Supervisors OK ballot measure that would let them fire sheriff

In this file photo, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus and Undersheriff Dan Perea appear at a county Board of Supervisors meeting on Nov. 12. Post photo by Amelia Biscardi.

BY AMELIA BISCARDI
Daily Post Staff Writer

San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus wasn’t able yesterday (Tuesday, Dec. 3) to get the county supervisors to back off a ballot measure that asks voters to give supervisors the power to remove her.

Two attorneys representing Corpus, Christopher Ulrich and Thomas Mazzucco, showed up at Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting and asked the board to give them more time to review the claims of retaliation and abuses of power made in a report written by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell that was commissioned by the board.

The county is not paying Corpus’ attorneys, according to County Attorney John Nibbelin.

Corpus had sent a letter to the board on Monday night, saying Cordell’s report had “no semblance of due process, open and transparent actions or an opportunity for the public to weigh in.”

However, Corpus turned down Cordell’s invitation to respond to the allegations.

The board voted 3-0 Tuesday to invite Corpus to come with her attorneys and provide sworn testimony at the Dec. 10 board meeting to give her version of events. Supervisor Noelia Corzo abstained from the vote. David Canepa was absent.

“I’m again extremely concerned that even under oath, our sheriff will use this platform to continue to lie,” Corzo said.

Corzo and Mueller, who introduced the ballot measure, said that the removal of a sheriff would only be with “cause,” which they defined as a neglect of duties, obstruction of investigations, violation of laws related to their duties and misappropriation of public funds.

Supervisors voted 4-0, with Canepa absent, to put the matter on the March 4 ballot. The board has until Dec. 11 to pull the measure.

Nibbelin warned that the two sides in the recall campaign cannot use any type of government resources, including newsletters and letterheads.

Using county letterheads and mailing privileges has been a problem in San Mateo County. Three years ago Jose Nunez, a vice chancellor in the San Mateo County Community College District, was indicted for using college district resources to campaign for a member of the district’s board and to support a statewide proposition. He copped a plea to the charges but won’t be sentenced until he testifies against former college chancellor Ron Galatolo, who is facing charges including bribery.

Corpus launched a newsletter on Nov. 25, two years after she became sheriff. In a press release announcing the newsletter, Corpus states: “At the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, we believe transparency and information sharing are essential pieces for building trust within our communities and improving public safety.”

Tuesday’s meeting came after two of the sheriff’s unions alleged in a state filing that Corpus’ former chief of staff Victor Aenlle attempted to intimidate them.

The unions representing deputies and sergeants have been critical of Aenlle and Corpus over mandatory overtime policies and what the unions claim are anti-union actions by Aenlle. He denies the allegations.

The unions said they received a letter Oct. 4 from Los Angeles attorney Deborah Drooz, demanding they “retract their falsehoods” or face a lawsuit. The letter caused union officials to believe they couldn’t effectively tell union members about what was going on in the sheriff’s office. The unions filed with the state Public Employment Relations Board, which arbitrates disputes between government agencies and their unions.

This allegation against Aenlle is added alongside another complaint on Aug. 30 that focused on a then-new overtime policy the unions allege did not include them before implementation.

Corpus has repeatedly refused calls for her resignation that have come from the board and local, state and federal leaders such as U.S. Reps. Kevin Mullin and Anna Eshoo, state Sen. Josh Becker, and Assembly members Marc Berman and Diane Papan.

San Carlos City Council has also held a vote of no confidence. The sheriff’s office is that town’s police force.

Since Corpus took office in 2023, more than 100 sworn employees have left the sheriff’s office and she was the subject of votes of no confidence from the unions representing her department’s deputies, sergeants and lieutenants. Her term is up in 2028.

9 Comments

  1. Interesting how the BOS and the County Attorney acknowledge this will most likely not stand up to legal scrutiny, but they are willing to spend over two million dollars for a special election.

  2. The BOS unfortunately has limited options. They have a responsibility to do something based on the unfathomable and dangerous behavior from the Sheriff and tyrant Mr. Aenlle. Perhaps the BOS are applying pressure so the Sheriff, in hopes if she had any morals would step down rather then cost the taxpayers millions.
    I believe the voters should have a say in this and we will via the charter. Based on Corpus mental state, we can’t wait.
    It’s a start and a loud cry for help. This is not a power grab, they clearly don’t want to be in this position. Get help Corpus and do the right thing.

