This story was originally published in the Friday morning print edition of the Daily Post. To get all of the important local news first, pick up the Post in the mornings at 1,000 Mid-Peninsula locations.
BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
The San Francisco police union has sent a letter to San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus telling her she’s not welcome at an event celebrating women on patrol.
Tracy McCray, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, said Corpus should “do the right thing for once” and stay home to work on her resume rather than attend the March 5 event.
McCray compared Corpus to a Third World dictator in a statement to the Post Thursday. “We are a union that is sickened by your lust for power,” McCray said in the letter.
The San Francisco police union noticed when Corpus arrested Deputy Carlos Tapia for alleged timecard fraud on the same day the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors released a bombshell report by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell on Corpus’ alleged mismanagement.
Tapia, president of the San Mateo County Deputy Sheriff’s union, made clerical errors on his timecard but didn’t commit a crime, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
Capt. Brian Philip resigned rather than arresting Tapia and is now suing Corpus and the county. Assistant Sheriff Matthew Fox quit two days after Tapia’s arrest.
The San Mateo County deputy’s union said the arrest wasn’t a coincidence, timed with Cordell’s report in retaliation against Tapia as a whistleblower.
Cordell’s report has become the basis for a special election on March 4, when voters will decide whether to give supervisors the power to remove Corpus.
Cordell’s report found Corpus “relinquished control” of the sheriff’s office to her lover and former Chief of Staff Victor Aenlle, a real estate broker who has left deputies demoralized by his paranoid obsession with loyalty, Cordell said.
“Nothing short of new leadership can save this organization that is in turmoil,” Cordell said in her report.
Corpus couldn’t be reached for comment. She has previously denied the allegations in the Cordell report and said her opponents are part of a “good old boys’ club” who are resistant to change.
Corpus, previously the captain in Millbrae, was elected in November 2022 over incumbent Sheriff Carlos Bolanos.
The event in San Francisco is the day after the special election to celebrate 50 years of women on patrol.
McCray said in her letter that the union received an RSVP from Corpus, but her presence would be an affront to the legacy of female police officers.
“We will not let this important event become a political spectacle for someone trying to cast a good light on themselves at the expense of the public servants we are honoring,” McCray said.
“Further, (Corpus) really needs a reality check if she thinks we would host someone who abuses the power of their office to arrest a union leader for no purpose but their own political protection and gain. That’s the behavior of a Third World dictator, not a community’s chief law enforcement officer. Not on my watch.”
Is she nuts? How did she think people would take her appearance at this event? She must be living in a bubble.
In an interview on NBC Bay Area, she spouted that she didn’t even take the time to read the SFPOA letter. Yes on Measure A.
You are all hypercritical. She’s a good leader.
First a supporter of Corpus is arrested for stealing “Yes on A’ signs. Then another supporter puts on s super hero costume to argue on her behalf at a city council meeting. Then she has a rally that draws fewer than 50 people. Now she’s turned away from a “Women in Law Enforcement’ event. You’d think this is a comedy show.