BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
Attorneys for San Mateo County won’t release a hearing officer’s 42-page recommendation to fire Sheriff Christina Corpus until next week, saying portions of the document may be redacted.
Hearing Officer James Emerson recommended the Board of Supervisors fire Corpus for nepotism and illegally firing Carlos Tapia, president of the deputies union. Emerson, after a 10-day public hearing, found Corpus guilty on three of 18 counts.
It’s unclear what would need to be redacted since Emerson based his report on testimony taken publicly.
The Post has filed public records requests for the recommendations and the briefs each side filed. The paper received the briefs yesterday (Oct. 8).
However, the county has been in possession of Emerson’s report since Monday, according to a press release it issued with details of his recommendation. But the county has refused to release the recommendation, saying it will come out next week.
Meanwhile, Corpus has asked California Attorney General Rob Bonta to intervene “to stop an unlawful and dangerous abuse of power in San Mateo County.”
Corpus faces removal on two fronts. The Board of Supervisors has obtained voter approval to amend the county charter to remove her. And the civil grand jury, which is led by District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, has recommended putting her on trial, and if convicted, she could be removed from office and barred from ever holding public office again.
One allegation against Corpus is that she carried on an affair with her chief of staff Victor Aenlle, a realtor who has worked as a part-time reserve deputy but lacks a law enforcement management experience. Corpus hired Aenile to be part of her transition team and set his annual salary at $192,275, which falls under the $200,000 threshold that requires approval by the Board of Supervisors, according to the county’s attorneys.
Corpus made four requests to promote Aenlle to the job of Executive Director of Administration, a civilian role within the sheriff’s office, but the county only approved the first request, according to the county’s attorneys.
The allegation that Corpus has a conflict of interest for having a close relationship with Aenlle is not related to her performance, according to her attorneys. There were no contracts that show Corpus asked for Aenlle to get a raise.
Aenlle is “a wealthy man, and he did not need the salary,” Corpus said, according to the briefs.
However, Corpus is accused of allowing Aenlle to harass and intimidate her staff — allegations he denies.
And the county’s attorneys said Corpus retaliated and obstructed an investigation into her office. Corpus retaliated against Capt. Brian Philip for refusing to start an internal affairs investigation into Sgt. Javier Acosta, the brother of the sergeant’s union president, Hector Acosta and, transferred him to work in the jail. The jail is seen as a less desirable assignment.
There are no records showing Corpus reduced anyone’s pay, benefits or hours to anyone who alleges she retaliated against, her attorneys said.
Corpus’s attorneys say the county’s statements relied on the Sheriff’s Office Policy Manual, which is not the law and can not be used against her.
The county attorneys also said Corpus fabricated reasons to arrest the deputy sheriff’s union president, Carlos Tapia. Corpus restricted the amount of information during the investigation into Tapia’s timecards. The District Attorney declined to file charges against Tapia, and determined no crime had been committed.
Victor’s wealth comes from his wife’s family trust which Corpus is chipping away at a pretty good lick. Fun fact, Victor and Corpus were at a SAL event over the weekend at Victor’s country club. The 2 sat together and had a wonderful time. Victor and Corpus were dressed up like Woody and Jessie. Not to be outdone was Perea who was dressed up as Burt Reynolds. You cant make this stuff up.
Burt Reynolds huh! Perea missed his calling. Dressing up as “Borat” would have been a proper fit. Woody and Jessie huh. Would have thought “Ricky and Lucy” would have been a better fit.
I smell tactics related to shutdown of the gravytrain.
Remember July 16th, when First Amendment Coalition urged the county to overrule Sheriff Corpus’s POBR-based demand for closed Removal Hearings, and County Attorney John Nibbelin shrewdly said “Go ahead. We’ll not defend this suit.” Suddenly, the only way Corpus could ensure a closed hearing was to step in as substitute counsel _at her expense_ to fight First Amendment Coalition’s threatened action, unlike in her own five lawsuits, where she passed almost all legal bills to the taxpayer.
