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Soap Opera at the Sheriff’s Office

Some soap operas air weekly, but the one down at the Sheriff's office is running daily at this point and is it ever well-written–if you like soap operas.  Personally, I don't.  Especially when it involves the operation of the largest and perhaps most critical department in the County.  I have had reservations about Sheriff Corpus' management skills from the get-go–two and a half years ago as noted here.  The Daily Post has led the way tracking Corpus' leadership as noted here and in the subsequent comments.  The Daily Journal has focused in on the "chaos" lately here and here as has the SF Chronicle on the front page here.

As various reporters dig into the 400-page investigative report by the retired judge the Supes hired, more details are revealed that caused the Supes to unanimously ask for Corpus' resignation and to abolish her chief of staff's position; right before she showed up at the meeting and promoted him to Assistant Sheriff live during public comment.  As Mark Simon noted in his DJ column opener in the print edition: "It appears that getting rid of a sheriff is going to be a lot more difficult than electing one."  The on-line version relies on poet Dylan Thomas' verse.  There is plenty of nitty-gritty in the column for a civics lesson on the legal wranglings ahead.

One thing that hasn't been noted in the reporting is Corpus' compensation.  Per transparentcalifornia.com, her total pay is $466K per year plus benefits that take total comp to $701K per year.  That is a 42% bump from getting elected sheriff (verses her captain's comp running the Millbrae force that the sheriff's office contracts).  The step up in responsibility and visibility was much higher–as she is now finding out.  With one senior person who was vocal about some of the problems under arrest and two, or is it three, recent resignations, one could question how the ship is being steered at the moment.  It all goes to a key point that a very smart B'game city councilor made years ago when we were considering merging BPD with the San Mateo PD to save money.  She was vehemently opposed to giving up local control and managed to convince the other councilors—a big win for B'game.  It also avoids this mess.

Corpus demanded to resign

 

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38 responses to “Soap Opera at the Sheriff’s Office”

  1. JP

    Accounts of foot rubbing, a peck on the lips in Corpus’ office, intimately feeding one another and text messages of endearment between the two show an ongoing cozy relationship.
    In one instance, Aenlle and Corpus went to the firing range at Coyote Point for a private session to qualify the sheriff, who was documented wearing a knee-length dress and high heels. Aenlle ordered the only other employee on-site to leave, so the pair remained alone at the range. No one was there to observe the qualification.

  2. Phinancier

    Aside from the hanky-panky bits, the real estate shenanigans will likely get them both. I’m not sure if it rises to criminal but it is certainly unethical.

  3. Joe

    The soap opera continues, from the Merc:
    San Mateo supervisors approve election measure to remove sheriff from office
    The ordinance calls for a March special election to amend the charter, allowing supervisors to remove a sheriff for misconduct or corruption
    If approved by voters, according to the ordinance, the measure would “grant the board authority to remove an elected Sheriff from office, for cause, with a four-fifths vote, after written notice and an opportunity to be heard.” The measure will appear on the ballot during a special election on March 4 next year.
    —————–
    That sounds expensive. Let’s see if the pressure causes her to resign so the supes can just put this on the next regular election ballot……..

  4. Joe

    The drip, drip, drip continues down in Redwood City. The surprising thing about this report in the Merc is that the “complaint was lodged during the election”. What has the FPPC been doing for 2 1/2 years?
    Embattled San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus is under investigation for potential campaign finance violations during her successful 2022 bid to become the county’s first Latina sheriff…..The complaint appears to have been filed by John Boessenecker, a local trust and estate attorney.
    Election filings appear to show the campaign reported that at least two donors exceeded the county’s $1,000 individual contribution limit by significant margins — both by a thousand dollars or more.
    State elections regulators are looking into a complaint lodged during the election that alleges the Corpus campaign reported accepting donations that exceeded local contribution limits and failed to disclose its spending on social media ads and campaign banners, among other reporting infractions.
    McCuan, the political science professor, said that while it’s uncertain what impact the campaign finance investigation may have on the special election, the FPPC has likely taken a keen interest in the case.
    He added he wouldn’t be shocked if other agencies and officials haven’t also turned their focus to their broader scandal.
    ——————
    I’ve never heard of the complainant, but the Merc article has more here:
    https://bayareane.ws/3DsrkU5

