Block Faces Campaign Complaint

A commander in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says he was instructed by Sheriff Sherman Block to solicit an endorsement for the sheriff’s reelection campaign, then threatened with retaliation because Block believed that he had not complied with the order.

If true, the allegations--which are contained in a two-page letter from Cmdr. Larry Waldie to Block demanding that the sheriff apologize--would constitute a violation of the state’s Political Reform Act, which forbids the use of public employees to solicit campaign-related endorsements or contributions on government time.

Block and his campaign advisors declined to comment on the allegations, refusing even to deny them.

In his letter, Waldie alleged that Block--through one of his aides--directed him to ask Walnut Mayor Bert Ashley why she had failed to endorse the sheriff’s reelection.

“I did exactly as I was instructed,” Waldie, one of the few ranking sheriff’s officials to publicly support one of Block’s challengers, wrote in the letter to the sheriff. “I then reported back to [the aide] Mayor Ashley’s expressed reason for not endorsing you at that time.”

At a Feb. 13 dinner recognizing volunteers for the city of Walnut, Waldie--who serves on the Walnut City Council--says that the sheriff confronted him on the matter.

“At the conclusion of the evening’s program, I approached you to greet you as an act of courtesy and out of respect for you as our sheriff,” Waldie wrote. “I was immediately challenged by you wherein you stated, ‘Don’t make me embarrass you.’ I was completely confounded by your comment and stopped in my tracks. You then accused me of being, to use your exact words, a ‘f------ liar.’

“Finally, you threatened me with the obviously menacing statement, ‘I will take care of you later.’ ” Waldie added: “Your actions toward me, Mr. Block, apparently stem from your false belief that I did not follow the instructions given to me on your behalf.”

Asked about the Waldie letter, Block said he would not “dignify” it with a response. Walnut Mayor Ashley, who ultimately did endorse the sheriff for reelection, also declined to comment.

Block supporters charge that Waldie’s allegations are intended to discredit the sheriff, and point to the commander’s endorsement of Sheriff’s Chief Lee Baca, one of three candidates seeking to unseat Block in the June election.

On Monday, Waldie denied that the letter was politically motivated. “I wrote it because I believed [Block’s] behavior was unprofessional,” Waldie said. “I was very insulted by it.”

Furthermore, Waldie said he thinks that the sheriff resents him for not endorsing his reelection.

He wrote to Block: “My decision, though no doubt disappointing to you, does not deserve to be met with boorish behavior, false accusations or threats of retaliation.”

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Waldie has the option of filing a formal complaint against Block with the Fair Political Practices Commission. If investigators with the commission determine that Block violated the state’s Political Reform Act, the sheriff could be fined $2,000.

“You can’t ask public employees to solicit campaign-related endorsements or contributions on public time,” said Gary Huckaby, a spokesman for the FPPC. “But they can do it on their own hours.”

Nevertheless, Waldie said he does not intend to take up the matter with the state election watchdogs.

“I just wanted an apology,” he said.