Dave Myers, a commander who is campaigning for the top post in the Sheriff’s Department, said he has been unceremoniously transferred to a new assignment in a “broom closet” and stripped of his usual duties in retaliation for running against incumbent Sheriff Bill Gore.

“I was literally moved from my command office on the third floor, from the third floor to the lower floor, through an evidence storage area, into a back room that was literally a closet,” Myers said by telephone. “That’s literally my office now.”

Besides the new work quarters, Myers, who is 56 and has served in the department for 32 years, said he was removed from the chain of command. He’s no longer responsible for investigations, court security or patrols, but reports at 8 a.m. each morning for his assignment of the day. He recently spent his time figuring out office space and furniture needs for a new crime lab in Kearny Mesa. The change in duties had not affected his pay, he said. Public records posted by the group Transparent California show Myers was paid $175,000 in 2016.

“There’s no end in sight. The election is going to be in June. Am I going to be sitting here in June? Am I your interior designer now from your broom closet? I am being punished for speaking out and running against my boss,” Myers said.


Besides the new office and assignment, he said he was also ordered to not attend department meetings where budget, strategies and other internal issues are discussed. He used to supervise 417 people but now he doesn’t oversee any, he said.

The Sheriff’s Department gave a different account of Myers work space, and how he ended up in his new position.

“He is currently assigned to the second floor of Sheriff’s Headquarters and is in the former office of the commanding officer of the Cyber/Financial Crimes and Elder Abuse Investigations Unit with a window overlooking Murphy Canyon,” spokesman Ryan Keim said in a statement.

Keim said that Myers was assigned to help with the transition to the new crime lab in Kearny Mesa because the work needs to get done, not because of retaliation.


Myers said he’s working with an attorney provided by the Deputy Sheriff’s Association of San Diego County, the labor union that represents deputies. He said he’ll either need to be formally reprimanded for some sort of currently unknown infraction that would merit the reassignment, or, as he’d prefer, be returned to his previous assignment.

“I just want to go back to work. And he’s got to stop interfering with my right to run for public office,” Myers said.

Gore, a career law enforcement officer, was appointed sheriff in 2009 and elected in 2010. The department has some 4,200 employees and a $758 million budget, the largest budget in county government.

Myers was formerly the captain of the department’s Imperial Beach Station until Gore promoted him to commander in 2012. He represents public safety employees on the board of the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association.


Twitter: @jptstewart


joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

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