BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors picked three candidates after questioning them about previous controversies and their plans if they become sheriff.
Former Santa Clara County Undersheriff Ken Binder, Former San Francisco Police Assistant Chief David Lazar and Police Chief for Solano Community College District Brian Wynn Huynh Travis were the top three candidates.
Supervisors interviewed the seven candidates yesterday before deciding on who would move to the public forum on Nov. 10, following the firing of Christina Corpus for allegations of retaliation and nepotism. County Executive Mike Callagy said 12 people submitted applications, but did not reach the board’s requirements.
Lazar received votes from all five board members. Lazar retired in March from SFPD.
Lazar said he was the “polar opposite” of Undersheriff Dan Perea and is ready to roll up his sleeves and take charge of the sheriff’s office. Perea spent his career at SFPD before joining Corpus’ executive team last year.
“This is not going to be SFPD 2.0. I am not bringing that culture, and I’m not bringing that department here,” Lazar said.
Lazar said he does not plan to bring anyone from SFPD into the sheriff’s office. When he picks his executive team, he wants to work with the deputies’ and sergeants’ unions who know the ins and outs, Lazar said.
‘Last outside sheriff’
He said he would work on developing current employees to make sure he is the “last outside sheriff.”
Lazar said when he was a sergeant, he learned to work in jails and held positions in San Francisco’s facilities.
Supervisor David Canepa asked Lazar how he would fix the sheriff’s office reserves, which have gone from $30 million to $2 million.
“I am probably the only candidate that has the largest budget coming from San Francisco with $800 million,” Lazar said.
Lazar said if he were to become sheriff, he would not work with ICE. He would also have an audit to look into the organization’s funds, deputies and how much training they have had and internal affairs.
Binder and Travis were tied with four votes. Supervisors Jackie Speier, Noelia Corzo, Ray Mueller and Lisa Gauthier voted for Binder. Supervisors Speier, Corzo, Mueller and Canepa voted for Travis.
Supervisor squabble
In the middle of interviewing candidates, Canepa and Mueller disagreed about the order in which supervisors asked questions. Canepa told Mueller to go first, but he disagreed on changing the order they had already agreed on. Mueller told Canepa the board could vote to change who was leading the meeting. Canepa, as board president, runs the meetings.
“This is really unprofessional in front of someone we are interviewing,” Gauthier said.
Speier then said she’d start questioning Binder.
Canepa asked Binder if he was involved in the previous controversy in the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office. Binder became acting sheriff in November 2022 after former Sheriff Laurie Smith resigned before a jury ruled whether she had traded concealed carry permits for campaign donations and event tickets. Binder said his only involvement was testifying before the civil grand jury. Binder said he was able to stabilize the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office, and many other deputies would go to him because he was straightforward and honest. He said all the candidates can tell the board how they will restore trust and morale in the sheriff’s office, but what is needed is a leadership model over time. Binder is currently the acting chief in Gilroy. His brother is Palo Alto’s police chief, Andrew Binder.
One of the first things Binder would do if he got the position is look into all the internal affairs investigations and retaliation allegations and see if they are legitimate, he said.
“If they don’t seem to have merit, they’re going to come back to work right away,” Binder said.
Bring back familiar faces
Binder said he would have former Undersheriff Chris Hsiung come back to be part of his executive team. He also said he has discussed with former Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monghan about possibly coming back.
Binder said he wants people who are trustworthy and already know the organization. He also envisions filling in spots with current deputies.
Binder also expressed interest in having an audit to see how he can improve the budget.
“I wouldn’t spend $7,000 on a table at my house and I wouldn’t do it with the people’s money here either,” Binder said.
In January, the Post reported Corpus had purchased a $74,000 conference room table.
Like a homecoming
Travis said that becoming sheriff would be like coming home after growing up in San Mateo County.