  5. Joe

    Wow. Just wow.
    Sheriff Christina Corpus has initiated a process to sue San Mateo County, seeking $10 million over claims of discrimination, harassment and defamation in relation to the investigation into and subsequent public address of concerns raised about the Sheriff’s Office.
    Corpus’ lawyer — who she hired independently — said the entire ordeal is a conspired campaign against the sheriff.
    “This is a case about a County discriminating against, harassing and defaming a dedicated public servant because the defendants do not want either a woman or a Latin X person as the head of their Sheriff’s Department,” the claim reads.
    ——————-
    That last bit is the best since Corpus defeated a long-tenured Latino sheriff to win the job! By the way a high percentage of Latinos thing Latin X is a corruption of the Spanish language and not acceptable!!!
    ——————-
    The claim filed against the county particularly calls out Supervisor Noelia Corzo — but misspells her name — for participating in an “evil scheme” that has defamed Corpus. The claim also misspells Cordell’s name once and refers to Corpus’ first name as “Christy.”

  6. Joe

    The “missing 29 pages”are now out:
    A press release from the county states 29 pages of the investigation by former Judge LaDoris Cordell that Corpus said were “key” were neither included in the exhibit released on its website because they were not cited by Cordell nor were they material to the report.
    “There was nothing nefarious about these pages not having been included in the exhibit but, given the interest in them, as mentioned, they are now available on the County’s website,” the press release said.

  7. Joe

    I may have missed it elsewhere, but yesterday’s Daily Post noted that the County supes have offered Corpus $1 million to walk away and she declined! Ballots get mailed in a week and a half.
    Nice work if you can get it……

  8. Joe

    Drip, drip, drip. With ballots going out on Monday, Millbrae council has weighed in unanimously as the DJ notes:
    The Millbrae City Council unanimously took a vote of no confidence in the embattled Sheriff Christina Corpus at its meeting Jan. 28, calling on her to resign.
    Two of three San Mateo County cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement cities have now called on Corpus to resign. San Carlos originally joined a chorus of federal, state and countywide leadership expressing deep concern around the corruption in her office in November 2024. The Half Moon Bay City Council has not.
    “Over time, this does take a toll on men and women who work here at our Millbrae substation and throughout the county,” Vice Mayor Reuben Holober said. “The culture of retaliation is very well documented, and something that should not be part of a work environment at any level.”
    ———————–
    The sheriff’s response lands in court on Feb 26th–just a week before Election Day:
    A hearing is set for Feb. 26 when Judge Nicole Healy will decide whether to stop the March 4 special election for voters to decide if the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors should have the ability to remove Sheriff Christina Corpus from office.
    Healy gave each party briefing guidelines that focus particularly on the legal separation of powers.
    Considering whether the election should be held is a “very narrow legal issue” that is only one prong of the complaint, which Healy said she might not have proper jurisdiction over. At the hearing, Healy will not take testimony into consideration because she “cannot inquire what made a legislator do what they did.”

  9. Joe

    Here’s Mark Simon at the DJ doing some old-fashioned reporting–talking to people on both sides. Snipped from his column:
    Over the past several days, interviews with staff throughout the Sheriff’s Office paint a picture of a sheriff who has been a virtual absentee.
    Ordinarily, the sheriff meets twice a month with management staff — captains, lieutenants and top civilian staff. She has not held a management meeting since May of 2023, according to internal sources who agreed to talk about the office management with a guarantee of anonymity. There has not been a meeting with the command staff — captains and above — since Corpus fired Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan in September, sources said. The sheriff customarily attends meetings of the rank-and-file groups — the Organization of Sheriffs Sergeants and the Deputy Sheriffs Association. Corpus has not attended meetings with either group since July.
    I spoke last week with Sheriff Corpus to ask her about the allegations that she had stopped holding key command meetings. She said it was “not accurate.” She said she would provide a list of meetings she has held over the last several months. I reached out to her again this week to inquire about the follow-up material she said she would provide. She did not respond.
    About an hour after our initial interview, Corpus did issue an internal memo announcing she would hold a command staff meeting Feb. 5.
    ————————-
    That would be a good meeting to announce her resignation. But I doubt it. I wonder if the cool million parachute is still in play?

