Monterey Co. Sheriff Bernal’s first day in the office falls on last day of the year

There’s officially a new sheriff in town.

Wednesday was Monterey County Sheriff Steve Bernal’s first day.

“Just getting the office in order, trying to find my way around here,” Bernal said.

The walls are bare in his office but the agenda is anything but for the county’s top cop.

“There’s a deficit in the budget already; you know getting the jail back in order,” he said.

Bernal hired a new jail chief from San Bernadino, is pushing for a citizen’s advisory committee and all the while trying to shake off what he says his predecessor Scott Miller left behind.

“There’s a lot of fires we’re going to have to put out,” Bernal said.

One of them, a pending lawsuit filed by the Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Monterey County. It alleges Miller changed the way promotions are done in the department when he promoted six deputies to sergeants before leaving office.

“It just puts everybody in an awkward position to start out this year,” Bernal said.

He added it’s not a question of who was promoted, but how.

“I don’t know if we have the staffing to support that many promoted at one time,” he said.

The DSA chose not to comment on the suit, but said in part:

“We are optimistic and confident Sheriff Bernal will lead this office into the future in the most positive way. A way that is fair and just, not only for the community, but also for every member of the Sheriff’s Office,” said DSA President Scott Davis in a written statement.

Despite the juggling act associated with someone’s first day, Bernal’s mood suggested otherwise.

“I’m feeling on top of the world, feeling great,” Bernal said.

Davis said the pending lawsuit is up for a hearing Jan. 30.