BY AMELIA BISCARDI
Daily Post Staff Writer
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Thursday confirmed a report in Monday’s Daily Post that it has hired a former judge LaDoris Cordell to investigate a growing number of complaints by employees of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. The announcement comes three days after employees voted overwhelmingly to declare they had no confidence in Sheriff’s Chief of Staff Victor Anelle.
Cordell, a former superior court judge, was previously San Jose’s police auditor. She served on a commission reviewing the Santa Clara County jail after deputies there beat an inmate to death in 2015.
The supervisors say they expected Cordell’s report to be completed soon, though they didn’t define “soon.” The statement by the supervisors said they are “committed to keeping you informed of any significant findings.”
The statement issued Thursday by the supervisors was the first public acknowledgment by the five-member board that it was taking an interest the problems in the sheriff’s office. The office is understaffed and Sheriff Christina Corpus is requiring deputies to put in overtime to cover all of the shifts.
When the Post learned of Cordell’s investigation last month, a reporter contacted Cordell and filed a public records act request with the San Mateo County Attorney’s office to get any contract between the county and Cordell.
Cordell said she had no comment. The county attorney’s office said it had no public records to release and couldn’t confirm if any documents existed.
It would be unusual for somebody in her position to work without a contract, and contracts are typically public documents under California law.
Assistant County Attorney David Silberman wrote to the Post that if his office did have such a document, they would be exempted from release.
David Loy, the legal director for the First Amendment Coalition, told the Post that Cordell was likely retained by the county as an attorney, making her contract exempt from the Public Records Act.
“The Court of Appeal has held that the attorney-client privilege can attach to an attorney’s investigation of alleged misconduct of a client’s official or employee,” Loy wrote to the Post.
The supervisors’ statement says supervisors Noelia Corzo and Ray Mueller have been picked by the rest of the board to speak on behalf of the three other elected officials.
However, when contacted by the Post yesterday, Mueller said he will not be commenting on the matter until Cordell completes her investigation. Supervisor Corzo has not responded to the Post’s request for comments.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Christina Corpus fired back at the deputy and sergeant’s unions’ vote of no confidence in her Chief of Staff Victor Aenlle.
Corpus responded to the Deputy Sheriff’s Association and Organization of Sheriff Sergeants in an email yesterday to the public calling the vote of no confidence bullying.
“This vote is nothing more than a political stunt led by a few insiders seeking to divide this office,” Corpus said in the email. “It has no legal bearing and changes nothing. I appointed my Chief of Staff and he will remain in that position.”
“I don’t think that’s bullying,” Supervisor David Canepa said. “I look at it from a different lens, I look at it from a lens of, this is feedback, there’s concern, what am I going to do to address it.”
Canepa said Corpus needs to look at this union vote seriously and make decisions accordingly.
“Everyone is throwing things at each other,” Canepa said. “You’re the leader of this organization, let’s sit down, right away. Let’s lock everyone in a room and let’s figure it out.”
The Sheriff’s Department according to their website has over 800 officers. And out of the 318 union members who voted, only 12 disagreed with the vote of no confidence.
A no-confidence vote holds no legal standing.
“If that’s not a clear condemnation of the Sheriff and Victor Aenlle, I don’t know what is,” said Canepa.
The unions plan on holding a press conference Tuesday.
The unions claim that Aenlle, who is a civilian, has been seen on numerous occasions wearing a “Chief of Staff” badge embossed with the number “1.” The unions point out that Aenlle is only a re-serve deputy and that gold badges are reserved for full-fledged “sworn” deputy sheriffs.
The union also says Aenlle, is ignoring the sheriff’s organizational chart and has inserted himself into investigations despite his lack of experience.
“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 Post emailed Aenlle to get his side of the story over the weekend, and he said, “Providing a comment would be an exercise in futility.”
He also said, “For your benefit – I did respond to the DSA/OSS letter, and I’m sure it will be leaked to you shortly.”
Canepa said the sheriff is key to bringing both groups together. And this exchanging of press releases between the unions and sheriff’s office is not going to bring a solution.
“She is the elected sheriff, meaning she is elected by the people,” Canepa said. “At the same time, the hostilities and what is occurring is concerning me and others.”
