Judge throws out sheriff’s attempt to stop ouster measure

BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Managing Editor 

A San Mateo County judge issued a tentative ruling today (Feb. 25) throwing out embattled Sheriff Christina Corpus’ attempt to stop a ballot measure that could lead to her removal from office. 

Corpus’ attorneys have been trying to stop the March 4 election for Measure A. They argue that the election shouldn’t happen next week but instead in November 2026, because the law says charter measures should only appear on the ballot in a general statewide election. 

Judge Nicole Healy said in her tentative ruling the law that Corpus’ attorneys cite only appears to apply to amendments to city and city-county charters (such as San Francisco), not county charters. 

Healy only addressed in her ruling whether the election for next Tuesday ought to go forward, and not any other aspect of the soap opera that has encapsulated the sheriff’s office. 

The Board of Supervisors put Measure A on the ballot after receiving an independent report from retired Judge LaDoris Cordell which she sustained findings of nepotism, abuse of power, retaliation, intimidation, homophobia, racism and conflicts of interest. 

Cordell also found Corpus “relinquished control” of her office to her alleged boyfriend and former Chief of Staff Victor Aenlle, a real estate broker who has left deputies demoralized by his paranoid obsession with loyalty, Cordell said. 

“Nothing short of new leadership can save this organization that is in turmoil,” Cordell said in her report. 

If approved, Measure A will allow the supervisors to remove Corpus by a four-fifths vote and after the sheriff has been served with a written statement laying out the grounds for removal and allowed to defend herself. 

That means Corpus will not be immediately removed if Measure A passes, but supporters of the measure have said the removal process will likely be quicker than a recall. 

Corpus has said if the people of San Mateo County want her out of office, they ought to hold a recall. She has denied the allegations in Cordell’s report and said her opponents are part of a “good old boys’ club” who are resistant to change.