And, instead, she instantly about-faced and put out a press release saying she wanted a public hearing so that the public could learn the truth, pretending as if she’d been Ms. Transparency all along.
Thus this county move, to defer yet another action until after Corpus ceases to be a county employee, as also seems to have been the county’s thinking in spending $775 to appeal Judge Finigan’s 07/15 order in Cordell disclosures case #25-CIV-02539: The common factor is in pushing an issue down the road until just after Corpus can no longer litigate at others’ expense.
All the county had done is “slow walked” this entire process. The BOS received Emerson’s report this past Monday, yet they’re waiting until Tuesday to take a vote?? And Wagstaffe…has old Steve forgot about Tapia’s unlawful arrest?? It was several months ago when our tired, old DA said he wasn’t going to wait on the BOS to pursue the matter, but here we are and not a single thing has been done and no one has been held accountable. I sure hope the voters remember all this when the next election cycle comes along. For now…justice remains unserved!
It would seem that The County continues to have obligations under the whistleblower protection statutes and policies concerning redaction in the Emerson Opinion. It is unclear to me why the Post might not recognize those obligations despite the public nature of the hearing.
I’m personally missing where Judge Emerson found Corpus “guilty”, when it appears his conclusion/opinion was, “Based upon the evidence and argument presented, it is the undersigned Hearing Officer’s
opinion that the County had cause, under Section 412.5, to remove appellant Sheriff Corpus as discussed in sections I(A)(1) [conflict of interest re Victor Aenlle]; II(A)(1)-(2) [retaliation/ lack of probable cause re Deputy Carlos Tapia]; and V(A)(1) [retaliation re Captain Brian Philip].
above” accordingly to pages released by another news organization. Rather it looks like three areas rose to the requisite level of misbehavior.
I look forward to reading the briefs the Post has obtained and their associated news story on them. I suspect that Judge Emerson found that of the multiple actions contained in the removal accusation against Corpus, only the three articulated gave rise to the level of wrongdoing to merit Corpus’ removal. I suspect she was still culpable to a lesser degree on the remaining accusations. Again I look forward to clarifications on those points through the excellent reporting and stories in the Post.
Well, looks like Sheriff Corpus is caught in a web of her own making, or maybe just some really bad PR! Her lawyers are spinning like a top, claiming the Policy Manual isnt the law, while the county throws around accusations faster than Aenlles paychecks. It’s like a political reality show where everyone’s playing hardball and nobody’s wearing a shirt. And let’s not forget the delightful toy costumes at the SAL event – talk about keeping it professional! With officers calling for her head left and right, it’s a wonder she’s still standing, let alone managing a transition team. Maybe she should focus less on recruiting (despite Aenlle’s lack of experience) and more on keeping her own staff from running for office instead!free ai logo generator no watermark
Now… that’s a first step finally in a long process. However, the next step is to not make the same mistake AGAIN!
Corpus ran office and promoted through several ranks without the experience. People without experience seem to bite off more than they can chew and don’t have the experience interacting with all of the counties elected officials, board members, conferences, other Sheriffs, other police chiefs. People without experience seem to be fulfilling something for themselves and not the better good of the county.
Other people seem to be close to retiring and ONLY see a paycheck increase and don’t have the energy to steer the ship in the right direction.
It will be a shame to have this opportunity and have someone lacking the experience, or not being qualified to fix these issues.
The other issue is pulling in someone that hasn’t worked recently with the unions, the deputies, the captains is a huge risk on lowering morale even further if they come back and bring their buddies in and everyone else starts leaving because there are no opportunties.
Also, beware of skeletons in the closet of a couple of the people suggested on the journal’s list… one of them was a clear vacation buddy/friend of AENELLE! The other lacks moral and values when it comes to women and vacation choices. One of them is retired and could care less about coming to work and showing up to meetings one time. The other might be a good choice to work on the “team” but seriously lacks YEARS of leadership experience and lacks the maturity around making decisions for 800 people.
The other two… I hope they both come back they are trusted and solid. The ship needs fixing now not a bandaid by throwing some random person in the SO.