Laguna Woods Vilage, CA - Last night, the Laguna Woods Resident’s Voice, a group of community activists, hosted an unusual Town Hall Meeting  featuring Orange County Sheriff's candidate Lt. Bill Hunt. Unusual in many respects: The Resident’s Voice has been holding its meetings on Thursdays for years. For some unexplained reason, according to the Residents Voice founder Pamela Grunke, Thursdays are not longer available for the Residents Voice, and fees have increased some 300%, but apparently the fees have remained the same for others groups and or clubs – go figure! - but then again, this may be the reason Lt. Hunt was invited to speak.

So when a typical Resident’s Voice meeting is at or near capacity, that is at around 400, last night's attendance was a respectable 80 or so passionate, angry mob of well-attired seniors. Those in attendance did not hold any punches and grilled the Lt. on everything from his stance on the controversial Orange County's concealed weapons policy (CCW), to the difference between a police department and the Sheriff's department, to how to hold law enforcement personnel accountable  and whether it is customary for the Sheriff’s department to take the side of the local governance and ignore residents. 

Certainly a study in contrasts:

Roughly  one year ago, the then recently-minted Sheriff Hutchens stopped by Laguna Woods for a Town Hall meeting. At that time, when residents asked about the Orange County Sheriff’s Department culture,  “Sheriff Hutchins waffled and didn't answer. She said they had to discover and identify what the culture was/would be. They need to decide what their core values are. Service and Integrity to all was identified. She said there had to be a change and they had to identify how. There will be dialogue and they will meet in small groups; sharing vision so that they will all shape it together. In other words, they aren't anywhere near finding an answer.”, said a Laguna Woods resident in attendance at that time. Sheriff Hutchens was then asked about why resident complaints had been ignored, and she responded  "I don't know. The Lt (griffin) or Capt. responsible for the area it was given to I'm sure they are looking in to them. She went on about how responsive the Lts. and Capts. are and how eager they are to work with people and how she's sure they will be responsive. I couldn't get close enough to her at the end of the meeting to tell her about Lt. Griffin doing the disappearing act. She's deep in Egypt about her staff and their responses and willingness to work with the public”, the resident added.

Then there is resident Paul Loughrey, who talked about embezzlement and how he went to the OCSD  to file a complaint about destruction of property but was told it was a personal and civil matter and sheriff’s personnel would not even take a report. Mr. Loughrey then went to the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA’s) office and was told the same thing. So he asked Sheriff Hutchens about resident’s right as compared to the management company which seems to get away with almost anything, even breaking the law, he said. The Sheriff’s response: "It's a civil matter and the only recourse residents have is to sue. The frustration and anger was palpable in the room. People had tears in their eyes. Corky Ely next stood up and talked about how they had sold our property and asked about why the State of Ca doesn't enforce their own laws...she explained that the problem with suing is that residents have to pay both sides of the bills!”, a resident in attendance said. He then added.  “The Sheriff said she recognized the frustration (big help, that) but relief must be gotten through civil process and perhaps we should try the legislative process...seek legislative remedy.  Basically, and in a nutshell, everything she said boiled down to: If the DA won't prosecute a complaint, the OCSD won't respond since they know nothing will be done”

Lt Hunt offered a significantly different perspective last night:

On the CCW issue, he said the issue was simple: A law-abiding citizen has the right to get a CCW permit and he or she would geti it unders his watch - that response drew a loud applause..

After some ½ dozen questions addressed to Lt. Hunt, a pattern started to emerge, where the OCSD was described as being unresponsive to resident’s needs and in some cases allegedly aided and abetted by local governance to stifle dissidence, according to the questions asked. When asked what he would do, Lt. Hunt was as clear and to the point as was the case in responding to the CCW issue: “How many of you are willing to denounce corruption even if that means losing your job? I did that and was fired for it. Our country was founded by dissidents. You must continue to be the squeaky wheel. The Sheriff’s department is not supposed to take sides.” Residents then described a pattern of intimidation by OCSD deputies, alleged multimillion-dollar fraud and OCSD investigators not returning calls and a general lack of response and respect from the department, for instance

Lt. Hunt told the audience that ultimately residents are the ones who determine whether law enforcement is held accountable or not. There is a contract with the city and the county.  Attend board meetings, attend city council meetings and board of supervisor meetings.  If people do not listen, go all the way to the top, Lt. Hunt suggested.

Lt. Hunt speculated that this happens in law enforcement when personnel are more interested in pleasing the boss than the residents, and when the boss is oblivious to resident’s needs and do not use the right metrics to hold personnel accountable. They (management) have the data, they know what is going before you do.....management needs to have caseload resolution targets and use metrics to hold personnel accountable, Lt. Hunt said.

When asked what he thought about how Lt. Hunt's visit was received, a resident said "VERY well received. The questions asked got better as it went along and that demonstrates people’s interest and support. The information about security not being able to remove a person for speaking during meetings was particularly welcome. People are tired of secrecy and stonewalling at all levels and he talked about open communication, action for the people instead of the politics of the sheriff and personal responsibility and holding the department members responsible"

The Lt. was his energetic self,  his responses were to the point and atypical political-speak.  A calibrated town hall meeting may conclude that the two leading candidates for Sheriff in 2010, under similar conditions, with the similar crowd and similar questions, scored significantly different with the audience.. Indeed a study in contrasts.