In an anonymous vote, 85 percent of the union representing most sworn officers of the Santa Maria Police Department expressed “no confidence” in Police Chief Danny Macagni, union leadership announced Feb. 24.
Backed by about a dozen members of the Santa Maria Police Officers’ Association, president Chris Nartatez revealed the results of a mail-in ballot sent to all 119 of the union’s members. Of the 93 ballots returned, 79 members voted “no” when asked if they had confidence in Macagni’s leadership; 14 voted “yes.”
“There’s been people out there in the city administration in the past, the City Council and the mayor telling us that’s there’s only a few disgruntled employees that are making waves,” Nartatez told reporters. “I think this shows it’s not just a few of us that aren’t happy.”
Union members will decide when and how to discuss results of the vote with City Manager Rick Haydon, Mayor Larry Lavagnino, and the rest of the City Council. Meanwhile, Nartatez said, results of the non-binding vote would “in no way” affect the officers’ ability to protect public safety or conduct business.
The association voted in favor of conducting the confidence vote in Macagni and his two top commanders, Craig Ritz and Kendall Greene, during a meeting on Feb. 13. Whether or not the results will influence city leaders to take action against Macagni remains to be seen. City manager Haydon, the only official with the power to make personnel decisions involving the chief, has indicated he has full confidence in Macagni and is awaiting the results of several concurrent investigations and an Office of Independent Review audit of the department.
Haydon did not immediately return calls from the Sun for comment.
Santa Maria’s police chief since 2003, Macagni has come under fire from the association in past years for his promotional practices, and most recently for two officer-involved shootings. The latest incident, on Jan. 28, resulted in the death of SMPD officer Albert Covarrubias, Jr., who was shot and killed by a fellow officer who was sent to arrest him on suspicion of having sex with a minor.
Nartatez, who is a cousin of Covarrubias and one of the arresting officers at the scene that night, declined to answer questions about connections between the officer’s death and the vote.
“We’re not talking about one specific incident that led to this … this has been an ongoing thing,” Nartatez said. “Unfortunately, we’ve been going through some rough times, telling them what our concerns are. Have we seen changes? No, not really.”
By all accounts, the no-confidence vote is the first in the history of the SMPD, though in 2006, a confidential ballot sent to union members resulted in 80 percent voting to allow the union to address “poor or lacking leadership abilities” and “the spiraling morale problem.”
Nartatez said results of the vote on the two commanders wouldn’t be made public.
This article appears in Mar 1-8, 2012.