During his time as sheriff of Los Angeles County, Alex Villanueva investigated Los Angeles Metro and local political leaders, and he also threatened to pull his deputies off of the transit system amid a public outcry over safety.
Just a few years later, he’s apparently applied to be a Metro employee.
Los Angeles Times reporter Keri Blakinger wrote on social media that during a deposition for Villanueva’s suit against the county for placing him on its “do not rehire” list, he admitted that he applied to work for L.A. Metro.
Court documents shared by Blakinger show that Villanueva does not view Metro as a county department, thus allowing him — in his view — to apply for the agency.
“I did a preliminary screening with a headhunting firm and am waiting for a call back,” he said.
Metro is creating its own police force, and Villanueva is presumably intending to work for that department.
That desire, however, comes after raids of Metro headquarters, the home of a former county supervisor and a Metro contractor as part of an alleged corruption probe. The state Department of Justice declined to pursue charges.
Blakinger noted how unusual it is to see a member of law enforcement lead an investigation into an entity, then try to work for that same agency.
“It is genuinely unhinged to oversee a RAID on an organization’s headquarters and then APPLY TO WORK THERE,” she noted.
