SO-SO RANK FOR SHERIFF'S CAPTAIN DEPUTIES SURVEY CALLED `NONSENSE'.

Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Local sheriff's deputies gave station commander Capt. Patti Minutello a lukewarm ``satisfactory'' rating in their annual performance survey revealed this week.

Minutello was criticized for failing to interact with deputies, missing briefings and exhibiting poor leadership skills, according to the ratings compiled by the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, a bargaining unit that represents rank-and-file deputies.

Deputies responded that Minutello, appointed station commander in April 2003, enters the station through the back door of her office to avoid staff members.

Minutello, a 32-year veteran of the department who started her career as a patrol deputy at the Santa Clarita station, is out on medical leave. She did not return calls seeking comment.

ALADS President Steve Remige said that the group aims to collect at least one-third of the surveys from deputies before a captain is rated. He would not reveal how many surveys were distributed or collected, but said some of the most disgruntled employees were the first to return their surveys. The union has been compiling the ratings for the last six years.

Minutello has never ranked higher than satisfactory.

``Every year the deputies are rated by their supervisors,'' Remige said. ``But when does a deputy ever get to rate their supervisor? Never.''

Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste said the city contract with the captain, who serves as chief of police for the city, is monitored by the city manager. The City Council has never been given the survey results.

``I don't know if he sees that information,'' she said, referring to the survey. ``His focus is to make sure that the contract is being met to the satisfaction of the city.''

Minutello's supervisor, Chief Neil Tyler, dismissed the findings.

``I give zero weight to the survey because of the incredible amount of mean-spirited, nonconstructive vitriolic nonsense, both those things written by deputies and the editorialized version by ALADS,'' Tyler said.

``No manager in this department puts any stock in this, not have we ever given it credibility because ALADS has never shared with the Sheriff's Department anything about their research methodology. We have no idea how big the sample size is. Even if we knew, the spirit in which this is offered has always had sexist undertones and been very unfair.''

One of eight captains ranked outstanding is a woman; no women were among the 12 captains ranked ``very good;'' Minutello was the only woman among the 14 ``satisfactory'' commanders; one in eight ranked ``needs improvement is female; and the sole ``unsatisfactory'' ranking went to a male captain.

Tyler said that he does look at the report, starting at the lowest ranking and working backward to see if any of those in his command are being trashed.

``I make sure they know I put no stock in this,'' he said. ``I recognize perfectly well that there is some validity in having the input of subordinates in assessing a supervisor, but this isn't the way to do it.''

Lancaster Capt. Carl Deeley, who worked in Santa Clarita as a lieutenant, was rated ``outstanding,'' the highest rank possible in the survey.

``I am very happy with all eight of the captains in Region I,'' Tyler said. ``I'm proud of Carl, but to compare Carl to Patti is hopeless. I don't know who they (survey respondents) are, why they would be so vicious and why anyone could consider this constructive.''

Tyler said that division chiefs have several ways of learning how captains are doing in their stations without relying on an anonymous survey.

``We in the Sheriff's Department have simple, straightforward core values that include respect for other people,'' he said. ``I'm not comfortable putting any stock in something that spits on the core values.''

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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