A months-long lawsuit brought by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office against the City of La Mesa, California, ended last month with La Mesa releasing the personnel records for Sgt. Kent Vander Kamp, a candidate for DCSO’s top spot.
The release follows a public records request by DCSO to obtain Vander Kamp’s personnel file after DCSO learned he had worked at La Mesa PD, a position Vander Kamp did not disclose on his 2004 application at DCSO, according to court documents. Court records show that Vander Kamp was a part-time reserve officer from 1995-1997 at La Mesa PD.
Cory Briggs, attorney for DCSO in the case against La Mesa, confirmed that his office received the “full file” from the city. Staff at La Mesa’s city attorney’s office also confirmed that the personnel records were sent to Briggs’ office after a Sept. 13 hearing in San Diego Superior Court. What is in the file remains unknown to the public. However, in his declaration to the court, Briggs argued that Vander Kamp was discharged for cause following an internal investigation and that the results were kept by La Mesa as a permanent record, per its policy, and should be made public.
At the Sept. 13 hearing, Jude Loren Freestone confirmed his earlier tentative ruling “to grant Plaintiff/Petitioner Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office’s motion for disclosure,” and that Vander Kamp’s waiver to have previous employment information disclosed to DCSO when applying to the office was valid in this case, according to court documents. The court ruled that La Mesa was to provide the documents by Monday, Sept. 16.
The Source Weekly obtained a copy of email correspondence to Briggs from La Mesa’s attorney on the case, Cory Lacy, indicating attached personnel documents. According to the titles of the attachments in the email, these included multiple memos about Vander Kamp from January 1996. The Source did not receive a copy of the files and a public records request to the City of La Mesa is pending.
Vander Kamp previously said he would make the personnel records public, but his attorney says that despite requesting a copy in August, Vander Kamp has not received the file in question. Calls and emails to Vander Kamp have not been returned.
Retiring Sheriff Shane Nelson initiated an internal investigation into Vander Kamp earlier this year following a complaint against him by Mandi Puckett, former executive director at CLEAR Alliance. A tort claim notice filed by Vander Kamp on Sept. 4 stated that he was looking into filing a complaint for discrimination and political retaliation against him. Nelson is on the record as supporting the other candidate for sheriff, William Bailey, and has a history of accusations by former employees of similar intimidation.
—This story is powered by the Lay It Out Foundation, the nonprofit with a mission of promoting deep reporting and investigative journalism in Central Oregon. Learn more and be part of this important work by visiting layitoutfoundation.org.
This article appears in Oct 2-9, 2024.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Such a sad, pathetic, and dishonorable legacy Shane Nelson will leave us when he finally walks out the door at DCSO for the last time as Sheriff.
The exploitation of Mandi Puckett’s self-described personal issues which led to her resignation at CLEAR Alliance plus a handsome payout, with DCSO the only agency that chose to pursue her complaints about Kent Vander Kamp, all for the purpose of propping up Shane’s preferred successor is disgusting.
And clearly whatever occurred with Vander Kamp, a 20-some year old unpaid reserve officer in La Mesa, California, nearly 30 years ago, did not suspend his California POST certification as confirmed now months ago.
Should Vander Kamp have gotten out in front of this when it was first made public? Yes, he should have. But then, Captain/candidate William Bailey should be held to the same standard as we now know he hid a history of financial troubles to include Chapter 7 bankruptcy from his employer, and his agency released military discharge document (DD214) from the Coast Guard shows he was separated from service, 2nd enlistment, in under 180 days. Bailey has yet to honestly and openly reveal why the Coast Guard cut him loose, and why the DCSO Legal team redacted the explanation codes that would tell the voter why from this federal document.
But here’s the now new question – as Nelson’s letter to La Mesa offered his concern about Vander Kamp having been placed on a Brady list at La Mesa…a list DCSO itself does not maintain contrary to Brady Doctrine and law – Nelson has opened the the door to a slew of tort notices and civil suits, not to mention court reviews of cases Vander Kamp was involved with for the past 20 years, by defense lawyers and convicted / imprisoned criminals. The basis for this is Brady Law – which DCSO is responsible to adhere to including background investigations for potential new hires such as Vander Kamp in 2004.
And if / when this happens guess who will foot the bill for such payouts if they are upheld? The Deschutes County voter and taxpayer, that’s who.
Between Bill Bailey and Kent Vander Kamp, given what I know from now months of researching this entire shameful debacle, my vote goes to Vander Kamp. If Bill Bailey is Shane Nelson’s “golden boy” with all the damage Shane has done to this agency – then Vander Kamp deserves the opportunity to clean up the mess Shane Nelson will leave behind when he skips out the door in January.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/local-wound…
I would like to know the degree of William Bailey’s involvement in the Kevin Dahlgren affair. Without a background check, DSCO gave Dahlgren at least $18,000 in tax dollars to write an error-riddled report that undermined the local service provider community and attacked the concept of Housing First. Dahlgren currently is facing multiple charges of theft and identity theft.
Sgt. Kent Vander Kamp is the enlightened candidate in this race. He won me over just by saying the words “stable housing.” His election would mark a refreshing change from the old guard at DCSO.