SF Sheriff Mirkarimi Accuses Political Opponents Of Fanning Flames For Recall
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — One month after being reinstated, San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi is accusing his political opponents of instigating recall efforts against him.
Mirkarimi said critics are intentionally misstating the role he plays in his department's domestic violence programs.
The sheriff told Mayor Ed Lee in a three-page letter that his undersheriff will handle any disciplinary actions involving subordinates accused of domestic violence.
KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:
Lee suspended Mirkarimi for official misconduct in March after pleading guilty to false imprisonment for a New Year's argument in which he bruised his wife's arm. Mirkarimi was reinstated by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors after there were not enough votes to remove him from office. The sheriff remains on probation.
District Attorney George Gascon and Lee both want Mirkarimi to recuse himself from oversight of domestic violence programs in his department.
The sheriff said he has no role in day-to-day operations of jail programs so there's nothing to recuse himself from. He has his own take on the situation.
"In some ways I feel like they're fanning the flames to try to catalyze a recall, but it's based on faulty or inaccurate information," Mirkarimi told KCBS.
Public Defender Jeff Adachi agrees that Mirkarimi has no reason to recuse himself, but said he needs to do a better job of explaining why.
"There is a perception that as sheriff and as a person being on probation he's going to be exercising a lot of discretion over these types of programs when in reality he does not," Adachi said.
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