It’s really time for the cute little doctor napoleon to be sent back to the land of Oz where the other munchkins live. He is an epically incompetent, narcissistic, unethical clown that should never be allowed to work in government. Let’s go board of supervisors, it’s time to do your job and remove him.
Mike, how was your kush detail yesterday. I think I saw you in there with the Doctor. Did you get a picture with Trump like I did?
Hi Michelle, yes I was hanging in the inner perimeter with cute little doctor Vicky esquire chief of staff. His exceptional law enforcement skills were used to have all of the sheriffs loser cronies getting easy jobs. It was so exciting. Fox, the cute little doctor and you got to take a picture with Trump. Remember our motto. It’s a sheriff you can trust but shouldn’t. I’ll see you on Monday unless you’re staying home to “work” remotely. Man I really hope the select few don’t get us kicked out of our kush jobs when my cute little daddy doctor gets removed. I wonder if he will let me keep his cute chief of staff badge. I hope the board of supervisors don’t figure out how unethical our little group is. Oh well good things must come to an end.
It was tons of fun. I was learning how to be a cop from little cute doctor Vicky esquire, chief of staff. I wonder if the secret service knew that a civilian doctor was running security for the Trump. Oh well. It’s just like a movie. Not real but looks cool. I bet you’re excited that Fox and you and the cute little doctor got to take pictures with Trump. See you tomorrow unless you’re “ working” from home. I was doing the math. I think all 12 of the people that voted against the vote of no confidence for doctor Vicky all got kush jobs in the inner perimeter.
It’s ironic that Sheriff Corpus is claiming that the no confidence vote is bullying, considering that is exactly what the good little doctor has been accused of by dozens of employees. It is becoming more apparent that the Sheriff is prepared to go down with the sinking ship known as her chief of staff rather than fix the problem by doing the right thing and removing Aenlle from any position of employment in the Sheriff’s Office.
I applaud the Board of Supervisors for hiring Judge Cordell to investigate the conduct of Aenlle and hopefully the conduct of the Sheriff and her executive and management team. The Sheriff recently released on social media a memo addressed to the citizens of San Mateo County where she described the actions of the OSS and DSA as political theater by a select few employees. The reality is, the vote was 306 supporting a vote of no confidence against Aenelle and 12 opposed to that position. That is not a select few. It is important to know that these two professional labor organizations are not radical anti administration activists. They are trusted law enforcement professionals who bravely serve our community every day. In the history of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office there has never been any actions that come close to this vote of no confidence or the filing of the PERB complaints. The two unions have tried to work in a non confrontational way to resolve these issues but their concerns have been ignored by Corpus and her team. Corpus Aenlle , Perea and Fox have no respect for the public servants that work for them and because of that, the clearly don’t care about the citizens that the Sheriffs Office staff serve. The staffing study that was previously conducted and now the investigation by Judge Cordell are great steps towards addressing this crisis. But they will only matter if the Board is transparent and releases these two reports and the details of the Redwood City substation lease to the public without redactions. If the Board fails to do that, then all of their public posturing about transparency with the residents they serve is nothing but lip service. The real solution is to recall Corpus and rid the Sheriff’s Office of her hand picked team of cronies that bully and disrespect the sworn and professional staff at the Sheriff’s Office. Sadly, I don’t think anyone has the courage to take that drastic action.
Hundreds of complaints, ignored HR issues. This is what elected officials are capable of doing. Will be millions of legal fees wasted. Peoples state and federal employee rights violated all so Christina keeps her boy toy in a position of undeserved power to terrorize staff. What a sad pathetic world we live in. Meanwhile, there is an Undersheriff Dan Parea who just jumped on the employment class action lawsuit train. I guess Christina only cares about herself. Karma will maybe prevail someday or maybe corrupt Sheriff’s just stay this way.
The union also says Aenlle, is ignoring the sheriff’s organizational chart and has inserted himself into investigations despite his lack of experience.
An example of this would be “Doctor” Aenlle overseeing the planning of President Trump’s visit yesterday [Portion removed — Terms of Use violation.]. Who decided that putting a trainee still in the training program on the inside perimeter sounds like a great idea…what could go wrong.
