This story was originally printed in the Saturday, Jan. 25, edition of the Daily Post. We’re publishing it online as a courtesy to readers who may have missed the original. If you want the latest local news first, before other media outlets have copied it, pick up the Post every morning at 1,000 Mid-Peninsula locations.
BY AMELIA BISCARDI
Daily Post Staff Writer
Attorneys for San Mateo County officials say that it is embattled Sheriff Christina Corpus shouldn’t be able to stop a measure that could remove her from office. That’s because some ballots have already gone out to voters.
Corpus’s legal team asked a judge to move up a March 19 hearing so they can argue the election shouldn’t be held. The election is scheduled for March 4.
The attorneys are due to make their arguments for and against moving court dates up before Judge Nicole Healy on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 9 a.m.
“It is too late to stop the process,” wrote attorney Andrew Werbrock on behalf of the county. Werbrock points out the elections office has already sent out ballots to registered voters overseas and in the military.
“By filing this case at the eleventh hour, (Corpus) has slept on her rights,” Werbrock said in a response filed Thursday. “(Her attorneys) should have to explain how this tardy lawsuit makes sense in the first instance when the election is less than six weeks away.”
Corpus’ attorneys at Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney said they had a “clerical error” and left the county off of the request to move up the first court date in the case. The case was first filed on Jan. 10 in San Mateo County Superior Court.
One of Corpus’ attorneys, Christopher Ulrich, said the election was “improperly calendared” and proposed moving up the hearing to occur before the election. Ulrich did not respond to the Post’s questions about the late filing.
If Corpus’ attorneys do not delay the election, voters will decide whether to give the five-member county Board of Supervisors the ability to remove her from office based on allegations including nepotism, racism, homophobia, abuse of power, retaliation, conflicts of interest and lies. Ballots are slated to go out the first week of February.
If voters approve Measure A, they will amend the county charter to allow the Board of Supervisors by a four-fifths vote to remove a sheriff “for cause.” The power to fire the sheriff is temporary, ending in 2028.
Ulrich, Corpus’ attorney, contends the election should not take place on March 4 but in the November 2026 general election. He contends that charter changes can only occur by votes during general elections.
The county election’s office said that after the measure was submitted, they waited the 10 days, as required by law, but did not receive anything that would challenge the measure. To stop the special election, they said they needed a challenge stating it was “false, misleading or inconsistent with the Election Code.”
On Nov. 12, the county released a 400-page report by retired Santa Clara County Judge LaDoris Cordell about Corpus and her former chief of staff, Victor Aenlle.
In it, Cordell concludes that “lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interests and abuses of authority are the hallmarks of the Corpus administration.” She recommended firing Corpus and Aenlle.
Measure A Opponent Diver Dan Stegink states in the primary argument against “Measure A is an illegal maneuver that will not survive a court challenge”. This is the same guy that filed the court challenge that forced Santa Clara County to recount their ballots, ultimately pushing Joe Simitian out of the race.
With tremendous intention and through personal deliberate acts, Corpus chose not to be heard on the Measure when the legislation was proposed. She once again demonstrates her lack of understanding of the system in which she has had a 20+ year career. Other than sleeping on her rights, what exactly was she doing in that time?
As far as her laughable assertion the Supervisors Corzo and Mueller are biased against her, she fails to recognize that those two supervisors were designated to speak for the Board on the topic of the investigations and corruption in Corpus’ administration. Her behaviors they probably find most definitely unethical. Her personally, there is nothing upon which to base that assertion.
Who are these attorneys that the Sheriff hires- one doesn’t know how to spell the other accidentally forgets to give the key party the law suit petition ? Is she hoping for some sort of cosmic aligning or huge mistake to set her free from multiple mistakes and corruption?
I sure hope this slaps the Sheriff straight and she stops this nonsense and the dimb and dumber attorneys stop the nonsense once and for all.