On June 23, 2021, the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) found the County of Sonoma violated the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) by unilaterally placing Measure P on the November 2020 ballot. Measure P significantly increased the authority of the County’s Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach (IOLERO). In part, Measure P authorized IOLERO to independently investigate Sheriff Office employees, recommend discipline, directly access and review evidence from confidential internal affair files, and post body worn camera videos online.
Timeline of the case:
August 6, 2020 - The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors unilaterally voted to place Measure P on the November ballot – one day before the submission deadline – without providing SCLEA notice or an opportunity to meet and confer. “We have never endured such a coordinated, targeted attack on our membership as we experienced with the Measure P (Sheriff’s Oversight commission) proponents,” stated Damian Evans, president of Sonoma County Law Enforcement Association.
August 17, 2020 - Rain, Lucia, Stern, St. Phalle and Silver law firm (RLSSS) filed a standard PERB charge on behalf of Sonoma County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (DSA)
August 20, 2020 - SCLEA filed its PERB charge which included additional allegations and a Request for PERB to Expedite the charge at all levels. SCLEA fully briefed why the changes were within the scope of bargaining and how refusing to provide SCLEA notice and an opportunity to bargain violated its right to represent its members and its members’ rights to be represented in violation of the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act.
Following SCLEA’s charge, the DSA amended its PERB charge alleging the same violations, requested to join SCLEA’s motion to expedite, and consolidate the two cases. Given the shared interests of our respective clients, Mastagni attorneys Kathleen Mastagni Storm and Tashayla Billington worked collaboratively with Zack Lopes and Timothy Talbot from RLSSS to establish precedent benefitting the entire California law enforcement community.
“Measure P adversely impacted primarily our client SCLEA and the Sonoma County Deputy Sheriff’s Association,” said attorney, Kathleen Mastagni Storm. “As a result, SCLEA and the DSA were left no choice but file unfair practices charges with PERB.”
September 4, 2020 - PERB granted SCLEA’s Request to Expedite at all levels and the matter was scheduled for hearing before Administrative Law Judge Shawn Cloughesy on October 20, 2020.
Accordingly, SCLEA took lead at the hearing and presented evidence that Measure P changed disciplinary procedures, affected overtime, increased workload, and affected its members’ safety by granting IOLERO the authority to unilaterally post body worn camera videos without adhering to Department safety precautions. The DSA assisted by presenting further evidence bolstering the unions’ position that the County was obligated to meet and confer prior to placing Measure P on the ballot.
June 23, 2021 - PERB found the County violated the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) by unilaterally placing Measure P on the November 2020 ballot. PERB held Measure P was subject to bargaining over both the decision and impacts and effects.
PERB also rejected the County’s argument that it could simply meet and confer with SCLEA over the “implementation” of its decision to amend IOLERO’s authority. As such, PERB found the County had a duty to provide SCLEA notice and an opportunity to meet and confer in advance of placing Measure P on the ballot.
Because Measure P passed before PERB rendered its decision, the Board declared nearly all of the amendments “void/unenforceable” and severed them from the rest of the Ordinance. PERB ordered the County cease and desist its unlawful conduct.
“This decision is an enormous victory for public safety bargaining,” exclaimed Mastagni Storm. “Many cities and counties are creating and expanding the authority of its citizen review boards. However, this decision makes it clear that the employer must still provide notice and meet and confer with its public safety unions before making changes related to discipline, investigations, and confidential files.”
“In these ever-changing times, legal defense needs to be spot on with not only the legal merits, but how to plead them in a way to achieve a favorable outcome, which is exactly what I personally witnessed our attorneys do in this case,” said Evans. “We are very grateful that our members’ rights and livelihoods have been, are, and will be protected.”
Background on Measure P:
Measure P significantly expanded the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach’s (IOLERO) authority, granting it the ability to conduct independent investigations, issue subpoenas, recommend discipline criteria and procedures, conduct critical incident investigations, access personnel records and permanently defund a portion of the Sheriff’s Office budget by mandating a permanent allocation to IOLERO).
