Sheriff’s Lt. Hunt could be demoted

The lieutenant who took on Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona in this year’s heated primary election should be demoted for statements he made during the campaign and other allegedly unprofessional conduct, according to a letter he received Tuesday.

Lt. Bill Hunt, who has been suspended from his job as the sheriff’s chief of police services in San Clemente for more than four months, was summoned to department headquarters to pick up the Notice of Proposed Discipline.

He said the reasons listed in the 18-page letter included breaching professional ethics and criticizing orders. Under the proposal, he said, he would be busted to Deputy II, a position three levels below his current rank.

Hunt has 10 days to respond to the letter, which was signed by Capt. Tim Board, the department’s head of personnel. The Notice of Proposed Discipline is subject to the department’s grievance process.

Hunt had been bracing for this moment since he decided to take on his boss, knowing that such a political challenge could invite retribution if his campaign proved unsuccessful.

“At this point I have to talk to my attorney and evaluate my options and see how we’re going to proceed,” Hunt said, adding, “Who said being fired was the worst thing to prepare for?”

Sheriff’s officials declined to comment. Assistant Sheriff Jo Ann Galisky, in charge of media relations, said it would be against the Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights for the sheriff or other administrators to confirm or deny any action against Hunt or discuss personnel issues involving any sworn member of the department.

“It’s a violation of the law,” she said.

Hunt was suspended June 7, the day after he failed to unseat Carona in a highly charged primary race that divided the department.

Carona was backed by most area politicians but needed a second round of voting to win the endorsement of the local Republican Party. Hunt earned the support of rank-and-file deputies.

The sheriff, who needed a majority of the public’s vote to avoid a November runoff, received 50.9% while Hunt garnered 26.5%, with two other candidates trailing.

During the incendiary campaign, Hunt said Carona’s administration had been tarnished by a series of scandals including the misuse of badges by the sheriff’s political allies who had been appointed reserve deputies. He said he wanted to restore integrity to the department.

Martin Mayer, an attorney advising Carona, said at the time of Hunt’s suspension that Hunt was under investigation for “public statements, actions and accusations that went beyond those which are protected by the 1st Amendment and could subject him to adverse employment action.”

In an article published recently in the California State Sheriffs’ Assn. newsletter, Mayer defended the firing of law enforcement employees occupying “policymaking” roles in the organizations they seek to lead who make statements disrupting the operation of those organizations.

Hunt was named chief of sheriff’s operations in San Clemente two years ago, overseeing the 17.6-square-mile city. His suspension sparked outrage in the beach community of 60,000, where Mayor G. Wayne Eggleston and other council members passed a resolution asking for his reinstatement.

Hunt, a 1985 graduate of the Orange County Sheriff’s Academy, has the resume of a career street cop. He has worked as a patrolman, a jailhouse deputy, a watch commander, a gang and narcotics investigator, a member and supervisor of the SWAT team, and a tactical instructor at the academy. He made sergeant in 1996 and Carona promoted him to lieutenant in 2002.

christine.hanley@latimes.com