The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to hold a special election on March 4, 2025, amid a longstanding feud with Sheriff Christina Corpus.
So will the special election, which will reportedly cost millions of taxpayer dollars let the voters decide on an amendment to the county statute that, if approved, would give the board the authority to remove a sitting sheriff “for just cause, including for violation of law relating to the duties of a sheriff, flagrant or repeated neglect of duties, misappropriation of public funds, intentional falsification of documents, or obstruction of an investigation.” The measure was sponsored by Supervisors Noelia Corzo and Ray Mueller.
The board approved the special election on a 4-0 vote Tuesday, with Supervisor David Canepa absent, KNTV reported.
The ballot measure would shake up the division of powers among independently elected branches of government if approved by a simple majority of voters.
“I trust the voters of San Mateo County will make informed decisions,” Corzo said FOX 2 KTVU.
Sheriff Christina Corpus speaks about a shooting at the Half Moon Bay IDES Society in Half Moon Bay, California, on January 24, 2023. (SAMANTHA LAURY/AFP via Getty Images)
Corpus, who is also facing a mounting recall campaign and demands for her resignation, sent a letter to the board decrying the move that she said would usurp her elected authority.
The vote comes after retirement Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell released a 408-page report last month detailing allegations that Corpus “spewed and texted several racist and homophobic slurs in the workplace,” retaliated against sheriff’s office staff and granted unearned powers to her civilian chief of staff, Victor Aenlle. .
The report alleges that the sheriff has an inappropriate personal and likely intimate relationship with Aenlle, a claim Corpus has denied.
“The Board of Supervisors and the County Executive Team have appointed themselves judge, juror, attorney and executioner,” the sheriff wrote, according to FOX 2.
The sheriff condemned Cordell’s report as “a salacious broadcast of baseless allegations.”
‘There are so many questions about it how the province was about this despicable chapter,” Corpus wrote. “There will be a chance that these questions and more will come out publicly, but for now the real question is whether the County’s actions to date and the proposed Charter Amendment are a good justification for taking away voter choice. to take.”
San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus speaks during a news conference in downtown Half Moon Bay, California, on Monday, January 23, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
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“I ask that you proceed with this case to protect the rights of the sheriff,” Corpus attorney Tom Mazzucco said Tuesday during the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors meeting. ‘This is the right thing to do. When you took the oath of allegiance, you said justice for all.”
“We need to give the sheriff the opportunity to respond. It is premature to usurp the authority of the voters,” he added.
Corpus is also facing a complaint from the deputy union and the Office of Sheriff’s Sergeants (OSS) for unfair labor practices. An alleged violation of the Brown Act is reported.
“It prohibits an employer from interfering in union affairs, retaliation for union activity and intimidation of the union,” said Sean Currin, attorney for the Deputy Sheriff’s Association, according to FOX 2.
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office car in Half Moon Bay, California. (SAMANTHA LAURY/AFP via Getty Images)
Some members of the public defended the sheriff at Tuesday’s meeting.
“I think she’s done great things for the sheriff’s office, like a decrease in crime,” Half Moon Bay resident Monica Berlin said. “For all of you to attack her just shows more about you. And I know it you are all corrupt.”
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Corpus requested an opportunity to address the allegations. The board on Tuesday approved an opportunity for Corpus to speak under sworn testimony on Dec. 10, although Corzo abstained.
“Once again, I am extremely concerned that our sheriff will use this even under oath as a platform to continue lying, so I will refrain from doing so,” Corzo said.
