10/03/2025
A message from DSA President Cody Ebert:
Measure P and the Bargained for Controlling Documents.
As President of the Sonoma County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (DSA), I’m here to explain why Measure P, a voter-approved measure to expand oversight of our Sheriff’s Office, was struck down in part and how the resulting agreements between the DSA and IOLERO are now the law of the land. The DSA won the legal fight because, at its core, it was about protecting the rights of workers, and ensuring fairness in how we’re treated on the job.
When Measure P was brought to the Board of Supervisors, they made a big mistake: they refused to include the DSA in the process. Measure P aimed to give the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach (IOLERO) more power to oversee our work. It directly impacted our jobs, our duties, and our daily reality. California’s Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) is crystal clear: Public employers must negotiate with workers when changes impact our working conditions. These laws protect all public servants, from teachers, to firefighters, and facility workers. The county ignored this law, refusing to meet with us, despite our requests. That wasn’t just unfair, it was illegal.
So, we took action. The DSA filed a complaint with the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), the state agency that enforces workers’ rights. PERB ruled the county violated the MMBA by pushing Measure P through without the DSA’s input. They declared key parts of the measure unenforceable because they infringed on our right to bargain. The county appealed PERB’s decision through the courts and lost. PERB’s decision stood firm. This wasn’t just a technicality; it was a recognition that workers deserve a seat at the table when decisions impact our livelihoods.
Only nine of California’s 58 counties have law enforcement oversight, and in the other eight, the counties worked with their DSAs to negotiate terms. Sonoma County stood alone in bypassing us. In Los Angeles County, Sheriff Luna tried to force deputies to give statements to their oversight agency without bargaining and Sheriff Luna's hasty actions were challenged and struck down. The same law applies here. So, if Sheriff Engram had simply ordered DSA members to answer IOLERO’s questions, as John Alden asked him to do in a July 8, 2024 email, he would have been breaking the law.
Why does this matter to you? Think about it: when laws are passed that overstep legal boundaries, they don’t hold up. Look at California’s Proposition 8 in 2008, which tried to ban same-sex marriage but was overturned as unconstitutional. Or Proposition 187 in 1994, which aimed to deny public services to undocumented immigrants and was struck down as illegal.
When the government doesn’t follow the law, the taxpayers foot the bill for the cost of creating an unenforceable law, the cost of fixing the harm it caused, and the cost of starting over again from scratch. That is what happened with Measure P. When the County bypassed our rights, they created a flawed measure that couldn’t stand.
This fight cost the DSA years of effort and hundreds of thousands of hard-earned dollars, but we prevailed. After PERB’s ruling, we negotiated with the county and IOLERO, reaching a fair agreement that balanced oversight with our rights as deputies. Less than a year later, IOLERO raised concerns, saying the agreement (which they signed) limited their ability to function effectively. So, we returned to the bargaining table to revisit issues we thought were settled. Through open dialogue, we crafted a revised agreement that addressed everyone’s needs. This final, bargained agreement, shaped with input from the county, IOLERO, and the DSA, now controls how IOLERO operates, in relation to our members, not Measure P. It respects our workplace rights while supporting community oversight.
This agreement is the result of all the work described above. It is fair, legal, and balanced, and the law of the land. All we need now is for IOLERO to honor it.
Cody Ebert
President
Sonoma County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association