  10. Joe

    My ballot arrived in the mail today as scheduled. Mondays and Tuesdays generally have more junk mail than later in the week, so don’t toss yours out by mistake.

  11. Joe

    Now we learn the Feds had also taken an interest. The Merc is reporting
    Rumors had been swirling for months that the FBI was interested in the Sheriff’s Office. In September, County Executive Mike Callagy, at the FBI’s request, forwarded to the agency a copy of a lease for a Redwood City property rented by the Sheriff’s Office. The lease was attached to the email obtained by the Bay Area News Group through a public records request.
    In an interview Tuesday, Callagy declined to discuss in detail the brief email or any other communication with the FBI. He said he had not been contacted again by a federal agent.
    “I was asked for the documents, and I sent the documents,” he said.
    The department began leasing the Redwood City property at 686-690 Broadway in September 2023 with the intention of opening a new substation with a childcare center for Sheriff’s Office staff. Those plans have yet to materialize, even as the county continues to be on the hook for at least $36,000 in monthly rental payments.
    The report into Corpus, conducted by an independent auditor at the county’s request, claimed that Corpus’ former chief of staff, Victor Aenlle, her alleged boyfriend, had a conflict of interest in negotiating the lease because he was both a county employee and a licensed real estate agent with the company that brokered the deal.
    However, the real estate company listed as the broker on the lease, CBRE, an abbreviation of Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis, is a separate entity from Coldwell Banker Real Estate, where Aenlle is listed as an agent.
    On Tuesday, the report’s author, retired Judge LaDoris Cordell, acknowledged the error but made clear she stands by her findings.
    ————————-
    My question is how this shows up on the FBI’s radar screen in the first place?

  12. Joe

    Drip, drip, drip
    Belmont, Redwood City, and South San Francisco recently backed the measure. If approved by voters, it would grant the board temporary but unprecedented authority to remove an elected official.

  13. Jennifer Pfaff

    Why is the SM County Sheriff an elected position anyhow? Just wondering…

  14. Joe

    It’s a good question. One guess is that the position is elected because it carries much more responsibility than a city police chief–principally because of operating the jail and juvenile facilities. The size of the operation is another factor (I believe it is the largest County department by a good margin).
    The challenge, as we are now seeing, is the electorate doesn’t have a good grasp of what large-scale professional management requires. Unlike a supervisor or council member that has peers and a public meeting structure to hear from staff, the public and peers, the sheriff is an executive, sole decisionmaker job. You have to listen, negotiate some, convince, and lead. Not just be one of five votes.

  15. Joe

    Ouch! Today’s Daily Post has an above the fold headline that reads “Sheriff told to stay home”. In a letter from the SF police union regarding a women on patrol event, they state
    “Please do not come to our event. This celebration is not about you. Do the right thing for once, respect the contributions of these women, stay home on March 5, and work on your resume.”
    With resolve,
    Tracy McCray
    President
    That is the day after the election so there will be clarity by the 5th.

  16. Joe

    According to the Merc about 62,000 of 440,000 ballots that were sent out have been returned so far. That’s 14% for those watching at home.

