So much for mending fences. Ed Lee, the consensus-building mayor, has yet to respond to a letter Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi sent him two weeks ago outright refusing to recuse himself from domestic violence matters.
Mirkarimi's letter details his response to both the mayor's and District Attorney George Gascón's demand that as the sheriff, he no longer oversee domestic violence programs and offenders.
See also: Ross Mirkarimi Hopes Mayor Ed Lee Will Talk to Him Soon
Lee and Gascón decided that Mirkarimi, who is still on probation for his own domestic violence incident last New Year's Eve in which he bruised his wife's arm, should have nothing to do with DV issues, saying it's a conflict of interest.
Obviously, Mirkarimi doesn't agree. In his letter, Mirkarimi states that the Sheriff's Department doesn't charge or prosecute domestic violence offenders, it merely keeps them locked up, pending the outcome of their trial. Thus, there is no realy conflict of interest, he says.
He did agree, however, to let an undersheriff handle domestic violence complaints against those officers and staff members in his department.
SF Weekly contacted Mayor Lee's office, where staffers claimed a response letter had been under review as of two weeks ago. However, when we requested a copy of the letter, the mayor never responded.
What is clear is that Mayor Lee appears unwilling to reconcile with the sheriff, who has said that it's "awkward" that he and the mayor only "communicate through the Chronicle," as SFGate reports.
Mirkarimi was suspended without pay in March after pleading guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment. However, the Board of Supervisors gave Mirkarimi his job back, despite the mayor's aggressive campaign to fire him. A group named San Francisco Women for Accountability has been exploring the possibility of a recall, although those efforts have fizzled as of late.
We'll definitely let you know if and when Mayor Lee does respond to the sheriff on this matter.