  3. Hopefully, the new lawyer will slap her silly and awaken her to get a retirement package. Stop the nonsense and charade. This is negligence and pure misconduct. A lot of misses here- misappropriating funds, mismanagement, missing the boat in every scenario. Abandon the ship Corpus you lose. Stop paying people to defend you at the BOS meetings noone believes you. Personally I don’t care about who wears a nose ring and more about false arrests and retaliation!

  4. A recall takes too long and is more costly than then the charter amendment . The board of supervisors has proven to be a group of ethical leaders whose mission is to not back down in the face of corruption . Canepa did worry me because he talks a lot sometimes without saying much. I hope him being absent isn’t him getting weak. I hope he continues to stay strong like the rest of them .

    By the way , can someone please tell me why Victor Aenlle’s name, photo w/ title of Chief Of Staff still posted on the San Mateo County Sheriff website? He probably won’t let the sheriff order it to be removed.. but come on. Very unprofessional and frankly pathetic.

    • Because on the website and not collecting a paycheck and not allowed in the county building – Victor will continue to direct the sheriff. Maybe the corpus attorney will set her straight and get her to quit. Noone supports you anymore Corpus

      Hopefully the weak attorney general wakes up too

  5. This is very good news however , Corpus is holding out for a huge paycheck to get out because she knows it is cheaper for the county than a recall. So disgraceful on her part. We have a sheriff who is ,by all accounts in an indecent relationship with a married man, unqualified man who she hired and let cause complete chaos
    She has lied so many times she can’t keep track.

    It has been confirmed that the homophobic texts came from her phone. So much for being a sheriff of change.

    I wonder why Channel 7 ABC softball Dan Noyes who is reportedly friends with Christina and Vic won’t dare ask her about that. Stop giving this corrupt sheriff a platform to spew her lies. Let’s do the charter and get it over with.

  6. ABC 7 News is reporting that Corpus declined the BOS’s invitation to testify under oath. Wasn’t “transparency and accountability” one of her campaign promises when she ran for Sheriff?

  7. The current BOS have made it clear where they stand regarding the need to terminate Corpus. But what about the two Supervisor-elect; Gauthier and Speier. They both have been silent during this circus. If the amendment passes, the BOS needs 4 out of 5 supervisors to terminate Corpus. Where do they stand on Corpusgate?

  8. If everyone could stop for a second and ask a few questions.

    When elected can/should anyone be above the law and be able to continue with choices that impact public safety, tax payer money and morale of any place of business?

    How many charter counties are there in California? In non Charter counties what would happen to the Sheriff?

    When a police chief has performance issues who has oversight?

    So let’s ponder on those thoughts. Here we have a San Mateo Sheriff who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do an organizational assessment. That assessment told her to that Aenlle was overstepping and causing issues and that the department needed to have the initial undersheriff and assistant sheriff more involved and making decisons. Corpus ignored this assessment,lost the Undersheriff and then has gone through multiple restructures while lacking respect from personal choices which she allowed to disintegrate the Sheriff office. Corpus then fired the Assistant Sheriff and started on an unprofessional turn for the worst. All of this because of a man she defends to death.

    Now let’s ask again. How long do you continue to sit and watch this unfold. The public display of interviews crying I’m latino and female have got to stop. Look up what votes of no confidence mean. There are thousands of people that work at the Sheriff office- ALL departments from deputy to sergeant to captain ALL have filed votes of no confidence. The Sheriff has turned her back on them, they are suing her for unfair labor practices. The state and federal legislatures and mayors and Board of Supervisors have filed votes of no confidence. OVERWHELMING everyone is disgusted with the Sheriff’s behavior. This is not about color and race. This is about corruption.

    Leaving you with this thought. Why is it so important for the Sheriff to risk her career to defend Aenlle. He is a real estate agent that is not qualified for this job. Aenlle is inexperienced in how to legally run a large agency that has unions, rules and procedures. Aenlle has some sort of power issues that impacted his ability to be hired for anything other than a volunteer unpaid reserve. How is then that Aenlle get’s a pass from the Sheriff to not work his way up the ranks. Noone respects him. This isn’t about a good old boys clud, what this reflects is the inability of the Sheriff to put her job, department and county first ahead of a man, Aenlle. The Sheriff has made it clear there are no impartial rules for Aenlle to follow, she has given him a hall pass to run around doing whatever, saying whatever, pulling over who ever, ordering riffles, ordering personal around. This is disgraceful to all of the sworn officers, females, males of any color and race.

    Any other person would have been put on admin leave during an investigation. Instead Corpus turns a blind eye and has 100% created this legal battle herself. Shame on you Corpus.

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