On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of a resolution that could see the unilateral termination of over 4,000 employees with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office due to their unvaccinated status.
Fox News reports that Sheriff Alex Villanueva took to Twitter to criticize the board’s vote later that same night, denouncing it as “nothing more than another politically motivated stunt by the Board, which has no bearing on public health, but will definitely harm public safety.”
The measure, which passed unanimously 4-0, would alter the current rules of civil service and give more authority to the county personnel director to fire sheriff’s office employees who are not following the county’s arbitrary vaccine guidelines. Los Angeles County’s mandate was first implemented in August, with an October 1st deadline to show any proof of vaccination.
The vote comes amidst both a decrease in Coronavirus cases and an increase in crime. Villanueva further pointed out that a hiring freeze has already stunted the ability of the sheriff’s office to deal with public safety, and that the county has seen a 94 percent increase in murders.
Villanueva said that the board of supervisors is now preparing to “fire the very same personnel who were forced to work in person, exposing themselves to the COVID-19 virus when there was no vaccine, while the Supervisors and most of the workforce were telecommuting from the comfort and safety of their own homes.”
“It is important to remember Department personnel who chose not to vaccinate are required to submit to weekly COVID testing, and have committed no administrative offense,” Villanueva’s statement continued.
The board will reconvene on March 15th to review the motion once again ahead of a final vote to approve it.