The other side of the story: Sheriff’s chief of staff Aenlle gives his side of the unions’ allegations

This story first appeared in the Daily Post on Oct. 30. If you want important local news stories first, pick up the Daily Post in the morning at 1,000 Mid-Peninsula locations.

BY DAVE PRICE
Daily Post Editor

Victor Aenlle, the chief of staff for San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus, said in an interview that he’s the target of a “witch hunt” by the unions representing deputies and sergeants.

Previously, Aenlle has declined to comment to the Post about allegations by the unions. But on Monday he agreed to an interview to give his side of the story. He flatly denied claims that he has had an affair with the sheriff.

And he said he wouldn’t have a problem if the county were to release a report former judge LaDoris Cordell is writing about him.

Aenlle said he and the sheriff are trying to change the culture of the sheriff’s office that will benefit their employees and bring more equity to the public. But he said the unions have targeted him in response. And he isn’t being treated fairly by the county administration either.

“It’s a witch hunt,” he said. And he said it’s political.

Credentials

He said the unions have sought to undermine him by questioning his credentials. Before he was hired by Corpus, he had served as a volunteer reserve deputy for 16 years. As a reservist, he is a “sworn” officer — an important distinction in law enforcement — and holds a certification with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST.

He said he wanted to become a full-time deputy and went through the Field Training Officer program.

“I was already patrolling by myself. I was already covering shifts from when deputies were sick,” Aenlle said. “I was already taking my own cases. I basically I had already passed a full time FTO.”

Aenlle said he has documentation that shows he passed the FTO program. But still he wasn’t hired as a full-time deputy. “It was definitely politically motivated. And that (left) a little sour taste in my mouth and that’s why I never came back as full time.”

He said former sheriff Carlos Bolanos, who was undersheriff at the time under then-Sheriff Greg Munks, held him back from becoming a full-timer. Corpus defeated Bolanos in 2022.

Aenlle said he continues to serve as a sworn reserve deputy. He also is a civilian chief of staff, which he said is in alignment with the position of assistant sheriff. He points out that other large sheriff’s offices in California have top-level civilian positions, so his job isn’t unusual.

The badge
The unions have made an issue out of a badge Aenlle wears that says “Chief of Staff.” Aenlle responded, “There are civilians that have a badge. It’s just for identification.”

Aenlle responded to the criticism that he isn’t qualified because he went from reserve deputy to the top level without holding positions in between.

“I can only assume that the people who asked that repeatedly are jealous that they couldn’t do it themselves,” Aenlle said.

He said he brings value and a different perspective to the sheriff’s office. His resume shows he has a master’s in organizational leadership and a doctorate in interdisciplinary studies, both from Union Institute & University in Sacramento.

“The sheriff just puts her team together with different talents that she feels will make her successful,” he said.

‘Shameless’ allegation

Aenlle denied that he is having a romantic affair with the sheriff.

“If the sheriff was a male, you wouldn’t be asking that question,” he said. “But I’ll answer it for you. I am not.”

Aenlle said he’s been married for over 30 years.

“This is just shameless to taint (Corpus’) reputation,” Aenlle said. “And, again, if she were a man, this question would not come up.”

He pointed out that since he started as a reserve deputy, he’s known Corpus and has always worked well with her. “When it was time to campaign, she knew of my talents, of my abilities and she asked for help,” he said.

“I am sold on her vision for this department … to really change the culture and provide equity in the services we provide.”

He added, “There’s never been a sheriff that’s done more for this department, for our community, for people who are incarcerated than this sheriff right now.”

The Cordell report

The county Board of Supervisors has hired former judge LaDoris Cordell, who had previously served as police auditor in San Jose, to write a report about complaints made against Aenlle.

Aenlle indicated that the complaints didn’t go through the county’s HR department and he wasn’t informed about them before they reached Cordell. The only complaint that has reached the public is the claim, made in a union document, that Aenlle be- rated a female employee at her retirement party. He pointed out that in the written complaint, it doesn’t say he berated or screamed at her. “If I did it, I’m sure it would be in the complaint, right?” he asked.

He said he also has numerous positive emails from that employee, saying he had been a “wonderful” boss. He said that she wrote, “You’ve always been very good to me.”

He lamented, “I still respect her. I don’t know why they put her up to this.”

Separation of powers

Cordell was hired by the County Executive Mike Callagy, but it is unclear what authority Callagy has over the sheriff’s office. He halted Corpus from firing Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan. But Callagy, who isn’t elected, doesn’t outrank the sheriff and can’t hire or fire a sheriff. Neither can the Board of Supervisors, according to the county charter. The sheriff is directly responsible for the voters.

“(The county executive) is not above the sheriff. He does not run this department,” Aenlle said. Cordell is expected to submit her report within days.

Aenlle said he found out about the investigation when it was brought up at a Board of Supervisors meeting. He said he hadn’t received any information about the allegations against him. However, he agreed to sit down with Cordell for more than two hours. He said the only allegation he was told about that he had “insinuated” his displeasure at an employee who supposedly wrote something against him and the sheriff.

He said an “insinuation” isn’t much of a complaint. He said the rest of the things he was asked about came from “whistleblower letters of people trying to cause harm to me and the sheriff.”

He said his critics are throwing things against a wall to see what will stick.

