The San Mateo County Sheriff’s chief of staff is facing new criticism from the union that represents its deputies. Ian Cull reports.
The San Mateo County Sheriff's chief of staff is facing new criticism from the union that represents its deputies.
The union says its members began taking a so-called no-confidence vote against the sheriff's right hand man.
Unions representing deputies and sergeants in San Mateo County say they are upset over new policies implemented without their input.
Policies they claim were put in place by the sheriff's chief of staff Victor Aenlle.
One of them has increased the number of deputies that must be working in the jail. The unions say that has led to fewer deputies patrolling the streets.
"The sergeants that are staffing patrol can't staff their patrol teams because they're losing bodies to the jail," said Hector Acosta, San Mateo County Organization of Sheriff's Sergeants president. "There should be some compromise and that's what we had before. We used to have communication and bargaining and that went out the window."
The unions say they are not upset with the sheriff, just with her chief of staff.
They claim that Aenlle is the one making these decisions for the sworn staff even though he is a civilian. And because they were not consulted, the unions argue those changes violate department labor practices.
And that is why they have now started voting on a no-confidence resolution, specifically against the chief of staff.
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"If the outcome is a vote of no-confidence, we would like to see some action from the sheriff," Acosta said. "What that is, that's up to her. But we would like to see something done if it does pass."
Sheriff Christina Corpus on Monday responded to the claims after a ribbon cutting opening the new sheriff's building.
"The vote of no-confidence was towards my chief of staff, which at the end holds no legal bearing," Corpus said.
The sheriff was elected two years ago, and while the deputies' union political action committee supported the incumbent, the union itself remained neutral in the election.
Corpus says she believes the resolution vote is political.
And regarding the minimum staffing levels at the jail, Corpus says she will not compromise on public safety and noted she has hired 110 new employees during her year and a half in office.
"Now we have a policy where if we need emergency staffing we can mandate people," Corpus said. "But fortunately we've been asking people to sign up so we have some really dedicated employees who have been answering the call. So I'm just asking for everyone to pitch in just for a little big longer."
The union deputies have until Wednesday night to submit their vote on the no-confidence resolution.
