Investigation of San Mateo County Sheriff and Chief of Staff released (link to report included)

Here’s a link to the report written by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell about complaints lodged against San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus and Chief of Staff Victor Aenlle.

Cordell stated the following in her report: “Lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority are the hallmarks of the Corpus administration. Sheriff Corpus should step down and Victor Aenlle’s employment with the Sheriff’s Office should be terminated immediately. Nothing short of new leadership can save this organization that is in turmoil, and its personnel demoralized.”

County Supervisor Ray Mueller said that the Board of Supervisors will ask for Corpus’ resignation, and they plan to fire Aenlle. He said Cordell’s report will be forwarded to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, who would decide whether to bring charges. Mueller also said the case will be presented to the county’s civil grand jury, which has the authority to remove the sheriff.

Cordell was hired by the county Board of Supervisors to investigate the complaints about Aenlle.

Cordell says she interviewed 40 past and current sheriff’s employees and investigated 15 allegations “ranging from whether Mr.. Aenlle and Sheriff Corpus have a personal relationship beyond mere friendship, to retaliation and abuse of authority, to exploring Mr. Aenlle’s claim that he is a reserve deputy sheriff.”

The report highlighted the following allegations (the words below are verbatim from her report:

Allegation: Sheriff Corpus and Aenlle have a “personal relationship” that creates a conflict of interest.
Findings: Despite their denials, there is factual evidence that Sheriff Corpus and Victor Aenlle have a personal relationship, beyond mere friendship. In fact, the evidence establishes that they have had an intimate relationship. This relationship has led Sheriff Corpus to relinquish control of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office to Aenlle, someone who has far more experience as a Coldwell Banker associate real estate broker than he has in law enforcement. Sheriff Corpus violated the Office’s conflict of interest policy when she hired Aenlle; she violated the policy by having Aenlle directly report to her; and she violated the policy when she repeatedly recommended pay increases for him.
Sustained.

Allegation: Aenlle has not met the duty requirements for a Reserve Deputy Sheriff.
Findings: Aenlle is out of compliance with the requirements to maintain his status as a Level I Reserve Deputy because he claimed that his hours working as Executive Director also served as his volunteer duty hours required for Reserve Deputies.
Sustained.

Allegation: Sheriff Corpus and her Executive Team engage in retaliation and intimidation.
Findings: Fear of retaliation is rampant in the organization. In one instance, Sheriff Corpus fired an Assistant Sheriff for cooperating with this investigation. In another instance, the Sheriff improperly locked out a Captain when she had given notice of her resignation; and in yet another instance, Aenlle demeaned and criticized a female civilian employee for her decision to move to another agency. Other employees described similar retaliatory and abusive behaviors under Corpus/Aenlle’s leadership.
Sustained.

Allegation: Aenlle has exceeded and/or abused his authority with the approval of Sheriff Corpus. Findings: Aenlle exercises authority well beyond that of supervising civilian personnel. With the Sheriff’s approval, Aenlle has moved himself to the top of the Chain of Command so that he exercises wide-ranging and sometimes abusive authority over both civilian and sworn employees.
Sustained.

Allegation: Aenlle had a conflict of interest when negotiating the lease for the Broadway Property. Findings: Aenlle played a major role in securing a lease of property for a new substation brokered by Coldwell Banker Real Estate (“CBRE”). Aenlle, who is an associate broker with CBRE, had a conflict of interest and should not have participated in the lease negotiations. Sheriff Corpus knew or should have known of Aenlle’s connection to CBRE and should have removed Aenlle from participating in the transaction.
Sustained.

Allegation: Aenlle is not authorized to wear a badge that resembles the gold badges of sworn employees. Findings: Aenlle is a full-time, salaried civilian employee, not a full-time, salaried sworn peace officer. By wearing a gold badge, he has likely committed a misdemeanor for willfully wearing a facsimile badge that could deceive a civilian into believing he is a sworn officer with full police powers. Sheriff Corpus, by issuing the gold badge to Aenlle, may have committed a misdemeanor, as well.
Sustained.

Allegation: Sheriff Corpus has uttered and texted racial and homophobic slurs in the workplace. Findings: When Sheriff Corpus texted several homophobic slurs about a local city official to an employee, and when she uttered a racial slur in the presence of an employee, she violated the County’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy’s commitment to a workplace free of discrimination and harassment.
Sustained.

Cordell is a 1974 graduate of Stanford Law School. For five years, she practiced law in East Palo Alto, establishing herself as the first lawyer to open a private law practice there.

In 1978, she was appointed Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Stanford Law School, a job which she held in addition to her private law practice. During her four-year tenure at Stanford, Ms. Cordell was responsible for implementing a minority admissions program which resulted in the emergence of Stanford Law School as the leader in the nation in its enrollment of students of color, according to her biography.

In 1982, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Cordell to the Municipal Court of Santa Clara County, making her the first African American woman judge in northern California. During her tenure in the Municipal Court, she served as the Presiding Judge and as a Justice Pro Tem on the State Court of Appeal. In 1987, she was the first judge in the state to order convicted drunk drivers to install breath devices in their vehicles, thus making it impossible for these individuals to drink and drive.

In 1988, Judge Cordell overwhelmingly won election to the Superior Court of Santa Clara County. She was the first African American Superior Court Judge in the county’s history, and the first African American woman to sit on the Superior Court in northern California. She retired from the court in 2001.

In 2003, she won a seat on the Palo Alto City Council and served one term.

In 2010, she was hired as San Jose’s independent police auditor. The auditor is responsible for reviewing police department investigations of complaints against officers and make recommendations regarding department policies and procedures.

In 2015, she was picked to head a 25-member blue ribbon commission charged with investigating the troubled Santa Clara County Jail after the death of inmate Michael Tyree at the hands of three jailers.

Cordell hasn’t given her views on the Aenlle case, but last year the Mercury News asked her about the allegations against Alameda County District Pamela Price, who is facing a recall in next month’s election. Allegation against Price include that she hired her boyfriend to work in the D.A.’s office. “The county needs to have an anti-nepotism policy because everyone knows that nepotism is wrong,” The Merc quoted Price as saying on Sept. 17, 2023.