He said a number of employees supporting Aenlle asked to be interviewed by Cordell, but they were told there wasn’t time to interview them.

When the Post asked Aenlle if the Cordell report should be released publicly, he said “Why not?”

14 Comments

  1. “A seed grows with no sound, but a tree falls with a huge noise. Destruction has noise, but creation is quiet. This is the power of silence. Grow Silently” -Confucius (551–479 BC).

    Confucius was pretty focused on culture and self-cultivation of the people based on morals. In other words, wanting people to be more connected and working on themselves.

  2. “The sheriff just puts her team together with different talents that she feels will make her successful,” he said.

    If you consider the last 2 years a success then the coach and you should be fired.

  3. Knowing LaDoris for almost 40-years, I find it hard to believe she told employees wanting to speak in support of Aenlle that she didn’t have time to interview them. If Aenlle was interviewed for two hours, I’m sure the only allegation wasn’t an “insinuation”.
    Me thinks Aenlle thinks himself a despot.

  4. [Post removed — Terms of Use violation. You make a lot of allegations about why Aenlle didn’t pass his FTO test, but do you have proof of that? If you do, send it to the Daily Post at 385 Forest Ave. in Palo Alto and we’ll attempt to validate your claim.]

    • POST:
      Ask him to submit his daily observation reports. These are filled out by the trainer every day and the trainee signs them and is given a copy. The DOR’s will show the progress (or lack there of) and the final one will discuss his passing and being officially off training.

      • The timing of this interview is not surprising. There’s a report coming out soon, right?
        I second the request, POST please ask for the reports . I can tell you he won’t hand them over or he will omit all negative. The public is not stupid , the fact Aenlle was not hired as a full-time deputy should be very telling . It was not political , he simply wasn’t that important for that to be a reason . Perhaps there were some serious character flaws that came to light during his field training?
        Aenlle hit the jackpot when he met a vulnerable Christina Corpus. She was his portal to get where he was never able to go on his own merits.
        Change is most welcome at the SO but not when a self serving narcissist and a weak sheriff is at the helm.

  5. Demonization of the Other.

    Deflection, as perceived in psychology: According to Sigmund Freud, people use 12 defense mechanisms to protect themselves from difficult, anxiety-inducing thoughts. Deflection is one of these mechanisms.

    Deflecting typically appears in conflict situations, when a person is confronted with their mistakes. Instead of accepting responsibility and facing the uncomfortable situation head-on, the deflectors will try to move the focus from themselves, usually by passing the blame onto someone, or something, else. Everyone resorts to deflection from time to time, especially in childhood.

    However, when someone uses deflection constantly, and refuses to accept the consequences of their own actions, deflection can become pathological. It then affects not only the mental health of the deflector but also those with whom they interact. A deflecting colleague, at work for example, will typically try to avoid looking bad in front of superiors and shift the focus on another employee, saying that a bad outcome is actually the fault of the other(s). The main difference between deflection as a self-defense mechanism, and deflection as a manipulation technique is that narcissists lack empathy and, when they deflect the blame to the person who accused them in the first place, they try to increase their control over them.

    Quite often, deflection is followed by an attack because narcissists love being right all the time, and they’ll quickly start accusing individuals of things they may or may not have done. In some cases, narcissists can go beyond deflection and use gaslighting – a manipulation technique that involves questioning the other person’s experiences or reality.

    Sounds all too familiar as I read, and re-read, this side’s explanation!

  6. “I can only assume that the people who asked that repeatedly are jealous that they couldn’t do it themselves,” Aenlle said.

    No most people go through backgrounds and then pass FTO and promote up based on character and being competent.

    Unlike the realtor “wannabe cop” who ascended to greatness thanks to his “professional” relationship with the Sheriff.

  7. What I don’t hear is that Victor has any responsibility for any of the chaos at the Sheriff Office other than knowing change is hard. Change doesn’t mean mass chaos and putting down unions and firing executive and team members Christina picked and brought. Makes anyone wonder what else was colluding behind the scenes and why all of these timely press releases. Seems shady and manipulative.

    You aren’t an innocent participant and that’s what Victor wants everyone to believe.

  8. Funny, I thought he didn’t get hired BecauseCouldn’t pass The background investigation.

    Anybody that has been to interview an interrogation school can watch that video of his interview and see that he is blatantly lying.

    Let’s talk about the suppressed rifles that he ordered. Let’s talk About impersonating peace officer.

    I would say quit by you’re ahead Christina But it’s too late. Your facing Termination and prosecution.

  9. Gotta love these ABC7 news stories. Nothing like unbiased reporting. One takeaway…So long as Dan Noyes has a face, Christina and Victor will have a place to sit!

  10. People don’t realize you don’t just have a department wide investigation. When complaints are made you investigate the complaint and the people with involvement /knowledge are included. Otherwise it would jeopardize the integrity of the investigation. The allegations have been not proven but after 40 people interviewed they all said the same thing and had different experiences that revealed a huge problem. Also grew the concerns that Corpus won’t listen to ant complaints about Victor which is a huge issue to not be impartial to a problem employee. Also a huge problem that Corpus won’t take responsibility for any of this and continues to try to muddy the waters with issues that happened under a different administration years ago. These current issues all happened under corpus and victor and her staff she hired- not the board and elected officials out to get her. Unhealthy behaviors and corruption at its finest

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