RIVERSIDE - A divided county Board of Supervisors chose a former assistant sheriff to replace outgoing Sheriff Bob Doyle on Monday, capping a four-week debate that had become a referendum on Doyle's leadership.

Stan Sniff was director of field operations for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department - its third-in-command - until Doyle fired him late last year without public explanation. Three supervisors voted for Sniff's appointment Monday, saying a clear break from Doyle would elevate morale in the department. Sniff also had the support of the two unions representing the department's deputies and its middle management.

Undersheriff Neil Lingle - the department's No. 2 executive - also won some support from within the ranks, and from two supervisors who praised Doyle's policies and emphasized his landslide re-election in June 2006. Though Lingle sought Monday to emphasize his independence from Doyle, all five supervisors said they would view his rise to sheriff as a continuation - at least a symbolic one - of Doyle's administration.

"The 3,500 members of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department will see him as a representative of the status quo, and that, unfortunately, is a risk of taking a job offer as undersheriff," said Supervisor Jeff Stone, the first supervisor to voice support for Sniff.

Supervisors John Tavaglione and Marion Ashley backed Sniff's appointment Tuesday, but with the condition that the matter go back to the county's voters as soon as possible.

Under state law, the interim appointment is valid until January 2010. The county government's chief attorney said an earlier election would require the approval of the state Legislature, and supervisors said they intend to push for that.

Supervisors Bob Buster and Roy Wilson voted against Sniff's appointment, favoring Lingle. Just before the 3-2 vote, Stone read off a litany of grievances against Doyle, saying the sheriff had fostered cronyism, blocked input from other senior officers and cut off communication with Stone, a frequent critic.

Doyle wasn't at the special board session Monday. In an interview afterward, he called the charge of cronyism "just a lie."

Doyle announced Aug. 22 that he would leave the department to accept a nomination to the state's Board of Parole Hearings. Coming just seven months into his second term, the move stunned the supervisors and sparked a debate over who should succeed him. Assistant Sheriff Valerie Hill, former Assistant Sheriff John Boyd and Los Angeles police Lt. Craig Herron were also nominated for the position.

Of the board's decision, Doyle said later: "It is their decision to make and they made the decision. I wish them the best of luck."

More than a dozen residents weighed in on the process in a public hearing Monday morning before the supervisors interviewed the five candidates. Support split roughly equally among Sniff, Lingle and Hill.

Buster called Doyle's re-election - with more than 70 percent of the vote - a sign of tacit approval of Lingle, his second-in-command. He praised Doyle and Lingle for "basic, dogged police work."

"Having our sheriff validated by the voters is fundamental," Buster said. "You can't get away from it."

But Stone argued that Doyle had squelched dissent and promoted deputies based on their support for his re-election bid. Responding to a question Tuesday from Stone, Sniff suggested he had been fired because he represented competition for Doyle's anointed successor, whom several supervising officers later identified as Assistant Sheriff Michael Andrews.

"It had nothing to do with Bob Doyle," Sniff told supervisors Monday. "But it did have everything to do with a set agenda. I was a direct threat to that individual."

Sniff, Stone and Tavaglione criticized Doyle for the way he handled the firing in December. Doyle said Monday that the firing was "for cause," but said he couldn't discuss a personnel decision without Sniff's explicit permission. Sniff, a retired Army Reserve colonel and a 28-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, pledged Monday to throw open all his personnel records to public scrutiny.

Sniff had made no secret of his plans to run for sheriff in 2010. Doyle and Lingle had earlier indicated that they both planned to retire by then.

After the vote, Lingle walked briskly across Lemon Street without speaking to anyone.

Lingle said earlier Monday that, if appointed, he was all but certain he would step down after three years as sheriff. In a prepared address to supervisors, Lingle skirted direct criticism of Doyle, saying that he had always served as a loyal right-hand man to the elected sheriff.

"We've had one who has led from the front - period," Lingle said. "What we need is a collaborative approach."

Pitching himself for the position Monday, Lingle promised supervisors that he would consider merit over loyalty in all personnel decisions. He also promised to forbid deputies from making political contributions to sheriff campaigns and said he would complete his term without naming an undersheriff, in order to "level the playing field" for candidates in 2010.

Tavaglione praised Lingle's work as undersheriff but said Lingle hadn't "stepped up to the plate" quickly enough.

District Attorney Rod Pacheco said he thought Doyle was being unfairly maligned.

"I think people underestimate the work and the responsibilities in a job like this, be it a county supervisor, the sheriff or the D.A.," he said.

"I think the past three years have been particularly difficult on him," Pacheco said, alluding to the political confrontations. "This is a sad way for him to go out. He's done a lot of good things for the people of this county for many years."

Pacheco also praised Sniff, saying he expects he will work very well with the D.A.'s office.

"He'll make the effort to work well and closely with us. He'll understand that we are all equal partners" when it comes to public safety.

Sniff is scheduled to take office Oct. 13. He said Monday he plans to make few changes among the dozen members of the department's executive staff.

Sniff and Hill embraced after the vote Monday. Hill, 55, had told supervisors that Doyle had picked her to run the corrections division four years ago on the condition that she retire by November 2007, but Sniff and Hill said they would discuss the possibility of her staying.

Tavaglione, Stone and Ashley said Monday they were concerned that too many senior sheriff's officials have been retiring before their time.

- Staff writer John Hall contributed to this article. Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or cbagley@californian.com.