Remove judges’ authority to hire probation officer

It’s not difficult to do the math on the court’s attempt to remove Rick Chavez as chief probation officer.

First, the judges spearheading the removal of Mr. Chavez write letters of recommendation supporting the promotion of Mike Elliott. Then, Mr. Chavez goes against their recommendation, which he has the authority to do, and promotes someone else.

Shortly thereafter, the court informs Mr. Chavez that they have received “anonymous” allegations against him and that he needs to step down. At this point, they don’t even tell him what those allegations are. They then remove him from duty and promote Mr. Elliott to the interim chief position, even though Mr. Elliott reportedly has “close ties” to the judges trying to remove Mr. Chavez from office.

Next, the court hires a firm to collect the facts regarding the allegations brought against Mr. Chavez, and their final report fails to include important documents and discounts testimony which support Mr. Chavez’s innocence.

The court refuses to meet with the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, whose investigation has yet to find any wrongdoing on Mr. Chavez’s part.

I will be voting in November to remove the court’s authority to hire the chief probation officer.

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Remove judges’ authority to hire probation officer."