BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
San Carlos doesn’t often make the news for crimes in the City of Good Living. But after two incidents landed the town in the headlines within three weeks of each other, the council wants to improve its communication with the sheriff’s office, which provides police to the town.
Mayor Pranita Venkatesh said at the Jan. 26 meeting she’d like more information about how the sheriff’s office tells council members about incidents in town.
Venkatesh said she’s seen information on social media about crimes before council is told.
Venkatesh didn’t talk about the two headline-grabbing incidents, but on Dec. 23, Brian Weisl, 33, of South San Francisco, allegedly beat up a Good Samaritan who stood up for a stranger Weisl was harassing at the San Carlos Caltrain station.
The second incident was on Jan. 9, when a man with a gun forced himself into a home on the 1400 block of Greenwood Ave., demanded money and valuables before fleeing on a bicycle. The sheriff’s office has not arrested anyone in that case.
Vice Mayor Adam Rak suggested picking two council members to work on building a relationship with the sheriff’s office after Mark Myers was promoted to assistant sheriff on Jan. 16. Myers, who has worked for the sheriff’s office since 2005, will now oversee patrol and investigations for cities that contract police services from the sheriff’s office, including San Carlos. Myers, who had held the rank of captain, has been the police chief in San Carlos since 2023.
The sheriff’s office has a bureau in San Carlos overseen by a captain, one sergeant and three deputies on every shift, according to sheriff’s office spokeswoman Gretchen Spiker. The bureau also has a sergeant, two detectives, two motorcycle deputies and a community service officer serving downtown, Spiker said.
In 2010, the council at the time decided to contract the county’s sheriff’s office to save money because of a $3.2 million budget deficit the city faced.
“I feel like we don’t have a great connection between the council and the community and the sheriff’s department,” Rak said. “I think it’d be good for the community to have that better connection with our law enforcement in town.”
Councilman Neil Layton said he was concerned the council members would tell the sheriff’s office how to operate and change the city’s $1 million contract. Rak said the city should have a say in the contracts based on what will be in the best interest of the community.
“We are the biggest contract that they have,” Rak said. “Why shouldn’t we have some skin in the game and … at least advocate for what we want.”
Councilman John Dugan supported the idea and said he hears once a month, a resident is still talking about how the city doesn’t have a police department. Dugan said he wants to assure people that it was and still is a good decision for the community to disband its police force and outsource it to the sheriff.
“San Carlos needs to have their own police force here patrolling. They drive on the main streets and that’s it. Having a police force would really be helpful,” resident Janet James told the Post after the home invasion robbery.
Venkatesh said the subcommittee will be an opportunity to form a relationship with new Sheriff Ken Binder, who was appointed by the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 12.
San Carlos had a Police Department for 90 years. In the early 2000’s, the Council decided to give public safety officers the 3% at 50 retirement system (CHP) The costs were astronomical. By 2010, the Council decided to disband the Police Department and contract with the Sheriff’s Office to reduce the “cost” of policing by 2/3.
You get what you pay for. It will take a decade or more to fix the damage “Sheriff” Corpus did to the citizens of San Mateo County. Plus, it will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to settle all the lawsuits filed based upon her actions.
As an aside, why won’t the County say how much taxpayer money was spend defending Corpus during the firing process?
I appreciate Mayor Venkatesh’s effort to foster clearer communication between San Carlos leadership and the Sheriff’s Office after recent headline‑making incidents, because transparency and timely information are essential for maintaining public trust and community safety; it’s encouraging to see the council considering a subcommittee to build a stronger working relationship with law enforcement while balancing concerns about oversight and contractual autonomy, aiming ultimately to ensure residents feel informed, safe, and confident in how public safety is managed in their city.
Where did they find Pranita Venkatesh? If she had just bothered to read the newspaper, she would have known about these crimes. What, she deserves a special heads up from deputies who are very busy protecting her city? San Carlos needs a new mayor with situational awareness.
Could it simply be that a few conclusions have been jumped by Council members, perhaps because of an internal lack of communication, or transition, in San Carlos? Has the article merely suggested a controversial tone unintentionally?
As I understand it, the Sheriff’s Office provides contract services to SC. The contract falls under the purview of the City Manager. The City Manager is appointed by the Council. The SC Police Chief serves at the pleasure of the SC CM.
Nonetheless the San Carlos Police Chief, a Sheriff’s Captain, should be working closely and collaboratively with both the City Council and the CM. While aspirations in May have been surfaced, the Transit Police Bureau is a separate contract service provided by the SO with concurrent jurisdiction in three counties, yet not as a contractor to the City of San Carlos.
I would expect to see such controversy if requests had been made for information, then they were denied or ignored by either the Chief or the Council. Otherwise everyone should hold the controversy and everyone should work collaboratively on all levels. Especially if there are transitions in progress at both the SC CM and Police Chief level. IMHO