Mayor Lee has reportedly given Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi until 5 PM today to resign or to face official misconduct charges, but his lawyer has told the Associated Press that as far as she knows, he won’t be stepping down.
The Chron cites unnamed sources in their report on the 24-hour ultimatum, which the paper says was handed down after a meeting between the two Monday afternoon.
Mirkarimi went into the mayor’s office at around 4 PM Monday for a brief meeting with Lee.
After about 15 minutes, Mirkarimi briskly walked out of a side door of the mayor’s office on the second floor of City Hall and up the stairs to his office on the fourth floor. He declined to talk about the meeting to reporters who ran after him.
“It’d be premature for me to talk,” he said.
Mayoral spokesman Francis Tsang also declined to say what was discussed at the meeting, but said Lee plans to make an announcement about the case on Tuesday.
In a press release sent this afternoon by Lee’s office, the mayor is scheduled “to make (an) announcement regarding Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi” at 5 PM today, from his office in City Hall.
If Mirkarimi is charged with misconduct, he’d be suspended immediately. An interim sheriff, appointed by the mayor, would remain in place as misconduct proceedings move forward.
In a report published at around 3:45 today, Mirkarimi’s lawyer, Lidia Stiglich said “I’m not aware of any plans for the sheriff to resign…I’m disappointed it’s proceeding in this fashion. I think it should be left to the voters.”
According to the Chron, Mirkarimi is expected to make a statement on his plans later this afternoon.
ABC7 notes that Mirkarimi was not at City Hall today.
They quote a spokesperson of his as saying that “he will not be stepping down as sheriff.”
Meanwhile, a much-anticipated press conference called this afternoon by Mirkarimi’s wife, Eleana Lopez fizzled as, KRON4 reports, Lopez failed to show up.
Her attorney, Paula Canny, told reporters that Lopez “is suffering from ‘terrible anxiety,'” and “is ‘traumatized’ by the media coverage of the case.”
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