As the sergeant’s and deputy sheriff’s unions consider establishing no confidence in the Sheriff’s Office chief of staff, Victor Aenlle thinks the vote underway against him proves “we’re on the right track.”
With an expected decision by Thursday, the Deputy Sheriff’s Association and the Organization of Sheriff’s Sergeants wrote a letter to its members outlining the reasons this vote is necessary, alleging “numerous” human resources complaints against Aenlle, instances where he overstepped the boundaries of his role, and union busting.
“Both sworn and civilian staff members are afraid to cross him because of his behavior and his outsized and inappropriate influence on the command staff to this agency,” the letter read. “[Aenlle] has, without a doubt, created a culture of fear.”
In response, Aenlle said he believes the entire effort is “silliness” and a “resistance to change.”
“I don’t want to give any validity to their claims,” Aenlle said. “There’s nothing there.”
As chief of staff, Aenlle said his character is being attacked because “the closest to the sun always get burnt” referencing his executive role alongside Sheriff Christina Corpus, who is also under fire for alleged unfair labor practices as a result of workforce shortages.
“What we face today is resistance to change and a lack of respect from a few individuals, not a reflection of failed leadership,” Aenlle said.
Corpus has come to Aenlle’s defense, sending a letter to all personnel Monday, Sept. 9, “calling on the political theater to stop.”
“I’m going to call this what it is, character assassination,” Corpus said. “It is wrong and it needs to stop.”
Aenlle’s position oversees the professional, civilian staff within the Sheriff’s Office, and the unions claim he has overstepped the bounds of his role.
“The DSA and OSS Boards believe that his interference in matters outside of his civilian role is unacceptable and disrespectful to the Sergeants, Deputies, and Correctional Officers,” the letter read.
One complaint outlined by the unions include Aenlle wearing a uniform with a badge that “appears to be an attempt to elevate himself to a position of authority that he has not earned” because it is the badge worn by reserve deputies.
Aenlle became a reserve deputy sheriff in 2009. Once he assumed the chief of staff position, Aenlle said he no longer served in a reserve deputy capacity, but maintained “you don’t stop wearing the badge” and is still a sworn peace officer with “full 24-hour police powers.”
“That entitles me to my badge or my gun,” Aenlle said. “Furthermore, the sheriff has the ability to issue whatever badge she sees fit within her department.”
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As part of the executive team, Aenlle also said he “has every right” to question personnel on higher level, operational needs, regardless if they are professional or sworn, and that he “[doesn’t] need to make anybody report to [him].”
“I have a million people reporting to me, I really don’t need another one,” he said.
The chief of staff position is a new one to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, “converted” from a similar assistant sheriff position by Corpus when she brought on Aenlle. He believes concerns raised about his jurisdiction stem from a lack of understanding of his role.
“They think that the only people they need to report to or answer to have to [be] sworn and carry a big badge on them,” Aenlle said. “I am chief of staff. The undersheriff is her right hand, I’m her left hand.”
The claim to be third in command is another issue cited by the union boards because he is “not a high-ranking law enforcement officer and never has been.”
Aenlle’s personal behavior was also called into question, and DSA President Carlos Tapia alleges the chief of staff has numerous human resources complaints filed against him. Aenlle said “there aren’t any.”
Deputy sheriffs and other personnel allegedly said Aenlle has retaliated against those who are critical of him, but he claims he was just calling out their “poor performance or unprofessional behavior.”
“I will not apologize for expecting every member of this organization, whether sworn personnel or civilian, to meet the standards of conduct required of them,” he said.
In a complaint filed with the Public Employment Relations Board — a state agency that investigates and mediates labor issues for public agencies — Aenlle is named for violating his duty of strict neutrality by engaging in “unlawful communications with DSA members where the county undermined the DSA board and encourage DSA members to recall the DSA board for engaging in protected union activity.”
“I don’t give any validity to the vote,” Aenlle said. “There’s no relevance to it, I’m an employee at the will of the sheriff, I’m not an elected official. To me, it doesn’t rise to any level except to smear my name and attack my character.”
Though PERB could incite fines or require other remedies to be made, the vote of no confidence is more symbolic in nature, Tapia said.
“These allegations and incidents are not an invention of the Board,” the union letter reads. “At a time when the Sheriff’s Office faces challenges that are not unique to other law enforcement agencies, [Aenlle] is a unique and intolerable problem for this agency.”
The PERB complaint also alleges unilateral decision making within the Sheriff’s Office relating to overtime and staffing without union conference.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors are holding labor negotiations with the DSA and OSS in closed session Sept. 10.
(4) comments
Thanks, Ana, for a well-written article. It’s disappointing that so many of Sheriff Christina Corpus’ advocates wrote two years ago about how she would improve Sheriff’s Office recruiting and improve employee morale. It looks like that is not happening.
The deputies and sergeants believe Corpus’ hand-picked executive assistant, Victor Aenlle, has created a “culture of fear” among Sheriff’s Office employees. The deputies’ and sergeants’ leadership are promoting votes of no confidence against Victor. Christina labels such votes as “political theater” and “character assassination.” The votes do have an element of theater in that these votes are intended to bring attention to what deputies and sergeants perceive as serious problems. Law enforcement unions sometimes conduct such votes because unlike other employee unions, they are not allowed to strike when working conditions deteriorate. Can the deputies’ and sergeants’ articulation of what they believe are inappropriate actions and interference by Victor be described as “character assassination”? That’s the $64,000 question.
With respect to deputies’ and sergeants’ claims, Victor responds, “There’s nothing there.” The sergeants union president, Carlos Tapia, says HR complaints have been filed against Victor, and Victor responds, “there aren’t any.” Whether HR reports have been filed should be easy enough to figure out. However, Victor does acknowledge he has called out “poor performance or unprofessional behavior.” Maybe he has been specifically tasked with addressing poor performance and unprofessional behavior, but if he hasn’t, calling out those things for persons who do not report directly to him is inappropriate. If he has called out employees inappropriately, no one should be surprised that HR reports have been filed. We’ll have to wait and see.
One part of this story is confusing. Victor said he no longer serves as a reserve deputy but that he remains a sworn peace officer with “full 24-hour police powers.” I could be wrong, but it looks like unless Christina deputizes Victor, he is not entitled to exercise the 24-hour police powers specified in Penal Code Sections 830.6 and 832.6. And this may be at the heart of the dispute… Victor is not a full-time sworn peace officer, but he wants to be one… and that chaps the unions’ hides. Both unions claim that Victor wearing a uniform and badge appears to be “an attempt to elevate himself to a position of authority that he has not earned…” Victor retorts that the unions’ claims are invalid and irrelevant. If Victor is wearing a uniform and badge without proper authority, then the unions’ claims are valid and relevant. We’ll have to wait and see.
There is one other interesting aspect to the dispute that the public should be concerned about. It’s the sergeants union claim that Victor has tried to influence members of the union to recall the union’s board. That’s a serious claim with even more serious legal ramifications. If the sergeants union claim is true, Christina has a h-u-g-e problem to address. Again, we’ll have to wait and see.
Oops! It is the deputy sheriffs association that is claiming Victor is working to undermine the association's board... not the sergeants union. My error.
Why are acronyms used in articles without being qualified? What. does OSS stand for? DSA is Deputy Sheriffs Association I think.
Thank you, William Howland
Organization of Sheriff’s Sergeants … Deputy Sheriff’s Association
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