  17. Joe

    According to the Daily Post the judge has tentatively tossed the sheriff’s lawsuit claiming the election should only happen in a general election (which isn’t until November 2026). It looks like game on.
    In other election news, the County Registration and Elections division has too much money for postage as they are sending out reminders to people who voted weeks ago……

  18. Joe

    When you step into the lights you should be sure your nose is clean. From today’s DJ:
    Findings from a county-led farmworker housing task force resulted in a citation for unpermitted development on a coastside property issued to its owner Victor Aenlle, the former chief of staff of the Sheriff’s Office and central figure in an ongoing scandal.
    A $100 citation was issued to Aenlle from the San Mateo County Planning and Building Department — after two notices were issued and multiple incomplete permit applications were submitted — requesting Aenlle to get in compliance for development on the property, including a barn and main house.
    The letter states: “To rectify these violations and avoid additional fines you must submit all the materials identified in the Director’s letter of December 11, 2024, by March 11, 2025.”
    The property of concern is owned by Aenlle as part of a trust, though it is operated by the Contreras family for their family farm business through an agricultural lease. The Contreras Farm has operated at the site for more than 40 years.
    The agriculture lease means the Contreras family is responsible for the property’s maintenance, but Aenlle, as the property owner, is responsible for code compliance. Aenlle is listed as the sole recipient of the citation.

  19. Joe

    The county count is in–92,003 ballot counted which is a 20.7% turnout.
    The other person getting turned out tonight is Christina Corpus. It’s a blowout with 85% saying “bye-bye” to 15% who might be saying they don’t like this unique process.
    Perhaps Mark Church will be asked when the last time someone or some issue got 85% of the vote. As a local reference point for blowouts, in the last city council election we saw:
    District 4
    DONNA COLSON 1,951 78.48%
    TONY PAUL 535 21.52%
    And nobody ever heard of Mr. Paul…..

  20. Joe

    The counting is up to 107,797 ballots with a tiny amount left. The results are about the same–84% to 16%. That is 90,466 votes to remove the sheriff which is 7,844 more votes than she got when elected.
    You really can’t improve on the soap opera story line. Corpus now states she looks forward to being “vindicated” by a “neutral body” and hasn’t had a chance to defend herself in public. Yet she refused to meet with the retired judge that authored the damning report and refused to be questioned under oath.

  21. Joe

    The Sheriff Onion just keeps getting peeled and peeled. The Daily Post is reporting today that the department’s Food and Nutrition Services Director (don’t ask why that is a full-time position) has filed a harassment claim against the department. The retaliation and harassment came in response to the director questioning Corpus’ planned purchase of a soft-serve ice cream machine for inmates that would need 18 hours per week of cleaning making the whole cone cost about $100K per year.
    I’ve done jury duty a couple of times and never got any County-provided Dairy Queen for my trouble. But WAIT, there’s more.
    The food director also claims Victor Aenlle “wanted the kitchen’s food scraps for his ranch” which is in Half Moon Bay, but which he previously claimed to have little oversight of since it was leased to a manager. When the director asked for the request in writing, well, the scraps hit the fan.
    You really can’t make this up. There’s more about who she would, wouldn’t and then would report to, but the ice cream and the food scraps (ScrapGate?) are enough for now.
    That all of this is the basis for a claim against the County is what wipes the smile off the taxpayers’ faces.

  22. Joe

    I missed one lawsuit over the weekend as reported in the DJ:
    Former Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan filed a complaint on Wednesday, March 19, requesting reputational and compensatory damages for being the target of alleged retaliatory practices, intimidation and unjustified termination by Sheriff Christina Corpus and her then Chief-of-Staff Victor Aenlle.
    The complaint seeks punitive damages of at least $5 million, claiming that Corpus, Aenlle and Undersheriff Daniel Perea made defamatory comments and engaged in retaliatory behavior to intimidate Monaghan on multiple occasions, especially during retired Judge LaDoris Cordell’s investigation into Corpus and Aenlle’s behavior late last year.
    And here is another countersuit from today’s DJ:
    San Mateo County Executive Mike Callagy filed a claim over false statements and wrongful conduct made with the intention of harm by Sheriff Christina Corpus and her former Chief of Staff Victor Aenlle, the latest in the growing list of claims and lawsuits filed in regards to the county’s top cop.
    The claim officially filed with the county March 13 alleges Corpus “made up stories” about Callagy and details the effort the sheriff and her alleged paramour went to divert the attention away from their own alleged wrongdoing. The complaint seeks at least $10.5 million in damages.
    ——————————
    One way or another the voters are going to pay big for their electoral mistake.

