The Santa Ana police union on Wednesday, Sept. 1 issued a “vote of no confidence” against Chief David Valentin, who has said he’s under “intense personal and political attack” from the union president.
The results showed that 54 % of 353 sworn and non-sworn personnel who cast ballots voted for the symbolic move against the chief, the Police Officers Association wrote in a news release.
The tally, overseen and tabulated by the union, included 187 employees who said they have “no confidence” in Valentin’s ability to lead the department, with another 157 voting in support of the chief, according to an officer present for the tally. Nine additional ballots were voided.
“An organization that has NO confidence in its leadership is severely limited in carrying out its mission,” union leaders wrote in a statement. “The police department’s men and women are highly trained competent professionals laboring under a misguided and ineffective administration.”
In a statement late Wednesday, Valentin wrote: “I will diligently and effectively continue to lead the dedicated women and men of this Department, in service to the 340,000 residents of Santa Ana. This unwarranted vote does not, and will not in any way, distract, disturb or deter me and the members of this Department from effectively delivering public safety services.”
The no-confidence vote tally comes during a conflict pitting the police chief against the president of the police union, with the chief putting the union president on administrative leave.
City officials are backing the police chief.
“Although I respect our officers’ opinions, and their right to collectively bargain for wages, benefits and workplace conditions, only the City Manager has the responsibility to decide who fills this essential public safety role,” Mayor Vicente Sarmiento wrote in an e-mail. “Police Chief Valentin has my full support and confidence.”
In an e-mail to the department Tuesday, Aug. 31, Valentin said that for three years he’s been under “intense personal and political attack primarily led by one employee.”
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Valentin was referring to Gerry Serrano, the president of the Police Officers Association, a powerful union in Santa Ana that’s helped back – and oppose – several political candidates. Last year, the union brought down a sitting councilwoman, Cecilia Iglesias, and spent at least $341,000 to lead a recall that ousted her from her position. Iglesias, a vocal critic of Serrano’s, previously voted against giving police $25 million in raises.
“This employee operates with impunity, disregard for any regulation or rule of law; and targets anyone that disagrees with their agenda or demands,” Valentin wrote.
The chief’s complaint echoes recent accusations by City Manager Kristine Ridge and other city officials who say that Serrano is more interested in representing his own interests and boosting his future pension.
“This is also principally about the employee’s personal pension dispute,” Valentin wrote.
City officials have said that Serrano tried to pressure them to give him another city job, one that would pay in the $240,000 range, on top of his union job, to spike his pension because much of his current pay doesn’t qualify toward his retirement. Serrano, a police sergeant who works full-time as the union president, said his annual salary is $242,000, though state records reported by Transparent California show he earned nearly $290,000, plus benefits, in 2019.
Led by Serrano, the union has filed several claims against police management. These include allegations of preferential treatment, discrimination against some female officers, an improper release of confidential personnel information and an accusation that Valentin and a deputy chief provided false information in an officer’s discipline case.
In the POA’s statement following the vote, union leaders cited complaints involving “workplace mistreatment, harassment, retaliation, favoritism, alleged criminal behavior and lack of leadership.”
In an interview last month, Valentin declined to discuss those claims. But then, and again in his letter to the department on Tuesday, he referred to “false, frivolous, harassing and retaliatory actions and claims.”
Valentin, a 31-year-veteran of the department, has been chief since February 2018. Prior to that he was interim chief for nine months and, in an earlier post, led the police department for the the Santa Ana Unified School District, which has its own force.
When Valentin was appointed as interim chief, Serrano described him as having “a genuine concern for our diverse community and is what our community and city need.”
But such niceties have evaporated as the union and management have clashed. By last month, Serrano was referring to both the police chief and other top city officials as engaging in misconduct and cover-ups.
On Wednesday, City Manager Ridge said “I’m confident that in the future, the truth about these misstatements will come out.”
Ridge said she was disappointed “that the POA president’s desire for personal financial gain and use of misinformation have led to a vote that is not in the best interest of our police officers.
“This vote is a union process that doesn’t result in any action by the City. I have complete faith in Chief Valentin’s leadership. I hope that we can move forward, heal the Santa Ana Police Department and focus on serving the residents of Santa Ana,” Ridge said.
Also disappointed was Officer Manny Delgadillo, a 26-year department veteran who supports the chief. He accused Serrano of working for himself and not the officers. “Everything he’s done he’s been grandstanding.”
While the union has held sway in local elections in recent years, that trend showed signs of cracking in the most recent City Council races, when none of the union’s preferred candidates won. Instead, voters chose young, progressive candidates who campaigned, in part, on the promise of creating some kind of independent police oversight commission. To that end, city officials recently held a virtual forum to learn what that police oversight could look like. Council members are expected to consider those findings this month.
In addition to pouring money into local elections, the Santa Ana police union was accused in 2016 of working to oust former Police Chief Carlos Rojas and then City Manager David Cavazos, according to court documents. In sworn depositions, council members echoed Rojas’ allegations against Serrano. In December 2018, the city settled a lawsuit with Rojas for $350,000.