Board of Supervisors and County Manager the time has come to place the good “doctor” on administrative leave. If any other county employee had behaved in this manner they would have been place on leave and fired by now.
Is it Undersheriff Perea or Pariah? I think Pariah is more fitting.
Definition: An outcast. A person who is avoided or not accepted especially because he is not liked, respected, or trusted; an outcast.
They call him Undersheriff Borat. Watch your tone is his money line.
What the hell is going on, it’s so sad to see two incompetent individuals are allowed to ruin a well respected San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. What would Corpus and her puppet do if the deputies didn’t fill those empty slots on mandatory overtime . What goes around, comes around, maybe Corpus needs to fulfill her promises she made before she was voted in. Having three hundred deputies behind her and standing by her is worth so much more than some wimpy little man that wants to be someone he’s not. Throw Aenlle to the curb and bring in people who deserve and know how to run the Sheriff’s Office right!
I’m glad to see the good doctor was able to finagle his way to meeting Trump. I’m sure he told Trump how he and the sheriff used to be MAGA but had to switch to the Democrats in order for her to get elected. I’ll bet he asked Trump if he’d consider him to be Secretary of Homeland Security. He has ample experience. And what he doesn’t know, he could learn through an online college.
In addition to investigating the Redwood City substation fiasco, the Board of Supervisors needs to look further into Aenlle’s press announcement several months ago about acquiring a new SAL Halfmoon Bay location. Per ProPublica, SAL spent $480k more than it brought in during 22/23. How can a nonprofit fund the costs of renovations, rent, utilities, and staffing for an additional location when it is operating with a deficit?
While I agree with almost everyone that has commented, I respectfully disagree with the notion that if Aenelle is removed , Sheriff Corpus could rebuild the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Corpus is solely responsible for Aenelle, Fox and Perea’s conduct. I agree that there has been very questionable business practices including the SAL, Half Moon Bay transaction, the Redwood City Substation lease, going over budget with lavish upgrades and luxury furnishing at the new headquarters building. There has also been the preferential hiring of friends like Fox and Phillips instead of promoting qualified SMSO employees. Simply getting rid of Aenelle won’t fix the incompetence, lack of respect for the workforce and the potentially corrupt hiring and real estate transactions. Quite simply, Corpus and her team need to go so they can be replaced by professionals that have the experience and more importantly, the integrity to return San Mateo SO to the great agency it was before the amateurs took over. Recall Corpus now. Start the criminal investigations now. Stop this travesty now.
What kind of leader or human being says they don’t care about complaints to HR, that complaints are not legitimate that being treated inappropriately is just a political stunt and that Victor Aenlle is free to say and do anything he wants. Victor has a different set of rules than everyone else in the world? How does anyone think that is valid or ok? And how is that bullying? How do you ignore two different unions and say noone of them matter either?
Let me make this clear, the Sheriff has no intention of validating and complaints involving Victor Aenlle. Not only that but Sheriff Corpus will now say she is being bullied and victimize the victims? At what point does a complaint become valid in your eyes Sheriff? How far do you allow your staff Victor and Dan to flex their titles and disrespect your entire department? How long do you allow peoples rights to respect and dignity to be compromised? What kind of leader and terrible person allows this? Something is obviously wrong with this Sheriff to say this is because you are a latin female and wouldn’t happen to a man. Well last year when Chris Hsiung was employed none of these complaints transpired and you were a latin female then too. Now, you secretly and suddenly hire an incompetent buddy for Victor to direct and take away peoples rights?
I hope the class action lawsuit will catch your attention or maybe that doesn’t matter it’s not coming out of the pocket of the Sheriff. Noone complains about Victor or Dan or they will be shut down and humiliated. What about that sounds reasonable to allow this? What a shame this woman is to the spanish community, to female leaders and to protect rights of the county employees. Write your own emails and have your own backbone. Stop allowing a man to make you weak and subservient. What are you hiding? Will we find out soon?
For everyone who is wondering why Aenlle is still free to do whatever he wants, have you ever heard of the term, “Love is blind?”