  23. Joe

    As usual, Dave Price at the Daily Post is on the case regarding Corpus’ future. His Monday column says the civil suits are piling up as we noted above. Then he writes:
    “But here’s something you may not know. If those suits go to trial, and the jury awards a large amount to the plaintiff, the Board of Supervisors can elect not to pay any punitive damages and stick the bill to Corpus”.
    County counsel confirmed that to the Post. Price notes that after she is fired
    “Possibly, she’ll be hit with criminal charges that could result in prison time.
    I don’t know what she’ll do for a job. I doubt anyone would hire her in law enforcement.”
    —————————
    I think the chances she will fold her cards are going up by the day.

  24. Cassandra

    “Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned.”
    It is just as likely that she will burn that place to the ground.

  25. Joe

    I was having withdrawal symptoms for lack of soap opera news, but this eases them. From the Merc:
    Beleaguered San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus filed a lawsuit against the county and its officials, including Executive Mike Callagy and the board of supervisors, accusing them of violating the California Public Records Act by withholding documents related to a sweeping investigation into her administration.
    Filed last week, the complaint asks the court to compel the county to release records related to a more than 400-page report, conducted by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell last year, detailing alleged misconduct, corruption, and harassment by Corpus and her former chief of staff, Victor Aenlle.
    The records request focuses on financial documents and expenses associated with the report. A hearing on the case is scheduled for June 23 at the San Mateo County Superior Court.
    Although payment records were not posted on the county’s website — where a separate section was created for information related to the investigation into Corpus — officials disclosed in January that Cordell billed the county $750 per hour and that the county spent approximately $200,000 on the inquiry and final report.
    “Why is the County suddenly so secretive about the genesis of their infamous and yet untested Cordell report?” Thomas Mazzucco, Corpus’ lawyer, told this news organization in an email Thursday. “That is not the transparency the Sheriff or the citizens deserve.”
    —————————
    I don’t find $750/hr unreasonable. I bit pricey, but not crazy given what lawyers are charging these days. And $200K for the 400 page work product is also not unreasonable.

  26. Joe

    Every few days I ask myself “should I start a new post on the soapy sheriff saga?” but I conclude that having it all in one place will make an amazing read five years from now. Here are this week’s page-turning events:
    The sheriff has “rehired” Victor Aenlle as a reserve deputy to handle the huge backlog of concealed carry permit applications in the County. He is banned from entering the non-public areas of the RWC headquarters unless the sheriff is physically present with him, but she has told IT to give him computer access to process CCW apps. The Daily Post has a bunch of questions–all good. My only questions are was the job posted publically and can AI just do the job for us? Go here 🙂
    https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2025/04/ai-the-county-full-employment-act-of-2025#comments
    But wait, there’s more: Supe Speier pulled a sheriff’s department procurement (i.e. contract to spend $4.2M) off the consent calendar, but the sheriff was not at the meeting to take questions about …wait for it..two massage chairs for officer wellness and a $74,000 conference table. My question would be about what the table is made from? Gold with platinum engraving?

  27. Just Sayin’

    Today was the best yet. CCs lawyer is saying that because she is elected and not hired or appointed the policy manual doesn’t apply to her.
    Yaba dabba doo. You can sleep with the help.

  28. Joe

    Here’s the DJ’s news coverage of the counter-report:
    On April 7, Corpus’ lawyers hired former Judge Burke Strunsky to evaluate the monthslong investigation conducted by former Judge LaDoris Cordell last fall that resulted in a scathing report substantiating concerns over misconduct at the hands of Corpus and her former chief of staff Victor Aenlle.
    In a statement made April 25, Corpus’ attorneys said there has been “significant misinformation” that was aimed to be addressed by Strunsky’s methodology-based evaluation. Strunsky’s evaluation and response was based solely on Cordell’s report and two ABC-7 news articles.
    In a 25-page response, Strunsky largely calls Cordell’s sourcing into question, stating that the fact her interviews were not recorded and kept anonymous discredited the validity of their claims.
    ————————-
    That sounds like whistleblower protections to me.
    ————————-
    The Daily Post adds:
    …Strunsky, who was hired by Corpus’ legal team, argues the county’s policy manual doesn’t apply to the sheriff. “Because the sheriff derives authority directly from the electorate–not from appointment or contract–the policy manual, drafted for departmental employees, does not govern the sheriff’s official conduct,” Strunsky writes.
    ————————-
    Good luck with that….

