San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus made history when she was elected two years ago. A longtime member of the department, she became one of the first Latina sheriffs in the state and was the first woman elected to the position in the county. But in the wake of a scathing report and investigation, Corpus has been found to have engaged in lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority. The independent investigator hired by the county, lesbian retired Santa Clara Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazard Cordell, has done these types of reviews before and has a solid reputation for fairness. Cordell concluded that Corpus should resign, and we agree.
Corpus' homophobic texts and racist comments were sustained by Cordell in her report and are just two of the many problems uncovered in the sheriff's office. "When Sheriff Corpus texted several homophobic slurs about a local city official to an employee, and when she uttered a racial slur in the presence of an employee, she violated the County's Equal Employment Opportunity policy's commitment to a workplace free of discrimination and harassment," Cordell's report stated. Corpus has denied the accusation, but county supervisors, who have demanded that she resign, offered forensic proof that the homophobic slurs came from her phone, as we reported online last week. Over the years, we have seen other Bay Area law enforcement agencies caught up in anti-LGBTQ texting scandals. This is something that is unacceptable. Law enforcement personnel, especially an elected sheriff, should certainly know better. Not only do these types of messages demean others, but when they come from the leader of an organization, they also send the wrong message to the rest of the department; namely, that it's acceptable behavior. It is not. In this case, as Cordell noted, the actions violated county policy.
Equally troublesome is Corpus' decision to hire Victor Aenlle as her executive assistant. Cordell's report sustained numerous allegations against Aenlle, including that he and Corpus have a personal relationship that is a conflict of interest. "Despite their denials, there is factual evidence that Sheriff Corpus and Victor Aenlle have a personal relationship, beyond mere friendship," the report stated. "In fact, the evidence establishes that they have had an intimate relationship. This relationship has led Sheriff Corpus to relinquish control of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office to Aenlle, someone who has far more experience as a Coldwell Banker associate real estate broker than he has in law enforcement. Sheriff Corpus violated the Office's conflict of interest policy when she hired Aenlle; she violated the policy by having Aenlle directly report to her; and she violated the policy when she repeatedly recommended pay increases for him."
Aenlle also had a conflict of interest in negotiating a lease for a property for the sheriff's office. "Aenlle played a major role in securing a lease of property for a new substation brokered by Coldwell Banker Real Estate ("CBRE")," the report stated. "Aenlle, who is an associate broker with CBRE, had a conflict of interest and should not have participated in the lease negotiations. Sheriff Corpus knew or should have known of Aenlle's connection to CBRE and should have removed Aenlle from participating in the transaction."
And Aenlle, a civilian employee, is not authorized to wear a badge that closely resembles the badge worn by sworn deputies, the report stated. "By wearing a gold badge, he has likely committed a misdemeanor for willfully wearing a facsimile badge that could deceive a civilian into believing he is a sworn officer with full police powers," the report stated. "Sheriff Corpus, by issuing the gold badge to Aenlle, may have committed a misdemeanor, as well."
And it goes on from there. Corpus fired an assistant sheriff for cooperating with Cordell's investigation, the report stated, and other employees have described retaliatory and abusive behaviors under Corpus and Aenlle's leadership, according to the report.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has found itself without the ability to fire Corpus — she is an elected official. But the board has decided to hold a special election in March for the purpose of voters approving a change to the county charter that would give the supervisors the ability to fire the sheriff for cause. It's an extraordinary measure but one that we believe is warranted. Such a firing could only happen by a four-fifths vote by the board and only after giving the sheriff notice and an opportunity to be heard publicly. The proposal was passed unanimously at its first reading and a second reading will take place December 3, where it is expected to also pass.
It's too bad that the situation in San Mateo County has come to this. But it's clear that Corpus is not doing a good job and appears to only consider her own interests, not those of county residents who rely on the sheriff's office for services. And a sheriff's office rife with conflicts is not serving anyone except the perpetrators.
Corpus should do the correct thing and resign. But as long as she doesn't, San Mateo supervisors must move ahead with the charter amendment, and voters should approve it next year.
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