Hennessy, A Sheriff's Vet, Hopes to Head Agency

Of the San Francisco races leading up to this November's elections, sheriff's department veteran Vicki Hennessy's bid to unseat embattled Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi is one of the most closely watched.

Hennessy, 62, who worked for the agency for decades, has the support of the deputies' union, while Mirkarimi, who took office in 2011 after pleading guilty in a domestic violence-related case, has continued to face scandals.

In a recent interview, Hennessy said her experience, skills, and other traits set her apart from Mirkarimi, who was a two-term city supervisor before being elected sheriff, "as well as my temperament and ability to lead."

When she talks to people as she's campaigning, Hennessy said, "A lot of people bring up the issues in the newspaper" concerning the controversies around Mirkarimi. Many people "want the department to be running without being in the paper all the time."

Mirkarimi, who pleaded guilty in 2011 to a false imprisonment charge stemming from a fight with his wife, Eliana Lopez, escaped being officially removed from office when four Board of Supervisors members voted in October 2012 not to sustain Mayor Ed Lee's official misconduct charges against him. He won a judge's order this spring to expunge his conviction from his record. Lee had appointed Hennessy to serve as interim sheriff while his case against Mirkarimi was pending.

Other issues Mirkarimi has had to confront as sheriff include the death of a patient in a stairwell at San Francisco General Hospital, which is guarded by sheriff deputies; allegations of a fight ring in a county jail run by sheriff deputies; and low morale among the rank and file of the safety agency.

Making international headlines was the killing last month of a woman on a city pier, allegedly by a man in the country illegally who had been released from custody by the sheriff's department after a long ago drug possession charge against him was dismissed. Due to the city's sanctuary city policy, the sheriff's department released the individual without alerting federal immigration authorities, a decision that came under blistering criticism from Lee and other officials.

This month, the headlines focused on how Mirkarimi's driver's license was suspended earlier this year after he failed to properly report a fender bender he was involved in last October while driving a city-issued vehicle to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Mirkarimi's office said soon after he learned of the suspension, he "contacted his insurance representatives to determine why the proper report was not submitted to the DMV." The matter has since been resolved, according to the sheriff's office.

Hennessy said the driver's license issue shows Mirkarimi's "failure to follow the rules," and she said the head of the department needs to "set a good example."

Aside from those comments, however, Hennessy hasn't said much about Mirkarimi's troubles.

"People are going to judge for themselves based on these stories they read and hear," she said. "I'm not going to add fuel to the fire, because I don't want to look like I'm picking on him, because I'm not."

Hennessy, whose husband, Jim Hennessy, is a retired San Francisco mounted police officer, has plenty of her own experience to talk about.

Longtime Sheriff's Staffer

When she served as interim sheriff in 2011, Hennessy declined to discuss Mirkarimi with the Bay Area Reporter . Instead, she spoke about her own history. She started work at the sheriff's department December 24, 1975.

Hennessy came into the department at a time when many other women, LGBTs, and other communities that hadn't previously been sought were being recruited.

"I think I feel a special connection" to the gay community "because I was there when so many people died," she said in an interview last week, adding that she lost friends and co-workers as the AIDS epidemic hit its height in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Bill Barnes, who's running Lee's re-election campaign, contributed $100 toward Hennessy's bid. In a text exchange with the B.A.R. , Barnes, a gay man who's HIV-positive, said, "In the LGBT community, there's a long history of mistrust with law enforcement. Vicki Hennessy joined the first sheriff's department class with out lesbian and gay members, and she has fought for inclusion all of her career." He added that she's "the most qualified woman for the job of sheriff."

Among other achievements, Hennessy "increased training and developed security plans for elections and public buildings," according to her campaign.

In 2008, then-Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed her to be director of the city's Department of Emergency Management. She retired in 2011.

Mirkarimi's problems have frequently overshadowed his work as sheriff, but he has taken action toward helping transgender people in custody.

The sheriff recently announced that he plans to stop classifying transgender inmates who have not had surgery according to their birth sex. The move would mean that trans women would no longer be housed with men. The same would be true for transgender men, but the jail population generally sees more trans women inmates.

One of Hennessy's biggest backers is the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association. Deputy Eugene Cerbone, a gay man who serves as the association's president, told the B.A.R. in June that he thinks Mirkarimi's plan could work.

However, he expressed concerns about inmate safety, and said when it comes to the custody setting, he doesn't consider people who have not had surgery to be transgender.

"Transgender is you have the surgery," he said. "What I know of someone who's actually transgendered [sic] is they've had the complete change."

Hennessy recently said at a meeting with the B.A.R. 's editorial board that she supports Mirkarimi's policy change, and she disagrees with Cerbone's statement about genitalia defining someone's transgender status.

However, she said, it's important to implement policy change carefully in order to ensure safety.

Those involved need to be "very careful and very cautious, and make sure we do it right the first time," Hennessy said. "I don't know that we get a second chance."

Hennessy said training and educating on the new policy would need to include staff and other inmates.

Transgender inmates make up a "very, very small" part of the inmate population, Hennessy noted, but it's important to make sure prisoners have "the information they need in order to live side by side."

She pointed out that Human Rights Commission Executive Director Theresa Sparks, a transgender woman, "has been working on this a long time," and she called Sparks "a beacon."

In response to an email asking whether she was supporting Hennessy or Mirkarimi in the election, Sparks offered positive comments about both candidates. She said in an email that she endorsed Mirkarimi's re-election bid before Hennessy entered the race. Now she supports both candidates, she said.

"I am very pleased that Vicki Hennessey is supportive of the community's project to increase the safety and accessibility to programing for trans inmates," Sparks said. "... Sheriff Mirkarimi has been very helpful in working with the community to craft a workable pilot program that will initially re-institute in-custody programing for trans inmates, ultimately resulting in the integration of the inmates into housing units consistent with their gender identity and expression."

Sparks estimated that's she's known Hennessy for 15 years, and said she believes, "if elected, she will make an excellent sheriff. During this entire time both Ross Mirkarimi and Vicki Hennessey have both been accepting and supportive of me and the trans community. I also appreciate the friendships I have with both individuals."

Hennessy has been racking up endorsements, including the San Francisco Democratic Party; seven members of the Board of Supervisors, including gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener; Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California); Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom; and Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco).

Hennessy said the hallmarks of her campaign include restoring "leadership and accountability" to the sheriff's department, bringing back "a balance of criminal and social justice" so that city residents are safe and people don't return to jail, and "collaboration and open communication."

"That doesn't mean you have to agree, but communication is essential," Hennessy said. "You can't just close those doors."

In an email exchange with the B.A.R. , Cerbone, of the deputy sheriffs' association, sited the killing at the pier as one example why people should support Hennessy "if they want a safer community."

He added that Hennessy "had over 30 years of experience in the department and knows the ins and outs. Ross came in with zero experience, and it shows. Hennessy was the interim sheriff and there were no issues."

John C. Robinson, a retired sheriff's deputy who now owns a private security company, is also in the race.

For more information on Hennessy's campaign, visit http://www.hennessyforsheriff.com