Editorial opinion of the Daily Post
The corruption by San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus poses a clear and present danger, and needs to end immediately.
It’s imperative that voters cast their ballots in favor of Measure A.
Measure A would temporarily change the county charter to allow the Board of Supervisors to remove Sheriff Christina Corpus and replace her with a qualified, honest sheriff. Soon after Corpus was elected in 2022, she reneged on her main campaign promise — that she’d have an open door and would be transparent.
Instead, she isolated herself in her office and thwarted attempts by the public and press to obtain documents under the California Public Records Act. Anytime an official or government agency rejects valid public record requests, the public should be suspicious.
One of her first moves was to put realtor and reserve deputy Victor Anelle in her inner circle, even though he lacked the years of experience one would typically find in the upper ranks of a countywide law enforcement agency.
Corpus and Anelle constantly threatened and intimidated sheriff’s office employees, including the deputies who put their lives on the line for the public every day, according to an independent report commissioned by the Board of County Supervisors. At the same time, the report said Corpus and Anelle carried on an affair, in violation of county anti-nepotism rules. Of course, they denied any affair.
Many employees filed complaints against Anelle, but once those complaints reached Corpus’ desk, they went nowhere. That forced the Board of Supervisors, who had been defending Corpus, to hire retired Santa Clara County Judge LaDoris Cordell to conduct an investigation.
Cordell interviewed 40 past and current sheriff’s employees. She found widespread abuse of power by Corpus and Anelle. She found texts by Corpus that contained gay slurs, and a witness who heard the sheriff repeatedly use a racial slur.
Retaliation
Corpus ordered the firing of Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan after he revealed he had spoken to Cordell, public documents show.
Corpus had one of her chief critics, deputies union president Carlos Tapia, arrested and jailed on bogus timecard fraud charges. District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe later threw out the case and launched an investigation into Corpus, which is still pending.
Meanwhile, Cordell found that Anelle bought the sheriff $11,000 diamond Tiffany earrings and $1,200 designer Louboutin boots. So much for Corpus and Anelle’s denials about an affair. Who buys gifts like that for their boss?
Officers lose confidence in her
Employee groups from the deputies on up to the captains have voted to say they have no confidence in her.
“Lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority are the hallmarks of the Corpus administration,” Judge Cordell wrote in her report. “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.”
Five jail deaths
The lawsuits and future lawsuits are piling up. And while Corpus remains in office, the deaths in the jail she runs are increasing — five since she took over. The causes are drugs and suicides. Well-trained jailers can prevent fatal overdoses and eliminate the possibility of suicide.
But under Corpus, jail policy is so backward that deputies still transport male and female inmates together from the jail to court, a practice that ended in other counties years ago. A deputy supervising a group of inmates turned his back while a male inmate raped a female inmate in an elevator in the courthouse, according to two judges. Corpus shows no signs of stopping this behavior. The deaths, lawsuits, abuse and retaliation will continue unless the voters take charge.
Some county residents say she should be removed through a recall, but that’s a long process that will permit this immediate danger to fester for at least a year.
The supervisors want to fire her, but can’t because of the county charter. Measure A asks the public to amend the county charter temporarily, until 2028, so that the supervisors can remove Corpus. We urge you to vote “yes” on Measure A.
(This was originally printed on Feb. 10 in the Daily Post.)
• Here’s our response to arguments Corpus is making about Measure A.
I’d normally not favor shifting power to the Board of Supervisors, especially when I think about the people who are on that board. But as the editorials point out, this is an emergency situation. How many people will die in the jail while we wait for a recall? How many sheriff’s officers will be arrested and jailed while we wait? She’s out of control and this needs to stop now.
Measure A is our best hope of fixing this serious problem. The DA and attorney general have failed us. The civil grand jury is either too afraid or too slow to remove her. I have no confidence the recall will come together. We need to take action now, not later.
Corpus is corrupt, completely unethical, a liar and every other bad adjective one can think of! She has always been incompetent and somehow fooled the voters! She is a disaster as a Sheriff! She and her disgusting lover Anelle need to be in prison for Civil Rights/Color of Authority violations! She has and will continue to cost the taxpayers MILLIONS of dollars in lawsuit payouts!
Enough is Enough!
