BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
San Mateo County sheriff’s unions voted resoundingly to declare no confidence in Sheriff Christina Corpus’s chief of staff Victor Aenlle.
In the balloting Monday (Sept. 9), there were 318 total votes, with 306 votes in favor and 12 votes against, the boards of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association and the Organization of Sheriff’s Sergeants said in a message to their membership.
“At a time when the sheriff’s office faces challenges that are not unique to other law enforcement agencies, Victor is a unique and intolerable problem for this agency. His behavior and actions are actively hurting this agency,” said a letter by the two union boards before the vote.
The unions said they will hold a press conference about the vote on Tuesday.
A no-confidence vote doesn’t have any legal ramifications, but can have political ones.
The two union boards explained their decision to seek the no-confidence vote in a letter last week.
The unions claim that Aenlle, who is a civilian, has been seen on numerous occasions wearing a gold badge typically worn by full-fledged “sworn” deputy sheriffs. Aenlle was a reserve officer before joining the sheriff’s executive team.
“It appears to be an attempt to elevate himself to a position of authority that he has not earned,” the letter from the union board said The union said that Aenlle is requiring captains to report to him directly, ignoring the sheriff’s organizational chart. They say he has inserted himself into investigations.
The union boards said Aenlle’s personal behavior has been “reprehensible,” and that employees are afraid to cross him out of fear of retaliation.
“In one incident, he berated an employee during a goodbye party for her, causing her significant emotional distress and resulting in an HR complaint,” the letter said.
The unions said that Aenlle is refusing to provide crime lab personnel with rain coats for assignments outdoors.
“They are currently sharing one rain jacket when they are on call,” the letter said.
Aenlle declined an interview about the letter over the weekend.
“Providing a comment would be an exercise in futility,” he said.
Aenlle added that he sent a response to the unions’ letter.
Corpus, who was elected in November 2022, has defended her chief of staff, saying that her employees have made assertions about Aenlle “that are simply not true.”
“I’m going to call this what it is, character assassination. It is wrong and it needs to stop,” Corpus said in a message to her staff on Monday.
Aenlle “has demonstrated the highest levels of professionalism and competence,” she said.
“I firmly believe these recent and strategic attacks on my Executive Team do not represent the majority of our organization,” Corpus said.
“Moving forward, I am calling on the political theater to stop. I want to make it crystal clear: I will continue to follow through on my commitment to the voters of San Mateo County to change this office for the better, to provide public safety that is equitable, and to achieve transparency and accountablity,” Corpus wrote.