  29. Joe

    …and more process. From the Merc
    County Attorney John Nibbelin said these are the first procedures the county has ever adopted for removing a sheriff, and likely the first instance in the state where a board of supervisors was permitted to establish its own removal process.
    Amendments include expressing a preference for a former judge to preside over the hearing and making minor adjustments to the discovery process based on input from Corpus’ legal counsel.
    “We’ve put in a lot of work into these removal procedures to make sure they are compliant and consistent with principles of due process,” said Alfonso Estrada, an attorney with Hanson Bridgett.

  30. Joe

    The $15M man in action, from the Merc:
    Former top sheriff’s aide seeks $15 million from San Mateo County over firing
    Victor Aenlle alleges wrongful termination, racial discrimination, and retaliation tied to a corruption probe
    Aenlle is seeking $5 million for lost earnings and reputational harm, $5 million for emotional distress, and $5 million for punitive damages. He is also requesting an unspecified amount for legal fees.
    In his claim, Aenlle alleges that he was targeted because of his race, writing that the actions taken against him constituted “treatment that was not imposed on similarly situated non-Latino employees.”
    County spokesperson Michelle Durand also rejected the racial bias allegation.
    “He appears to accuse Latinx people of discriminating against him for apparently being Latino with no evidence or explanation,” she said. “In light of these and the many more obvious errors, both legal and factual, the claim should not be treated seriously.”

  31. Joe

    And the train kept on rollin’….
    Deputy union files 2nd complaint against San Mateo County sheriff
    The deputies in the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office have filed additional complaints to the Public Employment Relations Board alleging unfair labor practices at the hands of Sheriff Christina Corpus, adding to the litany of allegations against her.
    Officially filed with the state agency May 2, the complaint claims Corpus gave an improper notice of an internal affairs investigation, increased the number of correctional officers without union conference, and interfered with the union rights of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association.
    The May 2 complaint alleges the sheriff over hired correctional officers without conferring with the union, which had agreed to allow for 164 correctional officer positions. According to a vacancy report released by the Sheriff’s Office, Corpus has hired 172 people to the position.
    “This change directly impacts the union because it takes away from other positions,” the claim alleges.

  32. Joe

    We can’t have more than a week go by without a new twist or turn. From the DJ and the Post:
    On Jan. 9, the county retained Oppenheimer Investigations Group (Christina Ro-Connelly) to conduct an investigation of discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment complaints brought by Corpus against Callagy. The investigation resulted in a 113-page (or 166 pages depending on which paper) report that determined there was no misconduct by Callagy and the allegations were unfounded.
    Ultimately, no merit was given to Corpus’ multiple allegations in large part due to the limited information she provided to support her claims, the investigator said. The investigator repeatedly stated Corpus’ responses were broad and general. Corpus also did not engage in a proper interview, after multiple requests to schedule one were made, and gave written responses to questions submitted by the investigator, instead.
    “Without a live interview, there is no opportunity to hear the individual’s story directly, request clarifications, probe motives, or ask follow-up questions,” the investigator wrote. “This made it difficult to assess Corpus’ credibility.”
    Corpus said in a statement to the Daily Journal she did not participate in an interview because she was “not allowed to record my interview when I was prepared to provide them with answers to their questions,” but according to the investigative report interviews were conducted virtually and were audio recorded.
    ———————
    Labor relations analyst Katy Roberts, who has worked at the Sheriff’s Office for the past eight years, said that “she learned that she could not always trust the information Corpus was giving her,” according to the report.

