BY DAVE PRICE
Daily Post Editor
I’d like to respond today to the arguments I think San Mateo County Christina Corpus will make in an attempt to convince voters to reject Measure A. Measure A is a county charter amendment which would give the five-member Board of Supervisors the power to remove a sheriff in a four-fifths vote. Ballots for the measure will go out early next month and they’re due March 4.
Corpus, who was elected in 2022, was the subject of an investigation by former Judge LaDoris Cordell, who talked to more than 40 witnesses. Cordell, who doesn’t have a dog in the fight, found evidence of nepotism, racism, homophobia, abuse of power, retaliation, conflicts of interest and lies. The county supervisors want the power to remove Corpus from office.
The race and gender argument
Corpus says that the supervisors are against her because she’s a Latina. But one of those five supervisors, Noelia Corzo, is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants. Both the county Democratic Party and the county LatinX Club voted to support Measure A.
Power grab
Corpus says Measure A is a “power grab” by the supervisors. But that’s false. The temporary charter amendment sunsets in 2028, the length of Corpus’ term. The supervisors’ power to remove a sheriff won’t be permanent.
Charter amendment is illegal
She also says that it’s illegal for the county to amend its charter to allow the supervisors to remove a sheriff. But case law shows otherwise.
In 2002, San Bernardino County’s supervisors amended their charter to require a four-fifths vote to remove the sheriff. The sheriff at that time, Gary Penrod, challenged it in court and lost in the appeals court. (See Penrod v. County of San Bernardino, 126 Cal.App.4th 185)
Twenty years later, the Los Angeles County supervisors put a similar four-fifths requirement on the November 2022 ballot and it passed with 72% of the vote.
At the time, Alex Villanueva was sheriff, and he was accused of obstructing police brutality investigations and allowing his officers to form gangs.
In the same election, Villanueva was up for re-election but lost to former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna, 61%-39%. I couldn’t find any case challenging the Los Angeles County amendment.
Erwin Chemerinsky, a leading scholar in constitutional law and dean of UC-Berkeley School of Law, called the charter amendment requiring a four-fifths vote a “desirable reform.”
“There must be some method of accountability for the sheriff,” Chemerinsky told the Los Angeles Times. “This would create an essential mechanism for accountability and a remedy in egregious situations.”
What about a recall?
Some say that the way to remove a sheriff is through a recall. But that could take a year, and this is an emergency situation.
She’s shown terrible judgment. We need a sheriff with good judgment at the helm to handle emergencies. A sheriff should be capable of making important decisions quickly.
Based on what I’ve seen, she’s not able to lead the sheriff’s response to situations like a school shooter, an airliner crash, a large-scale hazardous materials spill, or a massive wildfire in which the sheriff would be in charge of evacuations.
And we can’t afford more incidents involving sheriff’s officer employees that will lead to lawsuits. In the past two years, Judge Cordell has found several credible instances of harassment. She’s fired Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan in retaliation for speaking to Cordell. Monaghan’s firing was so egregious it was blocked by County Manager Mike Callagy.
Five people have died in the jail on her watch. That needs to be addressed immediately. How many more people will die while we wait for a recall?
The sheriff’s office is barely functioning. The deputies, sergeants, lieutenants and captains have declared they have no confidence in her. Civilian employees are in fear for their safety, Cordell found.
So next time you hear an opponent of Measure A give one of their arguments, you can respond to them using the information in this column.
Editor Dave Price’s column appears on Mondays.
People also need to be aware that there are 58 California counties 44 are considered General Counties and 14 are charter counties.
General counties allow a 4/5 board of supervisor vote to remove a sheriff.
Charter counties currently only allow a Atty General, Grand Jury or a recall election. This amendment for Measure A follows suit with general counties and is faster and less expensive than any of the current options.
Obviously, California needs to revisit how much power elected officials have especially when there is misconduct. Such powers cost tax payers millions of wasted dollars and wasted time with incompetent leaders in place.
Currently this Sheriff is directly impacting over 800 employees lives, their careers in cases where they are demoted, fired or falsely arrested .this impacts families and the everyday public duties due to stress. People are quitting!or retiring.
Looking at data that reflects people hired at the Sheriff office doesn’t take into account people leaving and overall staffing. Reading sheriif memos or her abc7 interviews don’t address ANY resolutions to issues that are now lawsuits pending and misappropriated funds- abuse of power and misconduct.
I believe, you omitted the fact that four out of five San Mateo Board of Supervisors will have the power to remove the San Mateo County Sheriff for whom the people voted. That is what prop A is about. No?
What was the hurry? Why not vote for a recall the correct way? Please, don’t rush me, take my vote for or against Sheriff Corpus and tell me it’s for my own good.
No thank you. No way on A.
This article is barely more than one one-sided opinions and resources. That’s my opinion Thank you.
Jim, did you happen to notice the word OPINION at the top? So, yeah, dummy, it’s going to be “one sided”
Terrific opinion! Perhaps one way to look at it may be that the best news is the ability to vote in any and all public elections. As mentioned in the Millbrae Council meeting last night, there is absolutely more than one side to pretty much every story, or assertion.
I prefer the Grand Jury (GJ) option personally. In the GJ process for elected and appointed officials, the metric is merely willful misconduct. Once the accusations are found to be true, the resolution is removal from office. My belief is that public officials who engage in willful misconduct do so risking their elected, or appointed, positions.
I see that as where we are now. Multiple options. To vote or not to vote. To decide or to abstain from any decision. To pick correctly or to pick incorrectly. We are fortunate to be in a land where people can respectfully agree to disagree, within the parameters of the law of the land.
What I would like to know outside of Corpus’ argument that she will make in opposition if Measure A is what commitment will she be making to our community of people who are in fear of ICE and possible deportation. Our community is a blend of different cultures, with one being predominantly Latino. Corpus what will be your stance with ICE entering schools, questioning the people in our community of San Mateo County? Why haven’t you spoken to this sentiment as someone who claims our people can trust? Because it appears that those who did not vote for you, myself included, were onto something with your ex-husband’s confederate tattoo and your abrupt change in switching to the Democratic Party. How about leave your dog and boyfriend at home and come into the office and work for the people in this community and the Sheriff’s Department.
I confess that I don’t know enough about this issue to form an opinion. However, I think Christina should absolutely change her first name to Habeas.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! No on A and yes on love! I love you Victor!
Christina messed up hiring her lover to work beside her; however that whole sheriff work-place is corrupted because they got a chance to take her out before she was going to take them all down. Well, good try, but know we have to wait for the next sheriff to try and fix things in there and take out all those careerists.
I thought we were going to read what she purposed in court on Wednesday … I want to know