Block Talks to One Group; Debate Goes On Elsewhere

While his three challengers sparred at a sparsely attended candidates forum across town Wednesday night, Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block--who is seeking a fifth term this June--met with a largely sympathetic crowd of Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. members, reminding them of his department’s achievements and downplaying its recent controversies.

“We’re the fourth-largest municipal law enforcement agency in the United States. We serve 2.6 million people on a daily basis,” Block said. He cited improvements the department has made during his tenure, from gang intervention to fighting child and elder abuse.

“We have so many positive programs going on in the Sheriff’s Department I could be here for a couple of hours talking about them,” Block told the gathering of about 350 people.

Meanwhile, in Valencia, Block’s opponents--sheriff’s Chief Lee Baca, retired Chief Bill Baker and Sgt. Patrick Gomez--told some 50 residents and deputies, who filled just half the banquet room of the Best Western Ranch House Inn, that it is time for the sheriff to step aside.

“I am running for sheriff for a very simple reason: We are facing greater challenges in the fight against gangs and illiteracy,” Baca said.

Baker was more pointed in his criticism of the incumbent: “It’s not the deputies and sergeants who are out of control. The management is out of control,” he said.

Gomez, who at 40 is the youngest candidate in the race, said: “We need a sheriff who leads by example, because that isn’t happening right now.”

The three challengers also chided Block for opting to appear before the Sherman Oaks group instead of attending the candidates forum, which was sponsored by the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, the largest union representing the department’s rankand file.

Block attended the group’s first debate, which was held last week in a closed session that was off limits to the press and the public. But because he had previously committed to attend the Sherman Oaks meeting, Block declined to join the other candidates at Wednesday’s forum. He also will be unable to attend another public debate set for April 15 because he is set to address members of the Los Angeles Harbor Masonic Lodge, according to his campaign spokesman.

Although the Los Angeles Police Department patrols the streets of Sherman Oaks, homeowners association President Richard Close said he thought citizens would be interested in hearing what Block had to say about the jails and other issues. Recently, the department has come under sharp criticism for a variety of custody woes--including illegally detaining prisoners past their released dates, providing inadequate medical and psychiatric treatment to inmates, and encouraging brutal attacks on accused child molesters.

“The Sheriff’s Department has been in the news a lot, both good and bad,” said Close, who is supporting Block in his reelection bid. “It’s the largest force in L.A. County, bigger than LAPD. Even though they don’t patrol our streets, they do control our jails and our courts.”

Speaking to the Sherman Oaks group for about half an hour, Block said about 200,000 inmates pass through the county jail system each year. “They bring in all kinds of illnesses. . . . We have more mentally ill people than many mental institutions. It’s a massive, massive operation.”

He acknowledged some of the recent controversies in the department, saying, “Yes, there are occasional mistakes made.” But he hailed the people who work in the jails as heroes who have to contend with an antiquated inmate tracking system that the department is trying to raise millions of dollars to update.

“I’ve been with the department for 41 years. I have had the opportunity to work at every level,” Block said. “At the risk of sounding immodest, I am the best candidate.”

The reception from the audience was warm.

“I think he’d have my vote. . . . I love his priorities,” said Sherman Oaks resident Marsha Hunt. She added that the jails, however, “need a lot of help. It’s wildly overcrowded and dangerous, and the delays are insanely long waiting for trials.”

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This year’s election marks the first time in Block’s career as sheriff that he has faced significant opposition. If no one wins a majority of the vote in June, there will be a runoff election in November between the two top vote-getters.

Department insiders worry that the 73-year-old Block, who has a severe kidney problem requiring hemodialysis three times a week, is physically not up to a long, difficult campaign.

Resident Dee Gelb said she would likely vote for Block again “even though he is probably getting up there in years. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

His three opponents met for 90 minutes Wednesday under ground rules that did not permit rebuttal or debate. Instead, each candidate made a short statement, then fielded four questions they had previewed and nearly a dozen new ones from audience members.

Baca, who said he has amassed a campaign fund of $163,000 while collecting several key endorsements, was the only challenger not to criticize Block’s leadership. Instead, the supervisor of patrol stations in West Hollywood, Lennox, Century, Carson and Lomita focused on his contributions during 32 years of service to the department and his knowledge of what it takes to “handle this 10-ring circus.”

Baker, who retired as a lieutenant in 1995 after nearly 35 years with the Sheriff’s Department, assailed Block for allowing county, state and federal agencies to handcuff him through uncontested legislation and unchecked bureaucracy.

Gomez, a field sergeant from the Temple station, said his 17 years as a deputy and sergeant qualify him for the department’s top post.

When asked how to handle illegal immigrants who commit crimes, Baca proposed that they be denied a jury trial at county expense, facing instead a judge in federal court. Baker said illegal immigrants should be deported, while Gomez strongly disagreed, saying open borders would render the process pointless.