  33. Joe

    Mark Simon at the DJ is keeping on top of the happenings:
    QUELL SURPRISE: This barely qualifies as news. Embattled San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus declined her option to make public the Notice of Intent, presumably issued today by the Board of Supervisors, laying out the charges against her upon which the board will decide whether to fire her.
    When she ran for sheriff in 2022, Corpus promised (and still touts on her official website) “transparency, integrity, and stakeholder engagement.” Believe that at your own risk. For months, Corpus has expressed a desire to tell the whole story. It is like waiting for Godot.

  34. Joe

    Nothing aggravates Dave Price at the Daily Post more than opaqueness from elected officials. Today’s post has a piece about the Post challenging the call to keep the Notice of Intent secret. They are invoking Penal Code Section 832.7 (b) (C). County Counsel agrees it should be released, but only after Corpus has “exhausted” her right to appeal.
    Here, here for being exhausted.

  35. Joe

    One would think this would have been obvious to the sheriff:
    San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus’ efforts to avoid trial and testimony were futile this week, after the courts determined she must obey a subpoena order to testify in front of a civil grand jury and the Board of Supervisor’s efforts to remove her continue as planned.
    Judge Nicole Healy has now made three separate decisions against Corpus’ wishes to enjoin the processes underway to remove her from office, including allowing the March 4 charter amendment vote to proceed and for the Board of Supervisors’ proposed removal proceedings to move forward.

  36. Joe

    Here is another SSDD moment. There must be lawyers all over the place salivating. From today’s DJ:
    Sheriff Christina Corpus is being sued by deputy union president Carlos Tapia, a key whistleblower against her administration, for ordering his arrest without warrant the morning an investigation into her office was made public.
    ———————————–
    If only that were the whole story. Digging a little deeper
    ———————————–
    The suit names Corpus, her former chief of staff Victor Aenlle, former Assistant Sheriff Matthew Fox, Undersheriff Dan Perea, and San Mateo County as defendants.
    ———————————-
    As soon as someone adds “the County” as a defendant it starts to look more like a money grab than a focused reaction to a wrong. And there is plenty of apparent money-grabbing to go around as we read further
    ———————————-
    Fox was asked to conduct the arrest only after former Capt. Brian Philip refused to do so. Undersheriff Dan Perea ordered Philip to make the arrest “but would not provide a factual basis to warrant the arrest,” according to the lawsuit. After Philip refused, Perea ordered him to stay silent about the request, according to the lawsuit.
    Philip filed a claim against the county in February alleging whistleblower retaliation, wrongful termination, gender discrimination and workplace violations under Corpus’ administration.
    ————————-
    And more
    ————————-
    In January, Corpus filed her own $10 million claim against the county alleging discrimination, harassment and defamation. The county denied the claims.
    On March 13, County Executive Mike Callagy filed a $10.5 million claim against the county over false statements and wrongful conduct made with the intention of harm by Corpus and Aenlle.
    ——————————-
    It sure looks like the taxpayers in the County will be the ones getting the shaft in this disgraceful cat fight.

  37. Man Up Burlingame

    Buh bye Christina.

  38. Joe

    This might have been the way to address this from the very start. From the Merc:
    A San Mateo County civil grand jury has formally accused embattled Sheriff Christina Corpus of corruption and misconduct, starting a rare legal process that could lead to her removal from office, District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe announced Monday.
    The accusation includes one count of conflict of interest and three counts of retaliation. It comes as Corpus faces a separate, ongoing effort by the Board of Supervisors to remove her under a new authority voters approved in March — a power that applies only through the end of her current term in 2028.
    “The conflict of interest allegation pertains to the hiring and supervision of former Executive Director of Administration, Victor Aenlle, with whom she had a close personal relationship,” the District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. “The three counts of retaliation pertain to the termination of Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan; the transfer of Captain Brian Philip; and the arrest of Deputy Carlos Tapia, the president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association.”
    ———————————-
    No mention of the $70K massage chair….

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