5th District candidates want more accountability from Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office

Noreen Evans and Lynda Hopkins, the two candidates vying to succeed Efren Carrillo on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, took turns Monday night calling for greater transparency and accountability at the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, saying supervisors have a responsibility to help build trust in the community.

During an hourlong candidates forum at the Sebastopol Community Center, both Evans and Hopkins told a room of roughly 200 people they’d use the county budget process to press for greater measures to improve community relations, including increasing training and engagement with residents, at a time when law enforcement departments across the country are under scrutiny for policing practices involving racial bias and unwarranted use of force.

“We, as a community, have to be brutally honest with ourselves that there is a problem and we have to come to grips with how we solve this,” Evans said. “I think a dialogue really does need to happen. We have had this problem in the community for decades. It didn’t just happen recently.”

“You can’t change the culture as much as you would like,” Hopkins said. “However, having the budget is a bit of a negotiation tool. I think it’s very important to work toward changing the culture at the Sheriff’s (Office).”

The comments, prompted by a question at Monday night’s League of Women Voters candidates forum for Carrillo’s seat were a slight divergence from the issues that have shaped the race for 5th District, which stretches from west Santa Rosa to Bodega Bay and north to the Mendocino County border.

The Moorland Avenue site where 13-year-old Andy Lopez was shot and killed in 2013 by Deputy Erick Gelhaus also falls in the 5th District.

Throughout the campaign, the discourse has focused on how the candidates would address the high cost of housing in Sonoma County, crumbling county roads, rowdy events at wineries and rising pension costs for government workers. But Evans and Hopkins said Monday night supervisors should use their power during budget negotiations to help improve relations between sheriff’s deputies and the communities they serve.

The Sheriff’s Office budget is approved by the Board of Supervisors, though the sheriff is an elected official and the department functions independently from the board. Evans and Hopkins called for greater training, communication with the community and diversity in the department.

The county’s new Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach, created by the superversiors, is also expected to play a vital role in improving community policing and addressing allegations that involve alleged unlawful use of force or racial bias.

“Building trust takes time, but the first step I think to building trust in any relationship is to sit down in a nonconfrontational situation and talk about what your lives are like, and try to get to know each other a little bit,” Hopkins said.

Forum attendees also questioned the candidates on how they’d address housing, pension costs and winery events.

To address housing, Evans said she would require a portion of all new development to be affordable for low- and middle-income residents. She also voiced strong support for rent control and other tenant protections.

Hopkins’ strategy focuses on reducing permit fees and creating other incentives to encourage developers to build more units, as well as streamlining the permitting process for homeowners seeking to convert rooms into rental units.

Evans voiced support for taxing commercially produced marijuana, and investing future revenue in road and infrastructure repair, while Hopkins said she would use tax revenue from hotel-bed taxes to support road repairs.

To address rising pension costs, Evans said she would, through contract negotiations, seek greater employee contributions to pay down long-term costs. Hopkins said the county should consider adopting a plan with greater shared risk, whereby employee contributions would fluctuate with the rise and fall of pension fund assets.

Both also called for stronger regulations for the wine industry.

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 707-526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ahartreports.