Travis, who has worked for the Solano County Sheriff’s Office for 14 years, said he did not deal with the budget personally but is well-versed in grants. He would look for more revenue streams to help with the budget.
In the first 90 days, if he were elected sheriff, he would seek input from the unions to help him build an executive team, Travis said. Just like the college he works at currently, he wants to give the community a police force they can trust and not work with ICE.
Travis has also worked in South San Francisco for nine years and has 26 years of military experience.
“If appointed, I will lead with integrity, compassion and accountability,” Travis said.
Sgt. David Weidner, the only internal candidate, Robert Yick, who is second in command for the San Francisco State University Police Department and Hillsborough City Manager Doug Davis did not advance. Yick had one vote from Canepa and Davis had one from Gauthier. Weidner did not get any votes.
13-year old incident
Davis was questioned by Speier about a memo that was emailed to Supervisors yesterday morning about an altercation on Dec. 26, 2012. The Post also received the memo stating Davis was drunk and used his authority as captain to bully another person at Piacere Restaurant in San Carlos, which has since closed. A worker who was interviewed said they always have to watch out for Davis as he had previously been kicked out twice, according to the memo.
Davis said the incident was investigated and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
San Francisco Capt. Kevin Lee withdrew his application this morning, saying he was happy where he was and endorsed Lazar.
Residents will be able to submit questions before Friday for the finalists to answer on Nov. 10.
Supervisors will be appointing a sheriff on Nov. 12. The position pays just under $362,000 a year.
It’s clear that the fix is in for Binder. But before the supervisors make a choice, they should find out whether Binder has done ANYTHING to clean up the well-known brutality in the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. The usual pattern is that the deputies pull somebody over, they decide they don’t like them, off go the cameras and they beat the hell out of the guy, then they visit him in the hospital to warn that they’ll find him and kill him if he complains. If there’s a lawsuit, it’s quietly settled out of court. No mention in the Mercury. Is Binder going to allow this on his watch? He won’t be able to say that it’s out of his hands because Sheriff Jonsen learned all these tricks in LA. My guess is that Binder will pretend nothing bad ever happens. So, at the very least, the SMC supervisors should ask him about the cases his department has settled in the past year. Should be interesting.
It’s a shame to see how often Palo Alto Online/Palo Alto Weekly plagiarizes the work of the Palo Alto Daily Post. The Post fearlessly reports the news, then the Weekly sheepishly copies their work. It’s a joke to see somebody like Esther Wojcicki endorsing the Weekly. She should be embarrassed. Is plagiarism something she teaches students at Paly?
No SFPD in San Mateo County, never again, never forget! Perea is not a one off SFPD cop that rose through the ranks and was the only one who was dirty. He was part of a criminal law enforcement gang at the highest level. How Perea has not been incited or arrested for the false arrest of the Sheriff’s Office DSA President is mind blowing. If this was a line level police officer or deputy that violated a citizens civil rights they would have been arrested immediately. Further, Perea committed perjury on the witness stand while defending Corpus. The San Francisco District Attorney now has to go through Perea’s police reports and cases he testified on. There could be a slew of other victims he falsely arrested that could be in jail or prison who weren’t afforded bail or access to good legal representation that cops can ascertain through their unions. The Institute of Justice needs to do a deep dive into Perea. The California Police Officer Standards and Training need to SB2 Perea immediately! If these SFPD guys can move into San Mateo on a Monday and apply to be the Sheriff on a Thursday what do you think Perea will do as he’s now unhireable in California. Move out of state and apply to be a Chief or Sheriff in another state with lower standards then California. No SFPD in San Mateo County, never again, never forget!
Watching Lazar speak made me feel like I was listening to a used car salesman. He knowns nothing about jails or courts.
Travis and Lazar were in the top 3? All one did was stumble and not answer questions and talk about being an immigrant and stopping ICE and the other…well he made a few good points but overall two really not great choices, one especially. DO NOT settle for either of these two the SO deserves better.