LA DAs' union appeals Gascón's public defender appointments

The union representing deputy district attorneys in Los Angeles County is appealing DA George Gascón's decision to hire three former public defenders as high-level prosecutors, arguing the DA violated civil service rules by employing them based on their political affiliation with his policies and not merit.

A special advisor to the DA dismissed those arguments Tuesday, saying the three were lateral hires because the attorneys were appointed to the same position grades they held in the public defender's office.

This comes as Gascón is seeking applications to fill the head deputy position in his office, a position temporarily held by a former member of his campaign, Grade II Deputy District Attorney Joseph Iniguez. The prosecutors said that position is normally filled with upper management and not advertised on job boards like LinkedIn.

Alex Bastian, a special advisor to Gascón, said in a phone interview Tuesday that it's not unusual to seek outside candidates for the position of second-in-line to the DA. He said the move is consistent with Gascón's efforts to diversify the office and prevent "groupthink," denouncing any criticisms that the DA was taking an unusual route to fill the position.

The challenge against Gascón's recent hires also comes as the DA, who took office in December, is preparing to defend on appeal several of his special sentencing directives that a superior court judge recently enjoined in a lawsuit brought his deputies.

On Sunday, members of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County received an email notifying them that the union filed two appeals against Gascón's decision to hire former Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defenders Tiffiny Blacknell, Shelan Joseph and Alisa Blair to "Grade IV" and "Grade III" positions.

The email said the hires "violate both the spirit and letter of the county's civil service rules," and allege Gascón circumvented requirements that stipulate hiring decisions must be based on merit, as well as rules regulating competitive examinations for promotions. The merit system, the union said in its appeals, "is specifically designed to remove political patronage and reward as the basis for assignment or promotion within any position or class in the county service."

Blacknell and Blair supported Gascón during his campaign last year while serving on his public policy committee. And Joseph, who previously oversaw death penalty and special circumstance cases in the public defender's office, recently filed declarations in the deputy DAs' lawsuit against Gascón supporting Gascón's policies, records show.

According to the appeals, which were filed with the Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission late last week, Gascón overlooked more than 400 deputy district attorneys who were eligible for a promotion when he hired Blacknell and Joseph as Grade IV deputies earlier this month and Blair as a Grade III in January.

The union says none of them took and passed a competitive examination for their new positions, as required by civil service rules. And the union argued there should be "no question that the positions of deputy public defender and deputy district attorney are not of the same level of difficulty and responsibility," asserting that even if they were, the three new deputies have not demonstrated "they possess the skills and aptitude required to perform the duties" of Grade IV and Grade III prosecutors.

Bastian said there's a reason why the county pays both prosecutors and public defenders based on the same tiered system for the positions they hold. Each of these hires, he said, are experts in their own right and held the same position grade they were appointed to while in the public defender's office.

"Everyone comes to this particular team with different experiences in a different career path," Bastian said. "And by bringing in such a wide-ranging team, I think the decision-making process definitely benefits."

The appeals were filed on behalf of Deputy District Attorney Eric Siddall, the vice president of the deputies' union, and Deputy District Attorney Maria Ghobadi. They were consolidated to represent the hundreds of Grade III and Grade II deputies the union says were eligible for promotion but were not considered.

The union argued Gascón's decision was "driven only by political patronage and payback by the elected district attorney to reward unqualified political supporters and campaign donors, who were willing to provide public support in Mr. Gascón's recent failed litigation over his unlawful special directives."

The union seeks a hearing, which if granted, will be put on the Los Angeles Civil Service Commission's agenda sometime in April. Bastian said generally he does not comment, nor would it be prudent for him to comment on the appeals because they are pending.