block held the Sheriff's Department in a death grip for fifteen years and nine months while he arm-twisted tax payers into the highest salary ever given to an elected public official up to that time.  (Block's pay: $234,016.00 per year to President Clinton's $200,000.00 per year.)  And what did upstart Under Sheriff Baca accuse him of?  Civil Rights abuses by deputy sheriffs and unlawful beatings in the county jails.

Leroy David 'Lee' Baca wore the Sheriff's badge for sixteen years and two months and what was the reason for his ouster?  Civil Rights abuses by deputy sheriffs and unlawful beatings in the county jails.

Okay, so, we can figure this out if we add...nine plus two equals...then six plus five...carry the one...makes...  Thirty-one years and eleven months of abuses.  During those nearly thirty-two years (which eclipsed virtually the entire service of Paul Tanaka) senior officers in the Sheriff's Department failed - or refused - to 'clean up the mess' of civil rights abuses to citizens of Los Angeles County.

So...when do we start holding Tanaka responsible for the mess?  And where were these other 'high ranking deputies' during this time?  Why didn't they 'clean it up' or at least inform the public so that others might have 'cleaned it up'?

The brutal beatings of jail inmates has been documented at length and is not pleasant reading.  (It can be found in many places on the internet.)  To hear stories of abuses to non-incarcerated citizens you have only to ask a neighbor or a friend if you haven't had the pleasure yourself.  Every citizen in the county is barely two degrees of separation from the abuse.

So, where were these other high-ranking 'deputies' when all this was going on?  If Deputy Tanaka was supposed to stop such abuses, why didn't they?  "Well," they say, "we weren't in charge!"  But, then, neither was Paul Tanaka.

The truth of the matter is, no matter how much mud is slung, I won't know what the truth of the matter is.  I wasn't there wearing a badge when it happened.  I didn't see or experience any of it from behind a star.

But I do know that in Sheriff Baca's four terms, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department paid out millions of tax payer dollars to 'settle' law suits due to deputy abuses.  In fiscal year 2012-2013, we paid $37 million; in fiscal year 2013-14, we paid $43 million; and we are on track to pay $50 million in this fiscal year.

I also know that when Paul Tanaka was elevated to high rank, he was given the responsibility of managing the department's budget - which he did with distinction.  And he managed to maintain a balanced budget while he had that responsibility.

So why are his fellow officers attacking him?

Paul Tanaka has said repeatedly that his obligation lies first and foremost with the citizens of the county, the state and the country.  His job is to make the county safe enough for any citizen to walk any street at any hour of any day without fear of molestation - from the 'bad guys' or from law enforcement officers.  He has pledged to remove any officer who violates the public trust and/or who is incapable of maintaining that trust.

Given all of the publicity that the abuses of the Sheriff's Department has received, the citizens have a right to expect that the next person to receive their trust will actually put an end to these abuses.

Paul Tanaka has the trust and respect of his fellow citizens who elected him three times to be their mayor after he had served six years as their representative.  He was respected and trusted enough to be elevated to Under Sheriff and given the responsibility of the budget for the entire county-wide department.  Only time will tell if the next person we elect to be Sheriff will be a good public servant or not.  If that person fails us, voters need to be vigilant enough to remove him.

But as for now, I believe Paul's thirty-three years of public service in law enforcement and civic leadership have earned him a term wearing the Sheriff's badge.  Therefore, my dime is on Paul Tanaka for Los Angeles County Sheriff.  He has my trust and he has my vote.

And as for those other 'high-ranking officers' who did not stop the abuses but have joined their voices to oppose Paul?

Sharks always gather together for easy kills and left-over spoils.

Maybe the blood they smell in the water is their own.