BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
A state agency agrees with the San Mateo County deputies’ and sergeants’ unions’ allegations that Sheriff Christina Corpus and former Chief of Staff Victor Aenlle acted in bad faith when implementing mandatory overtime policies and discriminated and retaliated against a union official.
The unions filed a California Public Employment Relations Board, or PERB, complaint on Aug. 30 against the sheriff’s office, saying Corpus imposed a new policy that increased the mandatory overtime without meeting and conferring with the union beforehand.
(Read the PERB decision.)
On April 3, PERB sent a letter to San Mateo County agreeing with seven of the union’s complaints. The county has 20 days to respond. The settlement will result in an agreement that addresses what they contend was a violation of the law, according to San Mateo County spokeswoman Michelle Durand. If the county were to agree with PERB, then the union’s attorney fees would be covered by the county.
Once the county responds, there will be a hearing where a settlement between the county and the union will be negotiated. The union’s goal is to reinstate Tapia as if any violations against him had never happened, according to the San Mateo County Deputy Sheriff’s Association Attorney Garrett Porter. If an agreement is not reached, a hearing will be held. Tapia was arrested on Oct. 12 by the sheriff’s office for alleged time card fraud.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe threw out the charges against Tapia a month later.
Also on Oct. 12, a scathing report by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell came out about Corpus and Aenlle’s leadership in the department.
The report, cited in the latest PERB complaint, includes allegations of retaliation and abuse of power. Cordell’s 400-page report alleged corruption by the sheriff and Aenlle.
Some of what was in Cordell’s report was previewed in the unions’ PERB complaint filed on Aug. 30.
The complaint alleged Corpus imposed a new policy that increased the mandatory overtime without meeting and conferring with the union beforehand. The filing also claimed that Aenlle tried to create distrust between the union’s members and its board, by allegedly saying ” If you aren’t happy with how the (DSA) board is handling the situation, you should encourage the membership to vote them out.”
The unions claimed Aenlle’s comment and interference is a violation of state law.
PERB’s complaint claims that Corpus imposed a new policy that increased the mandatory overtime without meeting and conferring with the union beforehand.
She had minimum staffing at the Maguire Correctional Facility. According to the complaint, she would schedule more staff during day shifts than during night shifts.
Aenlle tried to interfere and dominate the union by sending a letter on Oct. 4 from Los Angeles attorney Deborah Drooz, who is representing Aenlle, demanding that they “retract their falsehoods” or face a lawsuit.
After the Cordell report was released that alleged corruption by the sheriff and Aenlle, the San Mateo Board of Supervisors placed Measure A on the ballot after Corpus refused to step down.
Supervisors accepted the certification of Measure A passing after the Chief Elections Officer Mark Church certified the election results from the special March 4 election, where 84% of voters gave the board power to remove the sheriff until 2028. The process of removal was presented to the board on April 7. The board was expected to finalize the process at its meeting on Tuesday. But Durand said county officials are still working on the process.
How much are these PERB violations going to cost the county? Too bad they can’t come out of Victor’s bank account.
The punitive damages from the civil rights violations lawsuits alone that follow the PERB decisions and verdicts should come from Mr. Aenlle for his actions. The same for Corpus, Perea, Fox and the like. I just cannot see the County agreeing to pay punitive damages against any of the corrupt members of the Corpus team.