Opinion ID: 213397
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Additional Factors

Text: The majority argues that Bardzik had particular technical competence to serve as Reserve Division Commander. Maj. op. at 1147. The only evidence of this factor is Sheriff Carona's statement that Bardzik had skills, and Bardzik's assertion that the Reserve Division was running better than ever during his tenure as commander. These vague assertions are insufficient to draw an inference that Bardzik had particular technical competence. The majority further argues that Bardzik had vague and broad responsibilities. Maj. op. at 1146. Whatever generalities Sheriff Carona may have said to Bardzik about his duties as Reserve Division Commander, the record indicates that Bardzik's main duties involved monitoring reserve members' compliance with departmental policies, and ensuring that reserve resources were allocated where needed (this latter duty was diminished by the decentralization program, which allowed reserve members to be allocated without Bardzik's involvement). Contrary to the majority's assertion, these are not vague and broad responsibilities. The majority also points out that Bardzik had frequent and meaningful contact with the Sheriff, an elected official. Maj. op. at 1147-48. But the record makes clear that this contact happened when Bardzik was first appointed as Reserve Division Commander, and ended when a new Assistant Sheriff was assigned to the division in November 2004. The record is silent as to the extent of Bardzik's contact with Sheriff Carona once the new Assistant Sheriff came on board. Because every inference must be made in Bardzik's favor, we must assume that after November 2004 he no longer had frequent and meaningful contact with the Sheriff. Thus, in October 2005, when Sheriff Carona decided to retaliate against Bardzik by transferring him to Court Operations, there was no frequent and meaningful contact between the two, and that factor does not weigh in favor of Sheriff Carona. Finally, the majority argues that Bardzik was in a position to thwart the Sheriff's agenda, an additional factor not mentioned in Fazio. Maj. op. at 1148. The record, in fact, indicates that Bardzik was quite powerless to thwart the Sheriff. As the majority acknowledges, Bardzik tried to take badges away from the Sheriff's political allies, but the Sheriff stopped him from doing so. Maj. op. at 1148-49. Similarly, the Sheriff stopped Bardzik from sending memoranda to the reserve members regarding campaign solicitations. Maj. op. at 1149. With limited ability to communicate with the reserves supposedly under his command, and with no public presence or ability to speak on behalf of the department ( see Maj. op. at 1146), Bardzik was hardly in a position to do much political damage to the Sheriff. Perhaps Bardzik criticized the Sheriff openly, but so could any sheriff's deputy, whether policymaker or not. This factor does not support a finding that Bardzik was a policymaker.