Clutter is cleared away and the battle is joined

The vehicle for this is the call for a March 4 election on an amendment to the county charter. The measure is effectively crafted such that it will be an unequivocal, unmistakable vote on Corpus and her sad, disappointing and corrupt tenure.

It is not a recall election. It also is not, as Corpus has insisted, undemocratic. Indeed, it is very precisely and entirely democratic. Voters will be asked, in essence, whether the board should fire Corpus.

More precisely, voters will be asked to authorize the board to hold a hearing on the removal of Corpus “for cause” — authority the supervisors do not have. At the end of the hearing, the board will vote if she stays or goes. A vote to fire her will require approval by four of the five supervisors.

The charter amendment would be effective immediately, and would expire at the end of 2025. This sunset clause dramatically focuses the issue and eliminates the main objection to this path — that the board would be ceded too much power over the Sheriff’s Office. This election will be a one-time action and will be about Corpus, and Corpus only.

In her increasingly and unsettlingly belligerent news conferences and interviews, it is plainly evident that Corpus will not go willingly. Expect a campaign against the measure to include claims of racism and sexism. It will be ugly. Why not? It already is.

The campaign has to start now, and it has to be well-funded and drive voters to the polls in an odd-year, odd-month election. It is a substantial undertaking.

NOTES ON A SCANDAL: One challenge for Corpus: the exodus from her command staff of the well-credentialed officials she recruited from other police departments. The cupboard is almost bare and more than a few county leaders are worried that the office will be unable to respond in a genuine emergency. They are down to the sheriff, the good doctor, Victor Aenlle (whatever his official title is at the moment), Undersheriff Daniel Perea and a bunch of captains. Those captains, incidentally, took a vote of no confidence in the Big Three this week.

This crisis has had the effect of unifying a board that has been fractious and disagreeable. This is a good start, as is the call for Corpus’ resignation by all of the county’s state and federal legislators, including some, among them U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, who endorsed Corpus in 2022.

The board is unanimous in calling for Corpus’ resignation. But two of the supervisors — Warren Slocum and Dave Pine — are leaving the board. One replacement, Lisa Gauthier, told me, “I am joining the call for her to resign, and I stand with the board in their decision making.” The second “newcomer,” former Rep. Jackie Speier, could not be reached for her comments. But it is unimaginable that she would be the lone voice of support for Corpus.

Expect a growing number of other community leaders, including city councilmembers, to join a burgeoning coalition seeking Corpus’ ouster. … When Corpus ran for sheriff two years ago, she had an impressive amount of endorsements from local elected officials. The silence from them now is voluminous.

In her most recent TV interview, Corpus was adamant that she and Aenlle have not been romantically involved.

OK. Fine. Take those 11 pages, and supporting documents, out of the 400-page investigative report prepared by former Judge LaDoris Cordell. You are still left with more than 350 pages and 14 sustained (and much more damning) allegations. Yes, the details of the intimate relationship are titillating, but the remaining allegations are alarming and cut to the heart of Corpus’ mismanagement.

The two supervisors leading the board’s efforts — Noelia Corzo and Ray Mueller — are up for reelection in 2026, and both say they will run again. There was a lot of buzz that Corzo would face serious opposition. But her gutsy, yet sensitive, leadership and earnest demeanor during the sheriff’s scandal have won her widespread praise and muted much of the talk. At least one would-be candidate called to say they would not be challenging Corzo.

It will be crucial that the board remain unified — not just now, but next year when the county can expect to be confronted by an aggressive Trump administration wreaking havoc and dismay in the immigrant community and in budget cuts in social programs.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.