Nineteen members of the San Mateo County community were appointed to serve on the county’s charter review committee, and will review the governing laws at their discretion and advise any recommendations to be considered by voters later this year.
Out of 43 applicants to serve on the committee, the Board of Supervisors selected the best candidates they felt would advise for any appropriate revision recommendations. Although supervisors are able to provide recommended topics for the committee to consider, the board opted not to do so this time.
Supervisor Ray Mueller raised concerns that recommending topics may establish pressure on the committee and give them an agenda to pursue. Supervisor David Canepa described he was “afraid of optics of predetermination,” and the rest of the board ultimately agreed.
“It sort of directs their discussion in a way that’s top down rather than bottom up,” Mueller said.
In a staff report, there were five proposed topics to consider recommending the committee to review.
One, particularly, was to consider making permanent the authority of the board to remove a sheriff for cause — a consequential amendment to the charter only recently established last year, amid the scandal at the hands of former Sheriff Christina Corpus.
Recommended for you
In March 2025, voters overwhelmingly approved Measure A, which allowed the governing body to remove an elected sheriff after a thorough review process, until December 2028. The charter amendment was controversial, with critics raising concern of blurring the lines between branches of power.
The need to include a sunset date was debated heavily; it was, ultimately, included to curb concerns that the Board of Supervisors could abuse the authority.
Supervisor Jackie Speier noted that proposing another amendment, to delete the sunset clause, would be inappropriate.
“I do not think we should be in a situation where we went to the voters, we said we were only going to have this power until 2028, and now we’re going to the charter committee and suggesting that they recommend that we have it in place indefinitely,” Speier said.
Every eight years, the board establishes a committee that will review the existing charter, conduct public hearings for feedback and make appropriate recommendations that the board will then consider. If desired, any amendments will then be placed on November ballots for voter consideration.
Neither the committee nor the board can make any final decisions regarding charter amendments. Any changes will be only authorized by voter approval.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.