Editorial opinion of the Daily Post
The corruption by San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus poses a clear and present danger, and needs to end immediately.
It’s imperative that voters cast their ballots in favor of Measure A.
Measure A would temporarily change the county charter to allow the Board of Supervisors to remove Sheriff Christina Corpus and replace her with a qualified, honest sheriff. Soon after Corpus was elected in 2022, she reneged on her main campaign promise — that she’d have an open door and would be transparent.
Instead, she isolated herself in her office and thwarted attempts by the public and press to obtain documents under the California Public Records Act. Anytime an official or government agency rejects valid public record requests, the public should be suspicious.
One of her first moves was to put realtor and reserve deputy Victor Anelle in her inner circle, even though he lacked the years of experience one would typically find in the upper ranks of a countywide law enforcement agency.
Corpus and Anelle constantly threatened and intimidated sheriff’s office employees, including the deputies who put their lives on the line for the public every day, according to an independent report commissioned by the Board of County Supervisors. At the same time, the report said Corpus and Anelle carried on an affair, in violation of county anti-nepotism rules. Of course, they denied any affair.
Many employees filed complaints against Anelle, but once those complaints reached Corpus’ desk, they went nowhere. That forced the Board of Supervisors, who had been defending Corpus, to hire retired Santa Clara County Judge LaDoris Cordell to conduct an investigation.
Cordell interviewed 40 past and current sheriff’s employees. She found widespread abuse of power by Corpus and Anelle. She found texts by Corpus that contained gay slurs, and a witness who heard the sheriff repeatedly use a racial slur.
Retaliation
Corpus ordered the firing of Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan after he revealed he had spoken to Cordell, public documents show.
Corpus had one of her chief critics, deputies union president Carlos Tapia, arrested and jailed on bogus timecard fraud charges. District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe later threw out the case and launched an investigation into Corpus, which is still pending.
Meanwhile, Cordell found that Anelle bought the sheriff $11,000 diamond Tiffany earrings and $1,200 designer Louboutin boots. So much for Corpus and Anelle’s denials about an affair. Who buys gifts like that for their boss?
Officers lose confidence in her
Employee groups from the deputies on up to the captains have voted to say they have no confidence in her.
“Lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority are the hallmarks of the Corpus administration,” Judge Cordell wrote in her report. “Sheriff Corpus should step down and Victor Aenlle’s employment with the Sheriff’s Office should be terminated immediately. Nothing short of new leadership can save this organization that is in turmoil, and its personnel demoralized.”
Five jail deaths
The lawsuits and future lawsuits are piling up. And while Corpus remains in office, the deaths in the jail she runs are increasing — five since she took over. The causes are drugs and suicides. Well-trained jailers can prevent fatal overdoses and eliminate the possibility of suicide.
But under Corpus, jail policy is so backward that deputies still transport male and female inmates together from the jail to court, a practice that ended in other counties years ago. A deputy supervising a group of inmates turned his back while a male inmate raped a female inmate in an elevator in the courthouse, according to two judges. Corpus shows no signs of stopping this behavior. The deaths, lawsuits, abuse and retaliation will continue unless the voters take charge.
Some county residents say she should be removed through a recall, but that’s a long process that will permit this immediate danger to fester for at least a year.
The supervisors want to fire her, but can’t because of the county charter. Measure A asks the public to amend the county charter temporarily, until 2028, so that the supervisors can remove Corpus. We urge you to vote “yes” on Measure A.
• Here’s our response to arguments Corpus is making about Measure A.
I’d normally not favor shifting power to the Board of Supervisors, especially when I think about the people who are on that board. But as the editorials point out, this is an emergency situation. How many people will die in the jail while we wait for a recall? How many sheriff’s officers will be arrested and jailed while we wait? She’s out of control and this needs to stop now.
Measure A is our best hope of fixing this serious problem. The DA and attorney general have failed us. The civil grand jury is either too afraid or too slow to remove her. I have no confidence the recall will come together. We need to take action now, not later.
Corpus is corrupt, completely unethical, a liar and every other bad adjective one can think of! She has always been incompetent and somehow fooled the voters! She is a disaster as a Sheriff! She and her disgusting lover Anelle need to be in prison for Civil Rights/Color of Authority violations! She has and will continue to cost the taxpayers MILLIONS of dollars in lawsuit payouts!
Enough is Enough!
REMOVE HER NOW!!!!!
YES on Measure A!!!!!!
Great editorial! Mr. Price is 100% correct…”this is an emergency situation!” To those who seemingly continue to opine that Measure A is taking away the “will and voice of the people” who elected Corpus, you couldn’t be more wrong. Voting for “Measure A” is your voice AND when it passes, will serve to support the ability to remove Corpus (and her cadre of ill-willed, insipid, weak minded miscreants) as expeditiously as possible. It is almost comical in retrospect if it weren’t for all the pain and destruction she has caused during her short tenure to echo Corpus’ campaign slogan…”a sheriff you can trust,” but she has only proven herself to be an unqualified, dishonest, law breaking, miserable wretch, who no longer deserves the support and trust of the very people she took an oath to protect and serve. March 4th cannot come soon enough!