By Kiley Russell. Bay City News.
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The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors fired another salvo in their ongoing battle against Sheriff Christina Corpus on Tuesday when they voted to move forward with a charter amendment that would allow them to remove her from office.
The board voted 4-0, with Supervisor David Canepa absent, to approve the second reading of an ordinance placing the amendment on the March 4 ballot so voters can decide whether supervisors should be allowed to expand their authority to fire Corpus.
“I want people to understand that our sheriff right now is serving a six-year term, we’re finishing up the second year; there are four more years left before voters have the opportunity to vote for new leadership at the Sheriff’s Office without an intervention like a charter amendment election or a recall,” said Supervisor Noelia Corzo.
Corzo and Supervisor Ray Mueller sponsored the legislation placing the issue before voters after a prolonged period of public recriminations directed at the sheriff and her repeated, defiant denials.
Corpus is accused of retaliating against Sheriff's Office employees, using racist and homophobic slurs and giving too much power to his civilian chief of staff, Victor Aenlle, whom independent investigator and retired judge LaDoris Cordell found in her 400-page report to have had an inappropriate personal relationship with the sheriff, an allegation Corpus denies.
Corpus has repeatedly rejected calls for his resignation that have come from the board and from local, state and federal leaders such as U.S. Reps. Kevin Mullin and Anna Eshoo, state Sen. Josh Becker and Assemblymembers Marc Berman and Diane Papan.
Since Corpus took office in 2023, more than 100 sworn employees have left the Sheriff's Office and she has been the subject of votes of no confidence by unions representing her department's deputies, sergeants and lieutenants.
“At the heart of this problem is the reality that our current sheriff fails to understand, follow or respect not only county policy, but also basic ethics around conflicts of interest and much more,” Corzo said.
During the meeting's public comment period, attorneys for the sheriff, who said they have been working for her for about a week, asked supervisors to postpone the vote on the charter amendment to give them time to respond to the allegations against them, which they said are unsubstantiated.
“We have to give the sheriff a chance to respond. It is premature for you to usurp the authority of the voters,” said attorney Thomas Mazzucco.
While the supervisors voted to move forward with the measure, they also agreed to extend a formal invitation to Corpus to speak under oath before the board at its Dec. 10 meeting. Corzo abstained from the decision to invite Corpus.
“I am, again, extremely concerned that even under oath, our sheriff is using this as a platform to continue lying, so I will recuse myself from this,” she said.
Corpus did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, but on Monday sent the board a letter opposing its decision.
In it, he called Cordell's report "a salacious broadcast of unsubstantiated accusations."
“There are many questions about how the county dealt with this despicable chapter,” Corpus wrote. “There will be an opportunity for these questions and more to come to light, but for now, the real question is whether the county’s actions to date and the proposed charter amendment can be a good justification for taking away voter choice.”
If approved by a simple majority of county voters, the amendment would allow supervisors to remove the sheriff by a four-fifths vote “for cause, including violation of law relating to the duties of a sheriff, flagrant or repeated neglect of duties, misappropriation of public funds, willful falsification of documents or obstruction of an investigation.”
It would also require supervisors to give written reasons for their dismissal and hold a hearing before the vote.
The charter amendment would expire on Dec. 31, 2028, ending the board's ability to fire the sheriff.
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