Sonoma County supervisors have dropped plans to ask voters this November to strengthen Measure P, the 2020 initiative that expanded the powers of the county’s independent police watchdog — a reversal that comes just two weeks after the board chair said she wanted to shore the measure up, and the same week the county handed its oversight office to a caretaker director.
The board signaled the retreat Thursday, even as it named Matthew Chavez, an auditor in the office since 2022, interim director starting Friday. The county is now betting it can make Measure P work through cooperation with the Sheriff’s Office — the same agency that spent years in court fighting the watchdog’s powers.
Supervisors back off a November ballot fight
The Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach, known as IOLERO, audits the Sheriff’s Office and reviews complaints against deputies. On Thursday the Board of Supervisors said it would not put amendments to Measure P on the fall ballot.
“IOLERO’s work to fully implement Measure P as written can be accomplished through stronger collaboration, and operational improvements among IOLERO, the Sheriff’s Office and County leadership,” County Executive David Guhin said.
That is a sharp turn from where the board stood two weeks ago. On May 28, board Chair Rebecca Hermosillo was driving toward a November measure, telling the public she wanted to settle long-running disputes over whether deputies can be forced to sit for IOLERO interviews. “I am trying to strengthen Measure P,” she said at the time. “I just want to fix the ambiguity, not just for right now, but for the future.”
Staff had warned the timeline was steep. The county faced an Aug. 7 deadline to file final ballot language with the Registrar of Voters, and Assistant County Administrator Jennifer Solito called the push “a big swing” and “very aggressive.”
On Thursday, Hermosillo framed the reversal as a different route to the same end. “Part of being an elected official is to start tough conversations,” she said. “We knew if we did move forward with a ballot measure, the timeline would be very tight.” She said she now sees a “different path forward,” adding that “there’s a renewed energy for everyone to come to the table.”
A caretaker takes over the watchdog office
Chavez has worked as a law enforcement auditor at IOLERO since May 2022. An attorney and certified oversight practitioner, he has audited Sheriff’s Office internal affairs cases including use-of-force incidents, canine deployments and in-custody deaths in the jail. His appointment takes effect Friday at an annual salary of $224,240.
“I am honored to have been appointed interim director of IOLERO,” Chavez said. “My goal as interim director will be to ensure that IOLERO continues to conduct its core auditing and other day-to-day oversight duties and administrative functions.” It is a caretaker’s brief — keep the lights on, not redraw the office.
He replaces John Alden, who left in May to head law enforcement oversight in Marin County. The county’s Human Resources Department will lead the search for a permanent director and bring options to the board. IOLERO runs on about $2.5 million a year, set by mandate at 1% of the Sheriff’s Office budget, with a staff of 7.5.
Measure P has already been cut down once
Guhin’s phrase — implement Measure P “as written” — carries more weight than it lets on, because much of what voters wrote is no longer in force.
The county created IOLERO in 2015, two years after a sheriff’s deputy fatally shot 13-year-old Andy Lopez — a killing that drove the demand for civilian oversight here. Measure P, five years later, was the voters’ move to give the office real teeth.
Sonoma County voters approved Measure P in November 2020 with 64.7% of the vote. Named the Evelyn Cheatham Ordinance after a local accountability activist and backed by the Santa Rosa/Sonoma County NAACP, it gave IOLERO the power to investigate Sheriff’s Office employees independently, subpoena records, post body-camera footage online and take in whistleblower complaints.
The state Public Employment Relations Board later voided several of those provisions, ruling they collided with deputies’ labor rights — including the parts letting IOLERO independently investigate whistleblower complaints, post body-camera video and supervise the Sheriff’s Office’s own investigations.
The board hasn’t always kept its distance. In 2021 the county appealed that labor-board ruling to the state Court of Appeal, with then-Chair Lynda Hopkins calling it “clearly erroneous as a matter of law and contrary to the public’s interests.” Five years on, the answer is collaboration, not court.
The subpoena fight ran longer. IOLERO sued the Sheriff’s Office in July 2024 after it refused to honor subpoenas tied to a whistleblower complaint involving at least four employees. A Superior Court judge sided with law enforcement in September 2024, but in March the First Appellate District reversed, ruling in a 27-page decision that the Sheriff’s Office must comply. The Sheriff’s Office and the deputies’ union have asked the California Supreme Court to take the case.
Cody Ebert, president of the Sonoma County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, has cast the measure as a source of dysfunction. “These flaws have hurt the county and our membership through seemingly endless litigation,” he said.
The departing director didn’t sound hopeful
John Alden, who ran IOLERO until last month, used his exit interview to describe an office still at odds with the agency it watches. “The Sonoma County oversight experience started in conflict and remains in conflict,” he told the Press Democrat in May. A decade after the county set up civilian oversight, he said, “there is still just deep antipathy from many people in the rank-and-file on the patrol side of Sheriff’s Office.”
The board’s fix for that conflict is more collaboration. Alden’s read was that the board hasn’t backed the office when it counted. “There’s not a lot of support there for IOLERO when conflict occurs, and that’s hard,” he said.
Why oversight advocates are wary
For the people who put Measure P on the books, “collaboration” is the word that worries them. Advocates have criticized the board for what they see as thin support for the office through years of litigation, and they note that the sheriff and deputies’ labor groups endorsed candidates in the 2024 election.
Community Law Enforcement Accountability Now, or CLEAN, the local coalition that tracks oversight across the county and aligns with national civilian-oversight standards, “advocates for strong, community-centered oversight to promote accountability, build public trust, and ensure equitable policing practices in Sonoma County.”
The board’s bet is that the office can finish implementing Measure P by sitting down with the Sheriff’s Office rather than asking voters to re-arm the watchdog. To advocates, that is the same posture that left parts of the measure unenforced in the first place — and “as written” glosses over the chunks the state labor board already struck.
Frequently asked questions
What is Measure P?
A 2020 Sonoma County ballot initiative, passed with 64.7% of the vote, that expanded the powers of the county’s independent police-oversight office, IOLERO. It is also known as the Evelyn Cheatham Ordinance.
What is IOLERO?
The Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach, a county agency that audits the Sheriff’s Office, reviews complaints against deputies and conducts community outreach on policing. The county created it in 2015, two years after a sheriff’s deputy fatally shot 13-year-old Andy Lopez.
Why did Sonoma County drop the ballot measure?
County Executive David Guhin said IOLERO can fully implement Measure P through stronger collaboration with the Sheriff’s Office and county leadership, making a ballot fight unnecessary. Supervisors also cited a tight deadline to qualify language for the November election.
Who is the new interim IOLERO director?
Matthew Chavez, an attorney who has audited the Sheriff’s Office for IOLERO since 2022. He takes over Friday at a salary of $224,240, replacing John Alden, who left for a similar post in Marin County.
What happens to Measure P now?
It stays on the books but in a narrower form than voters approved, after the state labor board voided several provisions. The county says it will work with the Sheriff’s Office to carry out what remains; the two sides are still awaiting word on whether the California Supreme Court will hear the subpoena case.