SAN FRANCISCO – The fate of San Francisco’s embattled Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi remains in limbo, as the city’s Ethics Commission handed down its recommendation Thursday evening on the misconduct charges brought forth by Mayor Ed Lee.
In a four-to-one ruling, the body found that Mirkarimi committed official misconduct, although it did not reach a conclusion as to whether they should recommend to the Board of Supervisors that he be removed from office.
Of the six misconduct charges against the sheriff, the commissioners only found Mirkarimi guilty of one: physical violence against his wife, Eliana Lopez.
The Board of Supervisors will have the ultimate say on removing Mirkarimi, a former member of the Board himself, from his position atop the city’s Sheriff Department. For Lee to get his way, nine of the eleven Supervisors need to vote for removal.
The Ethics Commission’s decision came after a full day of closing statements from both Mirkarimi’s lawyers and representatives from the City Attorney’s office, as well as extensive and impassioned comments from members of the public.
