The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors fired another salvo in their ongoing battle with 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 if supervisors should be allowed to expand their authority in order to fire Corpus.
"I want folks to understand that our sheriff right now is serving a six-year term, we are wrapping up year two -- there are four more years left before the voters would have an opportunity to vote on new leadership in 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 question before voters following a prolonged period of public recriminations aimed 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 her civilian chief of staff Victor Aenlle, who independent investigator and retired Judge LaDoris Cordell found in her 400-page report to be in an inappropriate personal relationship with the sheriff -- an accusation Corpus denies.
Corpus has repeatedly refused calls for her resignation that have come from the board and 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 staff have left the Sheriff's Office and she was the subject of votes of no confidence from the unions representing her department's deputies, sergeants and lieutenants.
"At the core of this issue is the reality that our current sheriff does not understand, follow or respect, not just county policy, but basic ethics around conflicts of interest and much more," Corzo said.
During the meeting's public comment period, lawyers for the sheriff, who said they've been working for her for about a week, asked supervisors to postpone a vote on the charter amendment in order to give them time to respond to the accusations against her, which they said are unsubstantiated.
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"We need to give the sheriff an opportunity to respond. This is premature for you to usurp the authority of the voters," said attorney Thomas Mazzucco.
While the supervisors voted to move forward with the ballot measure, they also agreed to extend a formal invitation to Corpus to explain herself under oath in front of the board at its Dec. 10 meeting. Corzo abstained from the decision to invite Corpus.
"I'm, again, extremely concerned that even under oath, our sheriff will use this as a platform to continue to lie, so I'm going to abstain on this one," she said.
Corpus didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, but on Monday sent the board a letter in opposition to their decision.
In it, she called Cordell's report "a salacious broadcast of unfounded allegations."
"There are so many questions about how the County went about this despicable chapter," Corpus wrote. "There will be a chance for these questions and more to come out in the public, but for now, the real question is whether the County's actions to date and the proposed Charter Amendment can be a good justification to take away the voter's choice."
If approved by a simple majority of voters in the county, the amendment would allow supervisors to remove the sheriff by a four-fifths vote "for cause, including for violation of law related to a Sheriff's duties, flagrant or repeated neglect of duties, misappropriation of public funds, willful falsification of documents, or obstructing an investigation."
It would also require supervisors to present their grounds for her removal in writing and to hold a hearing prior to a vote.
The charter amendment would expire on Dec. 31, 2028, thereby ending the board's ability to fire the sheriff.