REMOVE HER NOW!!!!!
YES on Measure A!!!!!!
Great editorial! Mr. Price is 100% correct…”this is an emergency situation!” To those who seemingly continue to opine that Measure A is taking away the “will and voice of the people” who elected Corpus, you couldn’t be more wrong. Voting for “Measure A” is your voice AND when it passes, will serve to support the ability to remove Corpus (and her cadre of ill-willed, insipid, weak minded miscreants) as expeditiously as possible. It is almost comical in retrospect if it weren’t for all the pain and destruction she has caused during her short tenure to echo Corpus’ campaign slogan…”a sheriff you can trust,” but she has only proven herself to be an unqualified, dishonest, law breaking, miserable wretch, who no longer deserves the support and trust of the very people she took an oath to protect and serve. March 4th cannot come soon enough!
I was wrong all along. Christina and Victor must go. Yes on Measure A!
Corpus has done a pretty good job of distracting voters from her using the n word to describe a Latino male and the term “Fuzz Bumper” to describe a Latina lesbian female. Both were working associates of Corpus. Don’t be distracted and vote Yes on Measure A.
Although rightfully fired by the Board of Supervisors, Victor Aenlle continues to pull the strings at the Sheriff’s Office through undue influence over a weak-minded, co-dependent Sheriff Corpus. Only through getting rid of Corpus can the County finally rid itself of the manipulative, narcissistic cancer that is Victor Aenlle. Vote “Yes” on Measure A!!!
Why does Measure A extend these “temporary” powers through 2028?
Tom has only provided partial and incomplete information in his comment, effectively misrepresenting the statutory alternatives, presumably by grouping those available into the term, “a clear democratic tool.” Nonetheless Tom should vote as he wishes to vote.
Just as the USA is a constitutionally based, democratic republic, there are multiple paths to vacate an elected or appointed official, such as the sheriff, in a charter county, such as San Mateo County. Alphabetically those paths are,
• Charter Amendment (when no removal protocol exists in the charter)
• Grand Jury Accusation
• Recall
• Resignation
All of the above paths have been pursued. Corpus has declined to resign. Measure A is the Charter Amendment option. A request for a Grand Jury investigation should be underway, as is a coordinated recall effort.
Measure A appears to be the most expeditious method. Measure A does not bypass the normal democratic channels; it is a vote of the people in an open election either for, or against, the Measure. Measure A does not set any precedent about how elected officials can be removed from office; it follows one of the aforementioned options to remove any elected sheriff in San Mateo County during a specific time frame (the amendment sunsets, or ends).
The acts of public corruption and willful misconduct that are the focus of this editorial, the Cordell Report, the already filed lawsuits, the labor complaints filed, and the HR complaints already filed reasonably appear to have by accomplished by individuals (Corpus, Aenlle and their cronies). A vote either for, or against, Measure A is the embodiment of the democratic process concerning the unethical, deceptive, liability incurring and otherwise harmful actions of those accused. Their actions are distinct and repetitive patterns of behavior.
You forgot the AttornGeneral could actually do his job and remove the Sheriff.
Well, after giving it further consideration, I’m changing my opinion from my earlier post and will be voting Yes on Measure A. Waiting for a general recall election into the matter will take far too much time, as the sheriff burns the place to the ground. Yes on A is the only way!
While I may like the current sheriff better than Carlos B., I think she is really tearing the place apart and is too distracted to oversee the overall sheriff’s department. I guess Yes on A is the only logical option.,
I’m not sure I support Corpus any more, but I am totally against Measure A. This is an elected office, and there is a procedure to remove an elected sheriff – the recall. This is how the system is intended to work. To tweak the rules just this one time for this one person – that just feels really slimy. Go through the recall process and let the voters decide.
I might actually be more in favor if this measure if it was not temporary – then people would be voting on whether in general the board should have this power, regardless of whoever is sheriff, instead of “let’s break the rules this one time”.
Yes on measure A, that will fix things in the county
I give Dave Price an “at a boy” and they removed it. Still nice written Dave, I agree too. YES ON MEASURE A.
Rob Silano…. is that because your buddy Bolanos, who you financially supported got defeated in an open election? And don’t you have your issues going on with the position they are trying to remove you from? Dirty politics all the way around.