Candidates for San Mateo County sheriff explain visions for office

The candidates are Kenneth Binder, the former undersheriff of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office; David Lazar, retired assistant chief of the San Francisco Police Department; and Brian Wynn Huynh Travis, chief of police and director of Public Safety for the Solano Community College District. 

Consolidating nearly 400 questions submitted online by the public into 11 encompassing topics, forum moderates gave candidates two minutes to respond to each question. 

All three candidates largely shared views on the need to improve morale and rebuild trust within the department, work effectively with the labor unions and prioritize transparency. There was consensus that the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office must be led forward and out of an era of scandal. 

The process to appoint the next sheriff became incumbent on the Board of Supervisors after they made extraordinary efforts to remove former Sheriff Christina Corpus. Corpus was both the first woman and Latina to hold the position in San Mateo County, as well as the first sheriff in the state to be removed from the position without a recall effort or civil grand jury procedure. She was fired by the Board of Supervisors Oct. 14 for conflict of interest, retaliation and ordering the unnecessary arrest of a union leader.

The differences in the candidates, made slightly clearer Monday evening, was largely how relevant their experiences would be to the Sheriff’s Office.

Binder is the only candidate who has experience serving on an executive team of a Sheriff’s Office and overseeing correctional facilities. 

“Moments like this are rare, when need, experience and purpose are all in alignment,” Binder said. 

Binder served as the undersheriff for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office under former Sheriff Laurie Smith, who retired just before she was convicted of grand jury corruption charges. When Smith retired early, Binder was acting sheriff for two months before current Sheriff Bob Jonsen took office. 

At the last meeting, supervisors questioned Binder’s involvement in the scandal, which he said he had nothing to do with. At Monday’s forum, Binder transformed the topic into a positive. 

“There is no substitute for experience, especially when it’s been tested through similar challenging times like in my prior agency,” Binder said. 

Lazar comes from a police department and, while he worked in close tandem with the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, he does not have the experience of running or overseeing correctional facilities. He does have experience with district station holding cells he said. 

Acknowledging his limited experience with maintaining county jails, Lazar said finding the best person to oversee the bureau will be critical. 

“I’m a law enforcement leader, that’s where my experience is,” Lazar said. “I’m going to identify a person who is best suited to be over the jails, not to micromanage but to give them autonomy to do the work they need to do.”

Lazar said making the agency “attractive” to candidates will help with hiring and retaining personnel. 

“We have to promote the Sheriff’s Office to the entire country and the state about how this is a great organization,” Lazar said. 

Travis also does not have experience operating in and managing county correctional facilities, however, he did formerly work for the Solano County Sheriff’s Office prior to his current role at the community college district. 

Although Travis has limited experience managing an agency at the scale of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, a key plank of his platform of his weighs heavily with much of the public. Travis’ drive to be the county’s next sheriff is in large part informed by his experience as an immigrant who began his American journey in San Mateo County. 

Travis has described his run for sheriff as a “homecoming” that is driven by purpose. 

Immigration enforcement

The sheriff’s role in upholding the county’s ordinance and state law and not cooperating with federal immigration enforcement remains a high priority of many in the community. All candidates largely held the same baseline opinions affirming they’d adhere to policy. 

Working as chief of police for the Solano Community College District, Travis has seen closely how fear affects those he serves to protect. Travis met with various student groups to detail exactly what policies they will abide by and what students could expect from the campus’ public safety organization.

“I have seen the trauma, I have seen the hurt that immigrant enforcement has caused our migrant community,” Travis said. “As an immigrant myself, I empathize with them.” 

On the same topic, Lazar said he would like to implement an “immigration advisory forum” to establish a regular meeting between “the immigrant community and the sheriff.” 

If he is appointed, Lazar also said he would go on Spanish media outlets to talk about building trust and will launch a “we are you” campaign to promote the diversity of the Sheriff’s Office. 

Beyond experience, the three candidates also differed in their leadership styles. 

Travis focused on treating his staff with compassion, Lazar shared big ideas of “overcommunication” and collaboration with personnel, and Binder said his priority will be establishing professionalism. 

To build morale, Binder said leadership has to follow through. 

“A leader has to be careful to not just promise the world,” Binder said. “[They have] to always be thinking ahead with foresight so that all the messages that are being communicated are things that actually can be delivered.” 

Endorsements in board chambers

The three finalists for sheriff answered questions for 1 1/2 hours in front of a packed room before more than 40 people spoke during public comment. 

The large attendance could have initially been credited to the county’s efforts to engage its constituents in the sheriff selection process, but it became apparent a notable portion of the room was from out of town.

In what appeared to be a coordinated campaign, nearly every in-person public comment given was by someone voicing their support for Lazar. An overwhelming number were residents of San Francisco, and many shared similar remarks of Lazar’s connection to their community. 

A handful of public commenters — who are regular commenters at Board of Supervisors meetings and residents of the county — noted the “overtly organized and heavy-handed” swell of endorsement for Lazar.

When asked about the support, Lazar said “I actually feel a little embarrassed by everyone coming out.” Lazar added that he did not ask supporters to come out, but did say that it was a public process and if they were interested in sharing, they were welcome. 

“I actually was getting text messages from people on Zoom and I was like ‘Hang up, hang up, enough already, let’s not hold everybody up,’” Lazar said. “There’s no need for coordination, that’s 30 years of love right there.” 

Despite the prominence of the labor union in both the removal of former Sheriff Christina Corpus and the move to appoint her successor, the Deputy Sheriff’s Association announced Tuesday it will not be endorsing any of the candidates.

“This is not a reflection on the candidates, who we find to be highly qualified for the position, but rather a reflection on the tight timeline afforded for this process, which has made it impossible to thoroughly vet each of the candidates to make a full and fair assessment of them,” the statement read. 

The union said each candidate “represents a significant improvement in leadership over what the membership has had to endure for the last several years,” and it looks forward to working with whomever the Board of Supervisors appoints. 

The Board of Supervisors took notes as the candidates answered the questions. They will vote on who to appoint as the 27th sheriff of San Mateo County at a special meeting held 9 a.m. Wednesday.