FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement on Workplace Retaliation
Sheriff’s Commander and Candidate for County Sheriff Dave Myers Alleges Workplace Retaliation and Free Speech Violations by Current Sheriff William Gore
San Diego, CA – In what some are calling an attempt to maintain the upper hand in the race for county sheriff, incumbent William Gore has reassigned his opponent for the 2018 election, Dave Myers, who currently serves under him on the department at the rank of Commander. Myers has spent 32 of his 34 years in law enforcement at the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
With regard to his reassignment, Myers released the following statement through his campaign:
“After months of escalation, I’ve decided I have to speak up. As an officer who is protected by the Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights, as a candidate for sheriff, and as a citizen, it is my right to run for public office and to speak freely in doing so. Gore is using the power of his office for political purposes, to stifle an opponent who has spoken out against him. This is absolutely corrupt and downright un-American.
“I have been removed from the chain of command and all internal management committee meetings. I have been forced out of my command staff office. A broom closet downstairs was cleared out to make room for my new ‘office.’ Every day, when I show up for assignment, I am assigned to spend the day sitting in this ‘office.’ Sheriff Gore has literally forced the highest ranking openly gay officer on the department into an actual closet.
“It’s one thing to make excuses for why he won’t grant the voters an opportunity to hear us debate the issues. It’s quite another to employ retaliation in a taxpayer funded workplace as a campaign tactic. I have the right to run for this office and should be treated just like any other officer at my rank.”
To run for county sheriff requires current peace officer status and advanced law enforcement training. This effectively limits the pool of eligible candidates to a very small number of people who are often hesitant to cross a sitting Sheriff for fear of negative impact on their future career prospects. Gore was last reelected in 2014, when he ran unopposed. Dave Myers is his only challenger in an election that will likely be decided in the June primary.
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