Careful what you wish for

The report repeatedly dismisses Corpus’ long list of complaints — and the specific allegations behind them — as “not substantiated.”

Corpus first made these allegations at a news conference in September; standing at her side, by the way, was the good doctor, Victor Aenlle, whose presence in the Sheriff’s Office and the sheriff’s professional life has been at the heart of this long and distressing unpleasantness.

Having been buffeted by wave after wave of attacks, Corpus went on offense. This is proving to be something less than shrewd. Just because she was charging is no guarantee she was going forward.

For example, her continuing attack on the 400-page report issued months ago by former Judge LaDoris Cordell has been that the people quoted in the report remained anonymous, that the report was biased and incomplete and that she has yet to have the chance to tell her side of the story.

Well, now. The OIG report quotes 13 people by name, including county officials, former top-ranking officials Corpus had appointed to key positions, and Aenlle. Not incidentally, OIG’s report only serves to buttress the Cordell report. Corpus, through her attorney, found reasons not to be interviewed.

What emerges from the latest report is that Callagy bent over backwards to help Corpus when she was first elected. He went so far as to fund the new sheriff’s transition team and help her find well-established credible law enforcement professionals for her command staff.

Worse for Corpus, however, are the comments by the people called upon to address Corpus’ complaints, starting with this from OIG’s summation: “Corpus did not provide the underlying factual allegations related to many of the allegations.” As the report goes on to state, there was substantial confirmation of Callagy’s denials of the allegations, but when it came time to assess Corpus’ version of events, OIG “did not have the opportunity to speak to Corpus. Without a live interview, there is no opportunity to hear the individual’s story directly, request clarifications, probe motives, or ask follow-up questions. This made it difficult to assess Corpus’ credibility.”

But not impossible, based on the comments of those who did speak to OIG.

Katy Roberts, a county Employee and Labor Relations analyst, told OIG: “While she tried to support Corpus and maintain their professional working relationship, she learned that she could not always trust the information Corpus was giving her.” And this: “Rather, Roberts said, Corpus is the one responsible for the position she is currently in. Specifically, Corpus chose to support her Chief of Staff, Aenlle, by ignoring several complaints about him.”

At the meeting in which Corpus said she was “shocked” that Callagy would ask about her dating life, Rocio Kiryczun, county Human Resources director, who was in the same meeting, “said Callagy told Corpus during this meeting that he was supportive of her and wanted her and the Sheriff’s Office to be successful. He treated Corpus very respectfully during this meeting. At no time did he ask Corpus about her dating life.”

Adam Ely, deputy county executive, “believes Corpus’ allegations against Callagy are a distraction or a defense that she came up with when she came under fire for her leadership,” according to the OIG report. “(Ely) believes Corpus is looking to push blame on others, like Callagy.” Ely also said “Aenlle had influence and a presence that seemed outsized for his level of experience and expertise.”

And Chris Hsiung, Corpus’ initial undersheriff, former chief of the Mountain View Police Department and a figure with a national reputation for professionalism and credibility, told OIG he left the office because, “I can’t work for someone who lies all the time.”

So, not to put too fine a point on it, if Corpus’ strategy had been to call into question the credibility of, you know, everyone else, this might not have been the best way to do it.

The real problem for Corpus may not be that she fell in love with someone, but that she has fallen in love with her own story.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He co-hosts a podcast/videocast that can be found at TheGamePeninsula.com, and he can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.